Europe s successful paid content strategies

Transcription

1 Europe s successful paid content strategies Sponsored by: 1 Europe s successful paid content strategies

2 Contents ii iii Introduction Foreword Overview Case Studies: Aftenposten BILD Corriere della Sera De Correspondent The Economist El Español Financial Times Le Monde Liberation Mediapart NZZ SZ The National The Times VG I Europe s successful paid content strategies

3 Introduction Thank you for downloading TheMediaBriefing s report on Europe s successful Paid content strategies. The brightest beacons for paid content are generally perceived to be American. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and latterly the Washington Post, dominate discussions on how to do paid content right. Leading UK publishers sometimes get an honourable mention, but few media houses on the continent receive any coverage outside their own borders. We wanted to redress that imbalance by putting together a report that introduces some of the leading European players in the paid content arena, and some interesting newcomers. In producing the report, we have drawn on direct interviews with executives involved in the implementation of successful paid content strategies and the general industry news reflecting their progress. The report is not a guide to every contour of the paid content landscape there are publishers we will add to future reports, like Poland s Gazeta Wyborcza which has notched up growth of 30% in 2016 to secure 100,000 paying subscribers. But we hope we have managed to highlight a representative cross-section of the European publishers succeeding in paid content at the moment. Huge thanks go to our sponsor CeleraOne - without their generous support we simply wouldn t have been able to invest the time needed to conduct the interviews and research required to write this report. We really hope you find the report useful and are very keen to hear what you think. Please get in touch and let us know what you liked and what you d like to learn more about in the future. Very best regards, Peter Houston, Editor at Large, TheMediaBriefing II Europe s successful paid content strategies

4 Foreword Amusingly, paywalls manage to be both the most overrated and most underrated business model in digital publishing. They are overrated when publishers expect that the mere installation of a payment button is all the work it takes to save journalism actually, it takes much more. They are underrated when the sceptical camp still claims that only the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal can master the building of a successful paid content scheme. There are plenty of examples, from Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Oslo, Munich or Zurich, where paid subscriptions account for 20%, 30%, 40% or more of the digital revenues. Who had expected this only four years ago? This report collects some of these case studies and identifies what makes them successful. It s no surprise that paywalls don t work if the effort is half-hearted. Behind every success story is a dedicated team. It s the people who make the difference. They need strong support from top management that is backed by investments in technology, product and marketing. Behind every success story is a dedicated team The foundation is a journalism with a unique editorial tone and loyal readers. But that s not enough: Alongside all these factors, a generous portion of tenacity is also required given that it generally takes more than two or three years to test, adapt or change the paid model until the right proposition is found. All these efforts offer plenty of advantages in the long run. Subscription revenues allow for a much healthier income mix, particularly when display advertising is increasingly selling at low margins. Paywalls are a tool to build relationships: Premium sections allow publishers to obligate users to register, collecting cross-device data. III Europe s successful paid content strategies

5 Identified and registered users are key for other business models as well, such as advertising, newsletters or merchandising. Yet maybe the greatest side effect of a paywall is that it makes publishers and editors focus on their most loyal readers rather than chasing anonymous clicks. During the last few years, paid content became one important tool in the toolkit for many publishers. It will become more important still as teams, technology and products improve. Most levers in the paid content machinery have not yet been touched Strict, rule-based paywalls will soon be a thing of the past as machine learning automates and optimizes conversion. With the advent of adblockers, new subscriptions schemes are emerging, e.g. those offering a light ad experience. Certain media may also start playing key roles; videos or podcasts can be a trigger for younger audiences. It seems that most levers in the paid content machinery have not yet been touched. We are both excited and proud to continue our work together with publishers on this journey. Dr Falk-Florian Henrich, CeleraOne IV Europe s successful paid content strategies

6 There are plenty of paywall solutions. But when publishers are big and ambitious, they usually go for CeleraOne. KRESS PRO 08/2016 t CeleraOne we support A publishers with paid content, identity management (SSO) and user segmentation strategies. We have implemented more than 30 projects for leading publishers including Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zeit Online, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tamedia, De Persgroep and many other brands. Our team brings together experts in Software Engineering, Big Data, Machine Learning, E-commerce and Publishing. Can we tell you more about our solutions? Send an to request@celeraone.com

7 Overview It s no great secret that fewer people are willing to pay for content than the publishing community would like. The Internet s Original Sin content for free hangs heavy over most media houses as they watch digital display revenues shrinking instead of expanding into the gap left by failing print incomes. But necessity is the mother of invention and the tide is beginning to turn away from free and towards paid content. The tide is beginning to turn away from free and towards paid content The New York Times has led the paid content charge, at least in terms of raw numbers, and the paper has set reader revenues at the centre of its 2020 strategy. Reporting 1.6 million digital subscribers toward the end of 2016, the NYT s subscriptions growth is as much as 10 times what it was in A target of 10 million subscribers by the end of the decade doesn t seem completely impossible. The NYT s is the highest profile paid content success story, but the Gray Lady is not the only newspaper making a go of paid content. European efforts in the space are often less grand in scale, but equally impressive when the size and diversity of the continent s publishing markets is considered. French trailblazer Mediapart has almost 130,000 paid subscribers in a country of 60 million people. Scale that to a population of more than 300 million and that s 650,000 subscribers, two-thirds of the NYT s total, but achieved in less than 10 years instead of 166. It s exactly because they are on a smaller scale, that Europe s paid content success stories are interesting to the general publishing community. The test-and-learn ethos that links all the case studies in this report is crucial in developing a paid content formula that suits your business. Evolving models There is no one-size-fits all formula for achieving success in paid content. Even for individual publishers, evolution of their paywall strategy is guaranteed - switches from hard to soft to hybrid and back again are common. 1 Europe s successful paid content strategies

