Complete Story
10/08/2018
What it takes to shift a news organization to reader revenue
From The American Press Institute
Launching a paywall is easy. Pivoting a whole business from an advertising-centric mindset to one focused on reader revenue is not.
Despite 10 years of experimentation and increasing attention, the news industry still needs to develop some of the attitudes, technology and skills needed to sustain exceptional membership and subscription programs.
To succeed with reader revenue, news publishers need to better understand readers and all aspects of the subscription business — data, insights, marketing, loyalty, conversion and retention. That will require fundamental changes in our organizations.
I have spent the last seven years, first at The Boston Globe and most recently at McClatchy, working with teams dedicated to making this transition. This report is intended as a brief guide to the technical and strategic challenges that arise when building a subscription program. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution, but everyone can be smarter about using data to support reader needs and grow subscriptions.
