Digital Transformation and a Shift in Mindset: How to Grow Reader Revenues

Your audience is your most valuable asset, yet they are not a homogenous group. Readers come in different flavors, so publishers need an agile approach for building engagement with each of their segments, based on the type of information or content they subscribe to, and how they prefer to access it.?With older adults carrying the bulk of print subscriptions, growing digital revenue is heavily dependent on capturing the enthusiasm of a diverse audience.

That being said, customers who read the print edition of a newsletter also tend to read the online edition. Print is still in demand - research with newsroom employees in the US found that 34% of respondents, mostly reporters and editors, spend the same amount of time working on print as they did three years ago, and 27% now dedicate more time to print products.

While print remains the stalwart for revenue, it has been predicted that digital revenues will overtake print by 2027, so publishers need to prioritize digital transformation. The first step is to understand the fundamental differences between print and digital subscriptions:

• Print subscriptions offer a one-size-fits-all product, with a set number of issues, delivered via an ownership model.
• Digital subscriptions offer usage-based or time-limited online access to specific content.

Adding digital subscriptions to your product catalog - and encouraging your readers to move from ownership to access - brings a whole new level of complexity, which requires a shift in mindset.

Three mindset shifts to grow reader revenue

1. Focus on the value proposition, not the delivery method

Adding digital subscriptions to your current print offering requires a change to your readers’ habits. However, adopting a new habit doesn’t necessarily negate an established one - for example, a customer may have an eReader, but still reads printed books. Be careful to not confuse the method of delivery with the value proposition. Instead, consider the attributes and advantages of the digital environment that could be used to deliver a better experience for your target audience.

2. Use engagement data to stay relevant

Understanding your readers’ engagement and viewing history enables you to identify potential information gaps and areas that need expansion. This means that the platform you use to create, manage and deploy subscriptions is an important choice. You don’t have time to piece together data from siloed systems, and you can’t afford gaps in your engagement data that could lead to irrelevance and churn.

Keeping up with readers’ wants, needs and preferences for engagement means being ready to pivot when they do, so ask questions and collect data that helps you to identify trends. The platform you choose must allow you to act quickly to launch new products - even combining print and digital – in a manner that is simple and effective.

Reader experience defines revenue potential, so ensure an easy-to-navigate, clutter-free layout on the devices your readers use to access your content. But remember that your digital transformation may not be a clear path from print to web, instead going from print to mobile to web, as the use of desktops and laptops to access content declines.

3. Adopt a product perspective

Develop a product mentality by choosing to think of your publications, articles, topical coverage, newsletters, podcasts, mobile apps and digital experiences as products. Of course, the biggest hurdle with products is getting your target audience to use or consume them. With an infinite number of choices, and a real limit to available time and attention, there is no guarantee that customers will choose your product.

Adopting a product perspective requires you to think about your audience in a different way:

1. Reader segmentation: Who wants the information and why will they find it valuable?
2. Reader engagement: What additional elements can you use to extend participation? Videos, sidebar information, commentaries, discussion forums, and so on, are all good options.
3. Reader expansion: Which adjacent products and services could be combined to create a bundled offer? Could you deliver the main story in print with extended coverage available in digital, creating a crossover experience?

The importance of data cannot be overstated, but be sure to prioritize measurable insights and results. With third-party cookies making an exit in 2023, strengthening your first-party data is essential for understanding your readers, which in turn is essential for growing engagement, subscriptions and loyalty. This data is also a key resource for attracting targeted advertising revenue.

Innovation is the key to booming revenues

In 2021, digital readership was up 14.3% compared with the previous year, while print readership was down by 2.6%. Now is clearly the time for innovation. In fact, research from World Press Trends shows that publishers with an innovative culture are seven times more likely to report “booming” revenues, compared with those less open to change.

To achieve real growth in reader revenue, innovation must go beyond the paywall of digital subscriptions. Yes, you gain revenue from readers who submit to the paywall, but true innovation offers more than just a choice between print and digital formats. ?

Of course, the ability to get your innovations to market faster is dependent on having the right billing and subscription platform. An agile and flexible platform, tailored to the needs of the media and publishing industry, will enable you to launch new subscriptions as your readers demand them, without IT intervention. It will be able to communicate with other systems for upgrades, downgrades and entitlements, it will provide your finance team with the data they rely on, and – arguably most important of all - it will set you on the path to booming revenues.

Written by: Ruth Bennett - Director of Content and Digital Marketing, Aria Systems