8 Conversion from free to paid readership lies at the core of most paid content strategies. Even for publications with content that is normally locked up tight, teasing readers with free access or nominal-cost trials has become a major marketing strategy. ten ILD Sera ent mist añol mes nde tion part NZZ Plus onal mes ang Comparison of monthly price points* *Conversion to Euros correct as of Jan 2017 Aftenposten BILD Corriere della Sera De Correspondent Monthly price point ( ) The Economist El Español Financial Times Le Monde Liberation Mediapart NZZ SZ The National The Times VG Subscription marketing is no longer just a numbers game, data is enabling publishers to identify content that converts. They are now looking hard at what type of content engages audiences deeply enough to get them to pay, or at least register, spending as much time analysing and planning free-article promotions as they once spent counting page views and unique visitors. Reach is still important, with marketers targeting established print audiences and visitors to their free web pages as prime prospects. They are also looking to social media to build and engage new audiences. Social sharing is used to deliver trial access to paid content, but publishers are working hard to make it clear that access is compliments of someone who paid, not free. Print readers remain a prime starting point and print-digital bundles are ubiquitous. Interest is building in week-splitting combination deals subscribers get digital on weekdays when they are travelling to and from work, and a more leisurely print experience at the weekends. Promoting the value of subscriptions is crucial. For more general interest brands, that means bundling extras from sporting highlights to special offers and sweepstakes. Other, more specialist content producers, are heavily promoting the exclusivity of their content and highlighting the trust advantages offered by a premium news brand in a world of fake news. Reader relationships Communities are also key to paid content sales. These are being nurtured around publishing brands through regular, habit-forming, consumption of content. newsletters are playing an increasingly important part of the relationship-building process, tapping niche interests to boost engagement. 2 Europe s successful paid content strategies

9 Popularity of paywall types Hard paywall Hybrid Paid trials Freemium Metered Where communities already exist in broader society, they are ripe for publishers with the right content mix and positioning to to target with payment options. Publishers are engaging readers in these groups with alternative points of view, but also by offering opportunities for participation, either in direct content creation or within the journalistic process. However it manifests, the direct relationship between publisher and reader is a powerful driver for building alternative revenues. Beyond direct marketing of subscriptions and renewals, the data captured from subscribers is also being used to develop targeted, ultimately personalised, marketing and advertising propositions. And the need to understand audiences well enough to charge them money has also led to product development opportunities. App extensions that up the frequency of content distribution or deliver early access are being used to introduce entry-level price points and add value to baseline subscription packages. Organisational change The shift away from ad-supported to paid content publishing models has brought change within the organisation. The focus on value over volume in digital content has re-emphasised the importance of the role of content creators. But it has also forced editors and journalists to reorganise around always on digital schedules, to abandon the pre-eminence of print and to engage with the commercial propositions being built around their digital content. The development of some level of paid content seems inevitable for Europe s publishers Collaboration and cooperation in a new environment are not always easy. But with print s decline showing no signs of easing and digital display revenues heading in the same direction, the development of some level of paid content seems inevitable for Europe s publishers. Uniting the whole organisation behind the enterprise to develop a paid proposition that the audience will value is a common first step in the development of a successful paid content strategy. Trial and error is the second. Hopefully, success is the third. 3 Europe s successful paid content strategies

10 Side-by-side: Paid digital subscribers Aftenposten BILD Corriere della Sera De Correspondent The Economist El Español Financial Times Le Monde Libération Mediapart NZZ SZPlus The National The Times Verdens Gang 0 100, , , , , ,000 Number of digital subscribers 4 Europe s successful paid content strategies

11 Case Studies 5 Europe s successful paid content strategies

12 NORWAY Aftenposten Focusing on what sells subscriptions Norway s biggest print group has shifted away from traffic metrics to analysing what type of content encourages free to paid conversion We have locked a lot more content than we did a year ago Aftenposten, published by Schibsted Norge, is Norway s largest print newspaper, with 370,000 subscribers, 110,000 digital only. Together with Bergens Tidende, Stavanger Aftenblad and Fædrelandsvennen the Schibsted Norge group has over 1.2 million readers every day. The papers began charging for online content in 2012, introducing a metered paywall for Aftenposten and a freemium model for the three other brands. Aftenposten and Bergens Tidende have since switched to a hybrid model combining freemium and metered access. Stavanger Aftenblad and Fædrelandsvennen have stayed with a freemium model. Regardless of model, all papers in the group have increased the percentage of subscriber-only content - Bergens Tidende now locks about 50% of its content compared with between 15% and 20% just two years ago. We have targets which are very much on subscriptions. In terms of editorial, we are now focusing on what can sell subscriptions. Before we had how much traffic?, now we have how many subscriptions can we sell? Tor Jacobsen Chief Commercial Officer, Schibsted Norge 6 Europe s successful paid content strategies

13 No. of people Current reach 1,200,000 1,000, , , , ,000 0 Readers Subscribers Digital subscribers The papers offers subscribers three options: Digital only, digital plus weekend print, and digital plus all print. Management has been encouraging a change in focus, targeting subscription sales and conversions based on audience data. For editorial especially, this marks a shift away from previous targets set around how much traffic was generated to the promotion of the types of articles that will sell subscriptions. Long-term, Schibsted subscription sites are moving toward a membership model with non-members missing out on the best content but also on good deals. Current subscription offers lead on heavy discounting, with first month s access being offered for Kr1 compared to the usual digital price of Kr199. The offer has been heavily promoted against all free content. This is positioned as, effectively, a free trial, but the paper reports strong conversions from a campaign in October, The publisher advises that, for online subscriptions to be successful, it is essential to communicate a clear commitment to your paid content strategy. Without clear communication of the offer, readers will continue to question why they should pay for content that they have been getting for free. Forecasting a continued drop in advertising revenue mainly driven by Google and Facebook in addition to a decline in print advertising, Schibsted s subscription newspapers see a sustainability in charging for content. The papers currently get 60-65% of revenues from subscriptions, with 35-40% coming from advertising. This is a significant shift from five years ago when 60% of revenues came from advertising. KEY FACTS: Model: Hybrid - Freemium and Metered Launch: 2012 Paid digital subscribers: 110,000 Price point: Kr 199/month 7 Europe s successful paid content strategies

