Paywalls: It's Important to have a strategy.
Paywalls have become an extremely common way for media publishers to monetize their content.
It seems logical: if you give your content away for free, why would anyone pay for anything?
But it's important to deploy a paywall for the right reasons, and in the right way, otherwise you can permanently damage your audience, your relationship with your subscribers, and your bottom line.
There are some hard truths here that need to be confronted.
Myth: People won't buy my print product because it's available for free on the website.
Fact: People aren't buying your print product because the way people consume content has fundamentally changed over the years. A paywall won't bring your print subscribers back.
Myth: I can simply deploy a paywall on my site across the board and recover all my lost revenue.
Fact: You need to be strategic about how, when, where, and why you gate content. You need to have a marketing plan. You need to have a retention plan. You need to manage churn. You need to manage communication to end users. Without that, your end result will not be good.
Myth: A paywall is always the right answer for every publisher.
Fact: You need to have content that people can't get anywhere else, and a compelling reason for them to pay for your content.
Myth: I can just push all of my print content onto my website without curating or enhancing it and people will buy it.
Fact: You need to offer an enhanced experience to paywall subscribers. Ideally, they will consider it a premium experience.
The bottom line is that you're selling advertisers an audience, and you're selling subscribers content. You need to nurture and manage both.
If you alienate your audience, you will end up degrading both subscription revenue and audience, and historically, audience tends to be harder to recover.
Also consider that if you don't have a good e-commerce experience on your site, people won't buy your content.
There are a number of ways to have your cake and eat it too without going all-in on a hard paywall:
-You can only present a paywall to local users, or otherwise present it differently to those who are likely to sign up.
-You can offer paywall subscribers additional content, less advertising, or some combination thereof.
-You can offer different tiers to different subscription levels.
-You can gameify or reward users with content for engaging with your publication in other ways - buying classified ads, commenting, submitting content etc.
Implementing a paywall can be a game-changer for content creators and publishers, but doing it without a strategy can lead to missed opportunities and frustrated users. Here’s a brief overview of why having a strategy is crucial:
1. Maximizing Revenue
A well-thought-out paywall strategy helps in identifying the optimal points in a user’s journey to introduce the paywall. This increases the likelihood of conversions, as users are more willing to pay when they see value in the content1.
2. Balancing User Experience
Strategically implementing a paywall ensures that it doesn’t disrupt the user experience. For instance, using a metered paywall allows users to access a certain number of articles for free before requiring a subscription, which can help in maintaining user satisfaction while still driving revenue2.
3. Targeting the Right Audience
A strategy helps in understanding and segmenting the audience. This allows for personalized paywall experiences, such as offering different subscription tiers or exclusive content to different user groups, thereby increasing engagement and retention2.
4. Enhancing Content Value
By strategically placing paywalls, publishers can highlight the value of their premium content. This can be achieved by offering a mix of free and paid content, showcasing the quality and exclusivity of what lies behind the paywall1.
5. Data-Driven Decisions
A strategic approach involves continuous monitoring and analysis of user behavior and paywall performance. This data can be used to tweak and optimize the paywall, ensuring it remains effective and aligned with business goals3.
Conclusion
In summary, a strategic approach to implementing a paywall is essential for maximizing revenue, balancing user experience, targeting the right audience, enhancing content value, and making data-driven decisions. Without a strategy, you risk alienating users and missing out on potential revenue.
