WDH#5 - Dynamic paywall? What does it even mean ??♂?

Helloooo you!

I'm Max, the CEO of Poool & The Audiencers.

Welcome to my (new) newsletter: Weekly D*se of Hacks, by Max.

The pitch is simple: Having worked with over 150 digital publishers to launch & grow their subscription business, this weekly ‘d*se’ of inspiration and innovation is here to share our experience developed at Poool. Tried and tested tips and hacks used with Poool clients to help you engage, convert, and retain your audience. In a 5 min weekly digest. Without the bullsh*t.

In short: practical ideas to test today that will help you scale your business. Today, not tomorrow.

I hope you’ll find it instructive, useful, and kind. Let's dive in! ??

PS: This is a conversation, so if you don't agree with me, or if you have any ideas on how we can move forward, I'd love to hear from you!

Master the basics: Before thinking about a dynamic paywall, you need to have 1 perfect paywall journey for every user and every context.

Remember, we’ve been talking about that: if you want your paywall to work, you need to make each step of your journey work, from exposition to conversion.

Yes, there are multiple steps:

1. The user arrives on your website ;
2. They get exposed to the paywall
3. They see the wall on their screen
4. They click on the wall
5. And they convert

This is typically the data we track at Poool.

Source: Q3 Online Media Conversion Funnel report (only for Poool clients ??)

That’s a long journey for your user. Before thinking of a dynamic paywall, you need to master those steps. Until perfection.

You can check the resources from my previous newsletter:

1. Master your paywall exposition and visibility
2. Master your paywall clicks
3. Master your paywall (and funnel) conversion potential

Once you’ve mastered those simple hacks, we can talk about … dynamic paywall

Dynamic paywall? What does it even mean ??♂?

First, does it make sense to set up a dynamic paywall?

Yes, Yes and …. Yes;

Let’s just look at 2 numbers:

• Conversion rates are 4 times higher on desktop than on mobile (source)
• Registered users are 40 times more likely to convert than volatile users (Source 1 - Source 2 below)

So of course you’re not going to use the same words, options, and offers for a 1st time user as a registered one.

That doesn’t make sense.

And we’ve seen that work. Pushing product value messaging for fans instead of pricing-only messaging increases the conversion rate by 107% for Ebra.

If you think about it, this is pretty obvious: do you welcome the same way a stranger and your best friend when they knock at your door? No of course. That’s the same here.

Definition of a dynamic paywall

Here is a definition (actually, my definition): a dynamic paywall is when you serve different paywalls for different users OR different contexts (type of content, device, source, …).

“Serve different paywall”, what does it mean?

• Different formats (full screen, integrated into the article)
• Different designs (for the same format, different colors, and graphism)
• Different messages (CTA, value proposition, …)
• Different offers and pricing? (Pushing 1 offer, 2 offers, or the right offer)
• Different redirection (sending the user to the right step of the funnel)
• AND different journeys (opening access for a user, and closing for another)

And there is a huuuuuge misunderstanding about dynamic paywalls: people usually think dynamic paywall/dynamicity (hello Madeleine) means having a machine learning algorithm (or even IA?) deciding which content to open or close. It might be, but that’s only 1% of what a dynamic paywall really means.

This example from Jeune Afrique is a dynamic paywall: The content is locked for every user but with a specific message for users based in RDC (Congo)

On the left: Choose to be well-informed

On the right: Don’t miss out on any news from the Republic of Congo (RDC)

Results: CTR rose by +135% for the RDC version versus the classic one.

This example from the Wall Street Journal is also a dynamic paywall: This is also a dynamic paywall. The content is locked for every user but with specific pricing for 2 different types of users.

Freemium and hard dynamic paywall

“So can I have a freemium or hard model, let my journalists choose the content they put behind the paywall, and make my paywall dynamic.”

YES, WE CAN YES, YOU CAN

If you have a freemium model or hard model, you can make your paywall dynamic by playing with those variables:

• Different format (full screen, integrated into the article)
• Different designs (for the same format, different colors, and graphism)
• Different messages (CTA, value proposition, …)
• Different offers and pricing? (Pushing 1 offer, 2 offers, or the right offer)
• Different redirection (sending the user to the right step of the funnel)

And that can drive huge results. Here are 2 examples

1. The 1st one is about serving a different messaging and offer for old subscribers
2. The 2nd one is about serving a different messaging and designs when users read some content about their local football club

Metered dynamic paywall

If you have a metered model, you can play with the same variables AND an extra one: Different journeys (opening access for a user, and closing for another)

The most iconic example is the New York Times. When I wrote my article on the NYT paywall in 2017 (here), the journey (I was in) was:

• 5 articles for free
• Then a wall that suggests subscribing (you can refuse)
• Then 5 articles for free
• Then you’re asked to subscribe.

And now it’s:

• Registration
• Then 1 or more articles

How do they go from 10 to 2?? By testing different journeys (number of articles) based on personal and contextual data.?

Full? dynamic paywall

A hybrid or dynamic paywall means that you are not thinking about opening/closing some specific content, or opening/closing a specific quantity. You’re just thinking about creating the most value for both the user and you.

And it will depend on your goals:

• Maximizing ARPU?
• Maximising subscription?
• Maximizing both registration and subscription?

In any case, there are 2 main approaches:

1. The machine learning one;
2. The pragmatic one.

There is no better or worse solution, just a solution that works for you. We will cover this part in next week's WDH. As well as a “how-to” guide to start.

?? How Poool can help you in the subscription jungle?

• (of couuurse) you can set up a dynamic paywall with Poool platform: Here is a 5-minute video that shows how to A/B test your paywall design.
• Ask Poool for templates: Do you want to have the same paywall that the NYT, Lagardere, or Ebra? But you don’t have time for the setup? Just ask the team for some templates. It’s free :) Want a fancy one? Ask your success team to make it for you (only for clients ??)
• Last but not least, a (recap) of our latest webinar to supercharge your paywall strategy with Mather & Sophi.io. You can find the replay here (it was huge)

?? Useful reads to get some inspiration

• Paywall and SEO: everything you always wanted to know about. In 1 webinar.
• The Evolution of Paywalls, Pricing, and Trials in the News Industry
• NYT, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal paywalls analysed.

That's all from me for today. I am looking forward to hearing about your results.

Wishing you an excellent week! ??

Max

P.S. If you'd like to invite other members of your team to subscribe (or just receive this version through email for LinkedIn readers), you can do so here ??