14 GERMANY BILDplus Simplifying subscriptions Leading German tabloid focuses paid offering on just two price points in bid to exploit reach of 20,000,000 in free content Be clear about the value of your content, say this is something you should pay for. German tabloid BILD is among the top 10 best-selling newspapers in the world and the biggest outside of Asia. Its subscriber-only digital version, BILDplus, launched in July 2013 currently has more than 344,000 paying subscribers. BILD publisher Axel Springer has a stated objective to develop paid-content revenues across its portfolio. Its Paid Models segment, which also includes paid content revenues, generated in excess of 1 billion in revenues in the first nine months of 2016 (includes ad revenues in paid titles). Axel Springer has stated it is focusing on increasing digital subscription sales for BILD and WELT, which, according to figures published by the German Audit Bureau of Circulations (IVW), saw a total growth rate of 26% in 2015 over the previous year. Growth appears to have slowed in 2016, but was still over 14% year on year for BILD and WELT combined. Simple Keep it simple, simple, simple. We re a mass media, a strong reach, all demographic grounds It needs to be easy. Simplicity is a component for success in all paid media. Stefan Betzold Managing Director of Digital, BILD 8 Europe s successful paid content strategies

15 BILD s first paid products were introduced on the iphone in 2009 and ipad in BILDplus was launched in 2013 as a cross-platform brand subscription with 6 different price points Digital reach 20 million Digital subscribers 344,000 With the introduction of BILDplus, all paid app products were integrated into the new paid proposition as a single cross-platform, cross-device solution. At launch, BILD offered 6 different price points ranging from 4,99 to 17,99. A year later, BILD changed the pricing, reducing the main offering to two price points, 4.99 per month for BILDplus digital and 9.99 including the epaper from BILD and BILD s Sunday edition, BILD am Sonntag. The simplification of the offering has had a clear effect; as of the end of 2016, the number of digital subscribers to BILD+ had increased by about 30,000 on the previous year, a growth rate of around 10%. The BILDplus subscriber recruitment strategy rests on targeting the 20 million unique users that access the BILD website where the majority of content is free. This reach is used to funnel potential subscribers from all editorial sections of the website to subscription promotions including 99 cent trial or Half price on annual subscriptions. When BILDplus was launched, Axel Springer licensed highlights from the Bundesliga to help convince people to pay for a product that had previously been free. Moving forward, premium sports content is still promoted as a benefit for subscribers. The publisher has also broadened marketing efforts to highlight its journalism more generally and offer discounts and various deals, including hardware bundles with tablets, integrations into mobile phone price plans or subscription bundles with other premium content. KEY FACTS: Model: Freemium Launch: 2013 Paid digital subscribers: 344,000 Price point: 4.99/month 9 Europe s successful paid content strategies

16 ITALY Corriere della Sera Transitioning from print first Leading Italian newspaper first with digital subscriptions, launches with print content while transitioning to cross-platform teams We have focused on maintaining our identity Italy s newspapers are under real pressure - print revenues fell 30% between 2010 and Although digital income is growing, online still accounts for a minority share of total Italian media revenues. Reuters Institute reports just 4% of Italians have ongoing digital news subscriptions, and advertising models dominate, but publishers are beginning to explore paid content opportunities. The first to introduce paid access to online content was market leader Corriere della Sera, putting up a metered paywall in January 2016 to coincide with its 140th anniversary. The paid offering ushered in a mobile-friendly site redesign and incorporated Corriere s archive dating back to On launch, visitors could access 20 articles a month before being asked to subscribe. A standard digital subscription cost 9.99 per month, but an initial trial month was made available for The paper reported 26,000 paid subscribers in the first month. With the new Corriere offer we want to take online the in-depth and quality analysis that was once associated only with a print offer. 1 Barbara Stefanelli Deputy Editor, Il Corriere della Sera 10 Europe s successful paid content strategies

17 By early 2017, this had risen to 35,000. In total, Corriere reports about 100,000 digital subscribers. This includes 80,000 subscribers to its digital edition, some with a joint subscription to the website. The paper continues to offer trial subscriptions at 0.99 for the first month and two digital subscription packages, web and mobile remaining at 9.99 and an enhanced subscription that includes a digital edition and a copy of the Sunday paper. 26,000 digital subscribers in the first month 80,000 subscribers to the digital replica Initially, all print content was made available on the website. Home page content, breaking news and videos remain open. Long-term, as newsroom restructuring is completed, journalists will write across platforms and content in the paper will represent the best of the previous day s web content. A core team will continue to manage the homepage, but other, previously online-only journalists have joined other sections of the paper. A central integrated hub is charged with managing the production of news and is responsible for all content, whether published in print or online. Shift patterns have been adapted to accommodate an early editorial meeting, held around 8am, and attended by senior editors, representatives from the central hub and people from the section desks. Management has cited the influence of the New York Times in Corriere s paywall launch, but noted that is important, from site structure to look and feel, to tailor the offering to the needs of your audience. 1: Italy: Corriere della Sera s new metered paywall, via WAN-IFRA KEY FACTS: Model: Metered Launch: 2015 Paid digital subscribers: 35,000 Price point: 9.99/month 11 Europe s successful paid content strategies

18 THE NETHERLANDS De Correspondent Prioritising active members over passive subscribers Dutch independent journalism site leveraging reader relationships to create a community that pays to participate in the creation of ad-free journalism Invest in the personal relationship with your readers De Correspondent is looking for members not subscribers. At the Dutch pureplay, a subscriber is a passive consumer whereas a member plays an active part in the journalistic process. De Correspondent s philosophy is that every reader is an expert in something and it is the responsibility of their journalists to work with readers to get them to share that knowledge. The site s 47 full-time and freelance journalists regularly put out calls to readers to get their opinion on story ideas and to give them the opportunity to participate in research. This has benefits for the quality of De Correspondent s journalism, delivering better informed stories, but is also good from a business perspective because it leads to more loyal readers. If you call someone a subscriber it suggests that they are a passive consumer who just pays for stuff, reads it, and that s it. We really want an active relationship with our readers. That s why we call them members. Ernst-Jan Pfauth Co-founder & Publisher, De Correspondent 12 Europe s successful paid content strategies

