August 27, 2024
Creating premium content costs money, and a reader who's worth £1 in print may only be worth a penny online. That's why many digital publications now require their audience to take out a paid subscription for access to hard-hitting journalism and in-depth features.
News publishers have done a lot of experimentation with their paywall design in recent years, and are increasingly moving away from free content.
But what's the best approach to take in generating reader revenue while offering a great user experience? How can media outlets make a strong value proposition that encourages audiences to part with their hard-earned cash? And where does Apple News fit into the picture?
FlatPlan — a no-code solution that enables publishers to build and grow their audience on Apple News — supports all paywall types and helps brands attract new premium users through a metered approach to content discovery.
In this guide, we'll explore:
As the name suggests, paywalls mean online content — whether that's a premium article, video or podcast — is only available to customers who take out subscription plans.
Given journalism can be pretty expensive to produce, this helps generate revenues to pay reporters... and hopefully turn a profit.
News publishers have started to build a well-communicated value proposition by including additional services. For example, The New York Times paywall now throws in unlimited access to crosswords and recipes. Meanwhile, the Financial Times boasts tiered plans that enable subscribers to decide whether they'd like an online account, the newspaper delivered to their door, or both. Down Under, a Sydney Morning Herald subscription offers exclusive perks and discounts as well as curated newsletters.
Beyond reader revenue, a successful paywall enables businesses to collect key data points about their readership. Knowing more about the audience helps editors increase engagement and conversion rates by producing content they'll care about. Allowing users to state their interests aids content discovery, with a personalised and curated rundown of stories and features sent to their inbox. And while hard paywalls may reduce traffic in the short term, they can boost ad revenue — with brands launching targeted campaigns based on the demographics you reach.
Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each paywall type.
From a freemium model to a metered strategy — from a hard paywall to a soft one — there are many different ways to control how readers access content. Key goals for newsrooms often include account creation, email collection for newsletters, and encouraging readers to take out a free trial or a subscription offer. Common examples include:
As the name suggests, this is where every single article on a website is restricted to paying subscribers. The Times and the Financial Times are two newsrooms that embraces this approach — and other publishers do the same. This doesn't necessarily affect content discovery through search engines and social media, as headlines and links to stories can still be shared.
While this can lead to higher conversion rates, there are downsides when it comes to the value proposition. Readers often like to see what they'll be getting before they stump up their hard-earned cash.
This adopts a "freemium approach" as it allows audiences to discover content through a free version of the website. However, when readers try to access premium content, a paywall appears. A sticky banner may appear on the same page, or the user may be redirected to a landing page for account creation.
A freemium model can be a clever way of developing a strong value proposition. Readers have the ability to discover content, and can opt in to reading a premium article if they want to — either by taking out subscription plans or providing their email address.
Medium, which allows independent journalists to reach subscribers, is a good example of a platform with this type of paywall. Authors can select which of their pieces require account creation and membership.
A metered paywall means readers are allowed to enjoy a set number of articles before a hard paywall kicks in.
The exact number varies. The Harvard Business Review, seen above, allows new audiences to access just one article before payment is required. Other publications may permit 20 articles a month.
There's been interesting research that suggests a metered strategy can be a great driver for email collection, and persuade audiences to take out a subscription offer. A report by the US-based Media Insight Project found 47% of readers paid to access content because they kept hitting the limit on the number of articles they were allowed to read.
In some cases, a great deal of science goes into striking the balance — and the New York Times paywall is an example of this.
Back in 2022, it explained how machine learning is being used to create personalised meter limits for readers, and illustrated this through a conversion funnel (see illustration below, "Figure 1: The subscription funnel".)
A crucial goal with The New York Times paywall involves data collection. Because of this, editors introduced a freemium strategy, allowing users to only read a small number of pieces before they need to provide first party data and sign up for a free account. They then move along the conversion funnel as registered users, and can discover content more widely. This helps increase engagement prior to the whole paywall kicking in. At this point, the final stage of the conversion funnel involves directing readers to a landing page with subscription offers.
There are some key data points that inform this conversion funnel strategy. For one, a randomized trial found that a generous metered paywall with lots of free content tends to reduce the conversion rate for subscription offers. But on the other hand, imposing a whole paywall after just one article creates friction, and makes it less likely that a reader will be interested in a free trial.
One downside of a hard paywall is this: sometimes, readers may not be interested in all the features a subscription offers — they just want to read one piece.
So instead of imposing a whole paywall, some media outlets have introduced a pay-per-article approach, with micropayments that are far more casual than taking out a formal subscription offer. This helps increase engagement, drive email collection and build a well-communicated value proposition.
One of the best paywall examples here is Popbitch, which enables readers to pay just 25p for premium content — and never more than 50p in a week. They've adopted a freemium model, as their weekly newsletter roundup is available to all.
Determining the best paywalls to increase engagement and content discovery is difficult. And that's because the sheer choice out there for publishers is overwhelming. Freemium paywall? Hard paywall? Metered paywall? Dynamic paywall?
Research by FT Strategies, an offshoot of the Financial Times, recently shed light on the tactics being used to protect premium content. While a freemium strategy is still a popular choice among newsrooms, there's been a sharp rise in the businesses that require email collection before content discovery can begin.
Some outlets, like The Guardian, also emphasise their strong value proposition by placing a sticky banner over their premium content. Rather than urging readers to take out a subscription offer, they instead ask for optional donations to keep their operations running. This is driven by a belief that a hard paywall may make important news stories unaffordable for some everyday consumers.
The study also found that specialist organisations, such as premium newsmagazines or those focusing on business journalism, tend to be able to charge the most per month. While the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal are high in these rankings, the likes of The Washington Post charge much less.
Among general news outlets, there's a lot of price competition, meaning many subscription offers on the market are well below the rate of inflation. Other perks offered to readers include the ability to gift articles for free, or cancel anytime.
When examining the best paywalls for your business, it's worth reflecting on your goals. Are you looking to increase engagement? Drive data collection and ad revenue? Allow some content discovery before a hard paywall is imposed?
FlatPlan specialises in supporting publishers who want to bring premium content to Apple News.
Our no-code solution is compatible with all content management systems and paywalls. By sharing a select few of your articles for free, you can give readers a taste of the premium content you have to offer. This can increase engagement and encourage new audiences to visit a landing page for subscription offers.
Branded footers on the same page as Apple News articles can be used to direct readers to your owned-and-operated platforms for the first time. This can be a valuable strategy for data collection, such as encouraging new audiences to sign up for newsletters or download your app.
An alternative approach when building a strong value proposition is to join Apple News+. This is the tech giant's own approach to paywalls, with subscription offers that unlock access to hundreds of leading publications in exchange for a flat monthly fee. A free trial is offered to Apple customers who buy eligible devices, and they can cancel anytime. Participating publishers are given a share of the revenue generated by Apple News+ based on how much time readers spend with their articles.
This can be an invaluable tool for content discovery — and through FlatPlan, you can still increase engagement on your website and app through embedded calls to action. Another powerful feature allows periodical publications to deliver aesthetically pleasing articles to Apple News+ in a magazine format.
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No matter what stage you're at in your discovery of Apple News, we'll help you get the information you need to make the right decision for your media business.
Photo credit ©Aera Bella via Canva.com
