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Digital Subscriptions Best Practices

Digital Subscriptions Best Practices. Tim Thomas SVP, Business Development. Industry Challenge. NAA says print ad revenue declined by almost 50% in past 4 years. Industry Response. Cut expenses. Fewer pages. RIF s. No promotion. Centralize. Industry Response. Cut expenses

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Digital Subscriptions Best Practices

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  1. Digital SubscriptionsBest Practices Tim Thomas SVP, Business Development

  2. Industry Challenge NAA says print ad revenue declined by almost 50% in past 4 years

  3. Industry Response • Cut expenses Fewer pages RIFs No promotion Centralize

  4. Industry Response • Cut expenses • Change printing and delivery Outsource Get out of the mail Print others Deliver others

  5. Industry Response • Cut expenses • Change printing and delivery • Raise print prices Single copy Home delivery

  6. Industry Response • Cut expenses • Change printing and delivery • Raise print prices • More digital ads and services Ad mail Tablet Mobile Impressions Directory Video pre-roll

  7. Industry Response • Cut expenses • Change printing and delivery • Raise print prices • More digital ads and services • Launch digital subscriptions Meter Hardwall Press+ Registration Intercept Conversion

  8. What do you have to believe? • We have unique, relevant content . . . • . . . That some people are willing to pay for • We have more page views than advertisers can buy • Digital subscriptions and digital advertising can co-exist

  9. Baltimore’s Best

  10. The Product

  11. Use a metered approach • 8% of users generate 80% of your traffic • 80% of users view 1-5 page views per month • “Drive-bys” aren’t interrupted • Heavy users are the most likely to pay

  12. Don’t be afraid to go low • Launched at 15 page views/30 days • Lowered to 10 page views after 9 months • Going to 5 page views this year • Intercept rate: 1.5% of users see the “Stop” box

  13. Meter most of your content • Exempt home page, section fronts, classifieds, obits • Meter staff stories, photos, video pages, breaking news, wire stories, talk boards • When in doubt, meter it • Let the market decide which content is “premium”

  14. Place (Distribution)

  15. Stop the leakage • Apps • Mobile WAP • RSS feeds • Content alliances • E-edition

  16. Package “All Digital Access” • Desktop site • Apps – iPhone, iPad, Droid phone • HTML5 site • Loyalty site • E-Edition

  17. Pricing

  18. Use trial pricing • Reduces consumer perception of “ commitment risk” • Automatically rolls to regular rate • Gets credit card number • Gets email address • Gets physical address for better “match” to print subs • High retention rate

  19. Charge print subscribers for digital (but at a much lower rate) • Establishes value right away • Digital has more content than print • Digital is real time • Conversion rate is about the same as registration • Keep the charge on the statement reasonable (<$20)

  20. “All” new print starts to include digital • Introductory rate increased through most channels • % increase allocated to digital circulation revenue • Direct mail/FSI allows print-only start

  21. Decide rules and process for comp accounts • Exempt meter within your IP range • Remote access for news, sports, photo • Ad reps • Agencies • Large advertisers • Content partners • Other papers in your corporation • Execs • Bloggers

  22. Set institutional pricing • Libraries, law firms, chambers, government, colleges • User ID/Password vs IP exclusion • Set annual rate per person • Higher per-person discounts for more people

  23. Promotion

  24. Announce ahead of time • Publisher letter to readers • Press release • FAQs • Employees

  25. Anticipate reader issues “If you make me pay, I’ll just go somewhere else for my news.” “Why do I have to pay for a digital subscription? I already pay for the paper.” • Establish FAQs and post on your site • Arm the newsroom and CSRs with FAQs+

  26. Tie promotion to these issues

  27. Tie promotion to unique content

  28. Promote in all channels • Email marketing • Print ads, wraps and front page notes • Contest on loyalty site • TV spots • Kiosk and door-to-door sales • Direct mail and print inserts • EZ-Pay postcards • Subscriber bill inserts

  29. Anchor homepage link to splash page • Up at launch • Makes it easy for people to buy

  30. Pay Attention [The 5th P of Marketing]

  31. Watch your digital inventory to ensure ad commitments are met • Used to having unlimited inventory • Higher targeting should mean higher CPM • Tighten up the discounting • Kill “value added” • Watch charity and house ads

  32. Results

  33. Page Views Down, Users Up -18% +12%

  34. Ad revenue grew While adding a new revenue stream

  35. Almost 30K new subscribers

  36. So, come on in. The water is fine.

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