19 The Dutch-language site was founded in 2013 after a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign that raised $1.7 million. Since then it has pivoted away from crowdsourcing to sign up 52,000 members, each paying 60 a year or 6 a month. Retention Rates Annual: 83% Monthly: 73% Year on year retention rates for the site s original annual membership plan are running at 83%. Retention on the more recently introduced monthly plan is lower at 73%, but it was introduced for people that don t want to pay 60 all at once, especially students. Around 80% of all members are currently on the annual plan, but the split between annual and monthly on new memberships is about De Correspondent does not limit access to content distributed through social media. It does, however, make it clear that access is courtesy of a paying member. The hope is that this will encourage free readers, who access stories throughout the month, to eventually start paying. As well as promoting paid membership, messaging for readers arriving via social media also invites registration for free newsletters from individual journalists. These are like public notebooks providing regular updates on story progress, research insights and related content. De Correspondent is fighting for attention against the world s biggest content platforms, from newspapers to Facebook. To remain a regular media habit, the publication is focused on building individual relationships between readers and journalists, and a sense of community. The belief is that, if people feel like part of a community, they will be more willing to share their expertise and show up every day to read the articles they helped create. KEY FACTS: Model: Hard paywall Launch: 2013 Paid digital subscribers: 52,000 Price point: 6/month 13 Europe s successful paid content strategies

20 UK The Economist Leveraging social reach The UK s leading news weekly is growing subscription revenues from new audiences on social media and a raft of new products Our success wouldn t have been possible if we didn t know the value of our product Throughout most of the media s digital disruption, publishers have bet on replacing declining print revenues with income from online advertising. That s never been a gamble the Economist has wanted to rely on its content has been behind some form of paywall since economist.com launched 20 years ago. And with 65% of The Economist s revenues already coming from circulation, management believes the free, ad-supported digital publishing model is pretty much doomed: Senior executives from the news weekly are on the record saying display advertising will be gone within 10 years, killed by poor profitability, ad-blocking and the rise of mobile. Faith in new ad formats is seen as misplaced as the bulk of new revenue out there is going straight to Google and Facebook. All that really leaves is paid content and the Economist has been serious about reader revenues since the day they went online. We knew from the time we launched the economist.com site that our journalism was of high quality and worth paying for just like our print product. We weren t willing to compromise on that fact. Michael Brunt Chief Marketing Officer and MD, Circulation, The Economist 14 Europe s successful paid content strategies

21 The Economist operates a metered paywall that allows readers to sample just one free article a week before registering, and three as a registered user. A central plank of its subscriber acquisition strategy is a content-driven marketing campaign featuring direct response advertising that gives prospects access to one free piece of content. Social Media Reach 40 million Digital subscribers 303,500 YOY Growth 27% 1 The paper also has a combined social media following of over 40 million across 10 platforms and is working to build audience beyond its traditional constituency of old, white, male bankers. Using a social media team of 10, it has been targeting the Globally Curious, building its social following and upping engagement by over 60% with bite-sized pieces of Economist content. With more traditional audience segments that already have a loose relationship through social channels or , the objective is to develop habitual use that warms the audience to subscription sales marketing. New products have also played a part in developing a spread of reader revenues. For customers that don t take on a full subscription at just over 4 a week for print and digital, the Espresso app, the Economist s first daily publication, is available for 2.29 a month. The full Economist subscription gives readers web access, a digital edition on tablet, an audio edition, the Espresso app, and access to an online archive going back to Readers who choose a print-digital bundle pay 25% more than digital only subscribers, but the majority of new subscribers choose to take the print-digital bundle offer. 1: Economist profits up to 61m as paid subscriptions offset 18% print ad fall via The Guardian KEY FACTS: Model: Metered Launch: 1997 Paid digital subscribers: 303,500 Price point: /month 15 Europe s successful paid content strategies

22 SPAIN El Español Converting community Spanish startup challenges established media with record-breaking crowdfunding launch, but relies on advertising revenues to counter slow subscription growth Our arrival really moved other newspapers Spain s legacy newspapers face the twin problems of print decline and digital competition. In 2015, print newspaper circulation in the country was reported to be half what it was in And while internet usage is generally up and newspaper sites doing well in terms of traffic, established brands are having to compete with a raft of digital pureplays. One of the highest profile entrants to the market has been El Español, launched in 2015 on the back of sacked El Mundo editor Pedro J. Ramirez s severance package and the most successful journalism crowdfunding campaign ever. The paper raised 3.6 million from over 5,000 small investors and managed to secure 10,000 subscribers before launch. In a market dominated by establishment papers, El Español set out to take a more aggressive and in-depth approach to reporting on politics and business in Spain. The online paper People in Spain are not used to paying for news, especially online, and those who are subscribing are doing so because they associate it with belonging to a community. 1 Maria Ramirez Co-founder, El Español 16 Europe s successful paid content strategies

23 transitioned from a blog to a full cross-platform news product on web, tablet and smartphone, employing 70 journalists. Pre-launch funding 5,000 investors 10,000 subscribers Initial revenue projections showed advertising contributing up to 80% of revenue, but with long-term subscription income growing to equal cash from ads. The business is still someway short of its 20,000 subscriber target, reporting a subscriber base of 13,000 mid With the majority of revenues still coming from advertising, mostly native, traffic still matters to El Español. But this means that a generous non-subscriber allowance of 25 articles a month complicates the value proposition when it comes to converting free readers to paying subscribers. Subscriptions cost a month, or a discounted 84 a year, and include online access and the El Español app. Subscribers also get the opportunity to participate in sweepstakes and attend exclusive events. Mindful of securing renewals toward the end of their first year, management has re-emphasised La Edición, a subscriber only mobile newspaper accessed through the app that delivers a daily, finite take on the news. Subscribers get early access to exclusives the evening before they are made available to general readers. Other efforts to add value include a re-focussing on the sense of community that initially brought in investors and subscribers; social media activity between individual journalists and readers is being especially encouraged. 1: El Español finds it challenging to pursue both high traffic and subscriptions, via journalism.co.uk KEY FACTS: Model: Metered Launch: 2013 Paid digital subscribers: 13,000 Price point: 10.99/month 17 Europe s successful paid content strategies

24 UK The Financial Times Driving growth with paid trials Global financial daily increases reach with social media and open access around major news events, secures return with trials Digital content is our biggest revenue line 1 The FT is often pointed to as a poster child for successful paid content, and with good reason. Digital subscriptions continue to grow at the paper, 14% year-on-year in At 650,000 subscribers, three quarters of the paper s total paid circulation is now digital. Management says continued innovation alongside the quality of the specialist financial content that the FT is known for are driving record paid-for circulation. More specifically, The FT s 2015 Paid Trials model is credited with fuelling recent increases in digital subscriptions. In the spring of 2015, the paper switched from a metered model that gave registered readers access to three articles a month before they were required to subscribe. Metered access was replaced by a paid trials model - where readers could access all FT content for 1 or local equivalent for one month with the option to renew at the end of that period. A premium digital subscription costs 8.16 a month. The one word I would put out there would be habit, because why we did it was ultimately about recreating the connection and the habit that people used to have in the print world. 1 John Ridding CEO, Financial Times 18 Europe s successful paid content strategies

25 The initial goal is that trial users will develop the habit of reading FT content and then go on to become subscribers, and the approach appears to have worked. Management reported that the introduction of paid trials increased subscription rates by up to 29%. Acquired 70,000 subscriptions in 2016 Reader engagement +22% year-on-year Major news events in 2016 have pushed up traffic to news sites and the FT has capitalised on increased interest by unlocking coverage to help drive subscription sales. The paper unlocked access to Brexit-related content for 24 hours ahead of the referendum and saw a 600% increase in online customers the weekend following the vote. A similar increase was seen after the US election in November. Overall, The FT s paid content strategy is a mix of reach and return with paid trials securing the return and social media being used to optimize reach, especially outside the UK. The paper allows access to a limited number of articles to readers coming from social channels and makes a small amount of content free to read. The FT has also keyed into the growing desire for niche news coverage by launching specialist newsletters Brussels Briefing and The White House countdown and interactive digital products and podcasts. The publisher reports that these initiatives helped grow reader engagement, including frequency and volume of visits, by 22% year-on-year. 1: The Financial Times CEO on trial subscriptions, the platform age, and living in luxury via NiemanLab KEY FACTS: Model: Paid Trials Launch: 2001 Paid digital subscribers: 650,000 Price point: 21.40/month 19 Europe s successful paid content strategies

26 FRANCE Le Monde Differentiating free and paid French daily separates free from paid content against strict criteria, highlights the value of subscribing for readers What does it mean for you to have content that is paid for or not? Le Monde has been experimenting with paid content since 2002, but it s first subscriber-only digital product was launched in The site initially had around 25,000 subscribers. This total grew to about 60,000, but plateaued after two years, to reach a grand total of 110,000 digital subscribers today. The newsroom was initially very focused on the idea that web content should be free. Management explained that they wanted to grow the paid audience by introducing a better balance between paid and free content. In the past, the paper had worked on the principle that print was paid and web was free, but with the extension of the freemium offer, the decision is made on content quality and likely popularity rather than distribution method. Opinion articles and big features tend to stay behind the paywall, as well as news that is exclusive to Le Monde and not particularly time-sensitive content that cannot be found on The old rule that was that all print content was paid and all web content was free. We decided that wasn t a good definition nowadays and now, every morning, we have a meeting to decide what is paid and what is not. Cécile Prieur Deputy Director of Editorial, in charge of digital, Le Monde 20 Europe s successful paid content strategies

27 other French websites. Articles are not made free just because they are older if they start behind the paywall, they stay behind the paywall. La Matinale du Monde Le Monde s morning app 26 million pageviews 480,000 downloads 10,000 subscribers 1 each month Articles originated by the Le Monde newsroom, but which are time-sensitive or perishable, are often set for free access. For Le Monde, the freemium model makes it more important to decide what should be paid and what would be free. With metered models, all content is available and the reader only recognises the value when their weekly or monthly allowance runs out. With a strong balance of free and paid content, readers begin to understand the difference and the value of subscriber-only content. The challenge for the newsroom is to make the decision daily and to institute clear free-paid criteria that readers can easily understand. Making the paid offer clear to readers is very important, both in terms of the paid content package available and the importance of paying subscribers to the independent future of the media. Collaboration between editorial and marketing is crucial for subscription offers to be attractive, but management has had to encourage the separate teams to work together on creating offers that work both editorially and commercially. An introductory offer targeting younger readers is currently giving subscribers between 18 and 25 six-months access for just 1. A standard Le Monde digital subscription is a month, giving access to web, mobile web and a daily news app. 1: The new Le Monde: From an institution to an entrepreneurial adventure via WAN/IFRA KEY FACTS: Model: Freemium Launch: 2013 Paid digital subscribers: 110,000 Price point: 17.90/month 21 Europe s successful paid content strategies

28 FRANCE Libération Relaxing the paywall for loyal readers French newspaper rewards loyal readers with free access during metered visits to deliver 300 new paying subscribers every month We re trying to do something new 1 Libération, is a left-leaning French daily, founded in 1973 by philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. In its earliest, most radical days, it refused paid advertising relying instead on newsstand sales and subscriptions. With French newspaper ad revenues down almost 8% last year, the title is again looking to reader revenues. Like most other papers in France, Libération s earliest paid content strategy relied on a hard paywall, giving subscriber-only access to print content, but only for a limited period after publication. This approach met with limited success with most site visitors remaining unsubscribed, reading free content and then leaving. Libération s recent strategy, introduced in the summer of 2016, has been to relax paywall restrictions for its most loyal readers. The new loyalty-based system gives readers seven visits every Because you can find news everywhere, we decided to do a loyalty-based paywall where we count visits rather than articles: seven visits every 10 days so that people aren t reading the equivalent of a free paper every day. 1 Xavier Grangier Head of Digital, Libération 22 Europe s successful paid content strategies

29 Paid Subscribers 10,000 5% of total online audience Monthly growth target 0.1% of 264,000 most loyal* *visiting 7 times a week 10 days, enough to keep readers on the site during a visit, but not so much that they can read the entire paper free every day. The visit count is doubled for mobile readers who typically come to the site more often, but for less time. Site messaging tells visitors how many more times they can come to the site before they need to pay. With the article counter off, readers are encouraged to stay on the site longer per visit. Libérations analytics show that for non-subscribers, time spent per visit is just over 3 minutes, where the average subscriber session lasts almost 12 minutes. Libération s aim is to convert its most loyal site visitors to subscribers. It has targeted a pool of 264,000 readers a month, or 2% of site visitors, that come to the site more than seven times a week. The paper s marketers have been ahead of their conversion goal of 0.1% a month, posting 300 new subscriptions a month mid-way through With just 5% of its audience paying, advertising revenues are still very important to Libération, delivering 30 percent more revenue than subscriptions. There was concern that the introduction of the paywall could cost Libération up to 1 million pageviews a month, but traffic has stayed steady with the addition of 10,000 in subscription revenues a month. 1: How Liberation s new paywall increased subscribers by 10 percent over the summer via Digiday KEY FACTS: Model: Soft paywall, metered by visit Launch: 2016 Paid digital subscribers: 10,000 Price point: 15/month 23 Europe s successful paid content strategies

30 FRANCE Mediapart Promoting independent journalism and participation French news pureplay profitable on digital subscription revenues, fights churn and builds reach with high-profile scoops and community involvement We have to make a difference and add extra value, an extra angle 1. Mediapart is seen as a trailblazer in the paid content space, a digital-only news site that presents itself as something apart from other French media outlets. Founded in 2008 by former Le Monde Editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel, it takes no advertising and receives no financial support from government or corporations. Instead it operates exclusively from the subscriptions paid by its readers. The online newspaper has developed a fierce reputation for investigative journalism and strong opinions, with its subscription promotion efforts focused firmly on the idea of journalistic independence. The business was first reported to be profitable in 2011 on a subscription base of 60,000. In 2014, Mediapart reported 83,000 subscribers and at the end of 2016 it had 128,000 subscribers 123,000 individuals and 5,000 groups. There is not a single day where we haven t recruited new subscribers; we always have done, every day 100, or 300, 600, or Marie-Hélène Smiejan Co-founder, Director General, Mediapart 24 Europe s successful paid content strategies

31 A current promotional offer gives full access to Mediapart for 1 for the first 15 days. Regular subscriptions cost 11 a month, or 110 for a year. The absence of advertising on Mediapart is promoted as delivering a non-intrusive user experience, but also impartial journalism, informing the site s subscription promotions tagline Choose Independence. Subscribers Subscriber growth 150, ,000 90,000 60,000 30, Mediapart has reported significant churn in its subscriber base, saying that since launch 360,000 people have paid to access the site. This is countered by a regular flow of new subscribers, which management believes are brought primarily by journalistic scoops. The have noted that a big story on former President Sarkozy brought 300 new subscriptions and, after the story was repeated on TV, subscription sales peaked again. With an editorial team of about 40, the Mediapart website updates three times a day, seven days a week. Mediapart has launched English and Spanish language services. Launching Mediapart in 2008, Plenel said that he wanted to reinvent the press shifting the emphasis away from entertainment and back to hard journalism. The paper is managed by its journalists and, as a 2014 advertising campaign stated, Only our readers can buy us. Besides professionally written content, Mediapart also features content created within a strong reader community. Le Club is a collaborative forum edited by the subscriber community and seen as an integral part of Mediapart s editorial approach. Every subscriber automatically gets a blog, and the network generates about 35,000 posts a year with the top 15 featured on the main Mediapart site every day. 1: Digital Born News Media in Europe, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, December 2016 KEY FACTS: Model: Hard paywall Launch: 2008 Paid digital subscribers: 128,000 Price point: 11/month 25 Europe s successful paid content strategies

32 SWITZERLAND NZZ Investing in journalism & data-driven customer lifecycles Swiss news publisher combines quality content with data-driven product development and marketing to improve paid subscriber acquisition and retention We have to prepare for a world where much of the ad revenue has gone away As elsewhere, the decline in print advertising revenues in Switzerland has been stark, down by 30 percent from 2006 to 2015 according to PWC. First published in 1780, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) is a leading news brand in German-speaking markets. Recognising that print advertising revenues were in structural decline, NZZ committed early to growing reader revenues, first introducing a paywall in October It now has over 25,000 paying digital subscribers, more than 15% of its total paid subscriber base of around 150,000. NZZ also has about 250,000 registered users, each able to access 10 articles free every month. NZZ s paid content strategy has four elements: supporting high quality journalism, strengthening its brands, expanding its product portfolio and improving customer acquisition and retention with data-driven customer lifecycle management. There s a real opportunity here. There are less and less publishers able to uphold the quality of journalism that we are providing. And, there is a sizable niche target group that is willing to pay for high quality journalism. Dr. Steven Neubauer Managing Director, NZZ Medien 26 Europe s successful paid content strategies

33 Retention Rates Product Launches and Relaunches : : % % In product development, NZZ has dramatically increased experimentation and innovation, speeding up implementation to launch or relaunch 12 products over the last two years compared with just five in the preceding six years. Diversification of the portfolio has focused on three areas: Price point and content discovery e.g., daily digital edition of 10 articles New geographies e.g. Austrian digital edition Special interests e.g. high-end print magazine focused on Swiss history Building on a central, scalable technology platform that supports editorial workflows and customer service functionalities across all paid products, NZZ s approach to paid content has been to aim for a compelling user experience. That translates as investing in the quality of its journalism, strong customer service and easy-to-use products. In revenue generation, the company has focused on a free to paid conversion strategy, with marketing efforts resting on the development of data-driven customer lifecycle management. It is moving from manual or semi-automated data selection and campaign management to a system of real-time, automated marketing actions based on detailed usage and behavioral profiles. NZZ has seen growth across all its paid products. Year on year paid subscriber growth in is 0.9 percent compared with a drop of 3.6 percent in It has focused on customer value rather than total digital user counts: Growth is partly due to successful cross selling that has raised the average number of paid products per subscriber by 7 percent to 1.39 products from July 2013 to July KEY FACTS: Model: Metered paywall Launch: 2010 Paid digital subscribers: 25,000 Price point: CHF 62/month 27 Europe s successful paid content strategies

34 GERMANY SZplus Making access flexible German daily builds on reputation for quality journalism to set premium price-point, uses flexible access model to reduce readers paywall frustration We need to invent complementary business models that reduce the risks of financing quality journalism Süddeutsche Zeitung introduced paid ios and Android apps in 2011, but the Munich-based paper s first, fully-fledged, paid-content strategy was not in place until the Spring of 2015 with the launch of SZplus. The new subscription programme encompassed the previously free SZ.de website. Content on the SZ site is now a mix of free, metered and premium. Visitors can see basic news coverage for free and up to 10 articles written by correspondents and reporters every week before being prompted to subscribe. Paying subscribers get access to between five and 10 exclusive articles every day. Ahead of the SZplus launch, there was no precedent in the German market for a subscription product with a price point around 30 per month. The mixed model provides the flexibility to tweak the offering, allowing editors to change access to articles depending on what is working without dimin- Don t underestimate how much time and investment it can take, but building a printing business with all the presses and logistics wasn t cheap, either. Stefan Plöchinger Editor in-chief, SZ.de 28 Europe s successful paid content strategies

35 Current subscriptions 50,000 Target subscriptions 200,000 Annual growth 30% ishing the site s reach or causing readers paywall frustration. Subscriptions are available at 1.99 for a day pass or a month, with a discounted student subscription offered at Print subscribers can extend to take digital for an additional About a third of SZplus subscriptions come from print readers who want to live in both worlds, with a growing number looking at digital on weekdays and print on Friday and Saturday. Subscriber-only ipad and Android apps for the daily digital edition are still popular with readers who want a finite, recognisable product. Digital journalists and print journalists at Süddeutsche Zeitung now work to the same underlying business model and any artificial separation between the units has been removed. Teams are working more closely together, and some have been integrated, although clear organizational distinctions have been maintained where necessary, in SEO, for multimedia storytelling or for beat reporting for example. As Germany s largest national quality paper, SZ already had an established reputation for quality content introducing SZplus was mostly about selling it better and more aggressively. The launch of SZplus called for a technology reboot, from login systems and data warehousing to dynamic content delivery. This was a reasonably lengthy project as there were not many standard solutions involved. KEY FACTS: Model: Hybrid Launch: 2015 Paid digital subscribers: 50,000 Price point: 29.99/month 29 Europe s successful paid content strategies

36 SCOTLAND The National Experimenting in a niche Paper introduced on five-day trial following Scottish independence referendum, celebrates second anniversary, building digital subscriptions alongside newsstand sales We used free access from social media initially to build engagement The National is a new daily newspaper and website published in Glasgow, Scotland, by the Herald & Times Group, owned by Newsquest. Sister title to the Sunday Herald, the experimental paper was launched following the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 as Scotland s only independence-supporting daily newspaper. While its reach is still small, the paper has carved out a very clear niche for itself among a community that has felt underserved by other areas of the media. During the referendum campaign, it was a regular complaint among Yes campaigners that there was a clear No bias among the majority of the Scottish media. Newsquest s Sunday Herald was the only national paper to take a pro-independence stance, bringing it a 35% increase in circulation for the second half of We had a real spike in sign-ups late last year off the back of a campaign we created to highlight that former Conservative minister Michael Gove called us the worst newspaper in the world. Callum Baird Editor, The National 30 Europe s successful paid content strategies

37 Readership 15,000 Digital subscribers 4,000 The National was launched in March 2015 to build on the Sunday Herald s pro-independence success. Initially introduced on a five-day trial with no permanent staff, it now has a regular staff of 12 and combined print and digital readership of about 15,000 with about 4,000 digital subscribers. The website features a metered paywall that allows access to five articles every 30 days before making users register. Registered users can access a further five articles before being prompted to subscribe. Although it no longer gives free access to users coming from social media, it used an open social access strategy for its first year to build traffic and engagement. The paper builds its subscription marketing efforts around the uniquely Scottish angle, promoting good national journalism and in-depth national news coverage. It had been adding new subscribers at the rate of about 50 a month, but received a flurry of new subscribers recently after a campaign highlighting Michael Gove s comment that it was the worst newspaper in the world. At the moment, there is no print subscription offer for the National, so all subscriptions revenues are digital. Two digital packages are offered, web-only access costs less than 1 per week for four weeks or for a year. Adding a page-turning tablet edition costs 3.30 or 125 for a year; annual subscriptions qualify for free gifts including golfing discounts, a bottle of whisky or a Kindle Fire. Additional revenue has come from the launch of an online shop selling items like the Scottish Passport Holder and a calendar that sold out before Christmas last year. KEY FACTS: Model: Metered Launch: 2014 Paid digital subscribers: 4,000 Price point: 3.99/month 31 Europe s successful paid content strategies

38 UK The Times & Sunday Times Reinforcing perceptions of value Message to readers is that staying well informed is worth paying for, metering allows complimentary access to just two articles a week What makes you different from the free competition? When News UK put up The Times & Sunday Times paywall in 2010 there were more than a few sceptics who didn t believe the publisher could build a significant, and sustainable, online subscription base. Six years on, The Times & Sunday Times report more than 180,000 digital-only subscribers. The driver for the papers success has been an uncompromising position on paid content, a belief that the key lies in managing and maintaining customer perceptions of value. Subscription growth has been driven by a clear proposition: That quality content is worth paying for. This idea has been reflected in the Times marketing messages to lapsed subscribers, not guilting them into acknowledging that content costs money to make, but challenging them with the idea that by not renewing they are making a decision to be less well informed. If you re going to be paid for, you have to have that key kernel of difference from your competitors - find out what makes you different and focus on that. The ones that have made a success of paid models have been really specialist. Alan Hunter Head of Digital, Times & Sunday Times 32 Europe s successful paid content strategies

39 Total Subscribers 413,600 44% of subscribers are digital-only This also marks a shift away from a long-held belief that the value in a subscription was only about trust and authority in the brand. Following direct discussions with readers, management found that subscriptions came from more than brand values; customers saw their subscriptions almost as an investment in being well informed. Customer research has also led management to re-consider how customers consume news. Although the open Internet gives people the opportunity to read every story, every day, the reality is very similar to how it always was in print. Times subscribers were reading the equivalent of a paper once a day and then dipping in once or twice at other points. This led to a 2016 revamp with The Times introducing mobile editions at 9am, 12pm, 5pm. Management reported a 9% subs engagement uplift off the back of the change. The Digital Pack, which give web access, a tablet edition and a smartphone app as well as Times+ offers and events, and the Classic 6-Day Pack, which replaces the tablet edition with The Times in print six days a week, both cost 6. Current subscription offers centre on a three months for the price of one deal across a range of print plus digital and digital-only packages. A clever subscriptions wizard that walks prospective customers through reading preferences, including print and digital options and general interests, and recommends the most appropriate offers. Non-subscribers can only view content by registering. Then they are given complimentary access to two articles a week. KEY FACTS: Model: Hard paywall Launch: 2010 Paid digital subscribers: 182,000 Price point: 24/month 33 Europe s successful paid content strategies

40 NORWAY Verdens Gang Using data to drive conversions Norwegian tabloid engages staff across departments to leverage engagement with free content and target subscriber recruitment Get the whole media house on board establish KPIs on user payments in all departments Verdens Gang AS (VG) is a Norwegian newspaper owned by the Schibsted group. Founded in 1945, VG is now Norway s biggest newspaper. The group introduced its VG+ ipad app in 2011, winning Best ipad newspaper at WAN-IFRA in its launch year. In 2013, VG+ upgraded the initial app to work across ipad, iphone and Android. Last year VG+ had 97,000 paid subscribers across phone, tablet and web, an impressive number in a country of just 5 million people. VG AS has adopted a freemium model, making breaking news available for free on ad-supported web and mobile sites. Paid-for VG+ content is promoted through the free sites with data insight helping to determine what content gets promoted. Editorial as well as commercial considerations play a part in VG+ subscriber recruitment efforts, with live data available to editors to help determine the duration of article promo- Paid content will be more and more important to future publishing strategies. We might even say it will be crucial for growth and survival as we see a great decline in revenues from print circulation, single copy sales and in advertising. Jane Throndsen Head of Paid Content, VG 34 Europe s successful paid content strategies

41 tion, page placement, and overall conversion rates. Data can also be used to identify evergreen stories that are successfully converting. Cost (kr) Subscription packages: daily cost vs. total cost 1.80 per day 3 month subscription 2.20 per day 1 month subscription 1 week subscription 5.60 per day The business recently reorganised its editorial department, merging the VG+ and VG Helg weekend magazine teams. This positioned dedicated reporters to create content for all paid products, digital and print. One key factor in reorganising editorial has been to focus former-print only journalists to think about how stories will be published digitally early in the planning process. VG+ is available at a variety of price points, with the longer subscription terms giving subscribers discounted daily rates. Weekly subscribers pay the highest daily rate, at kr 5.60 per day. For annual subscribers, this is discounted by over 70% to just kr 1.60 a day. The paper also uses flash sales to bring in subscribers; commercial staff using campaign data to optimise the campaign period, price range and sales pitch. One 24-hour campaign last year offered a 50% reduction on new subscriptions. It brought in around 4,000 subscribers, increasing the VG+ subscription base by 5% in one day. The introduction of VG+ and the drive for paid-content revenues has brought organisational challenges throughout the publishing operation. Management has worked to share ownership of the paid-content model across the business, introducing common KPIs on user payment and encouraging tight cooperation between editorial, commercial and technical departments. KEY FACTS: Model: Freemium Launch: 2011 Paid digital subscribers: 97,000 Price point: Kr 65/month 35 Europe s successful paid content strategies

42 More from The state of the media 2017 The state of the media 2017 report gives TheMediaBriefing s community of 50,000 senior media professionals unprecedented insight into the key trends that will shape the media landscape in We ve surveyed hundreds of our C-level readers and painstakingly condensed days worth of reading into one 90 minute briefing, covering all the means of revenue generation we could think of, from data to video. Download The state of the media 2017 here. If you re interested in becoming a partner for our next report, contact Chris via: christopher.amhoff@briefingmedia.com. Digital Media Strategies takes place 20th - 23rd February 2017 at Kings Place, London. The event brings together a global audience of over 400 CEOs and senior leaders from news, magazine, broadcast, B2B, STM and digital pureplay media businesses. Over four days of case studies, analysis, workshops, training, round table discussions and tailored networking opportunities, it focuses on the key strategic challenges behind developing a profitable and sustainable media business in a digital world. Now in its sixth year, it has now become the key venue for addressing the big-picture challenges facing the industry February 2017 DMS USA: 6-8 September 2017 The British Media Awards highlight the best in business across the entire media industry. From the rising star award to the outstanding contribution to British media awards; from the launch of the year award to the media brand of the year award, our expert panel of judges recognise excellence and innovation across the whole industry. The British Media Awards highlights innovation wherever it comes from be in in print newspaper, a digital business website or a mobile version of a consumer magazine. Our aim is simple: to celebrate inspiring and creative ideas that are changing the way the media industry works. 3 May Europe s successful paid content strategies