Question

Topic: Research/Metrics

Converting Registered Users To Paying Subscribers.

Posted by mary.kelly on 2/15/2013 at 7:01 PM ET 250 Points
We've got an opportunity with a list of registered users for our paywalled online content. Looking for some best practices for converting them to paying subscriptions. We are in process of warming up the lists to begin email communication with them. Got any best practices to share? Particularly interested in length of sales funnel data for similar pureplay products and any average conversion rates.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by mgoodman on 2/15/2013 at 8:49 PM Accepted
    It will all depend on what's in it for your registered users to become paying subscribers. WHY would they want to pay for a subscription? What compelling benefit do you offer?

    If the value isn't there, there is no strategy that will be successful. And if the value is high (compared to the price) and obvious, you won't have a problem converting folks. So it all boils down to the perceived value of what's behind the paywall.

    This is a case where some research among the registered users is in order. It doesn't have to be terribly expensive, but it needs to be well thought-out, carefully executed and analyzed by a professional. You want to know not only what will get them to pay, but also what words they use when they discuss the benefits they perceive, and what concerns they'd have (about paying for your content).
  • Posted by Moriarty on 2/16/2013 at 3:01 AM Accepted
    You need to do some work on your subscriber list first.

    Segmentation: the subscribers who you want as paying subscribers, the subscribers who won't ever pay and the subscribers who you don't even want on your list because of the trouble they cause.

    That is when Mr Goodman's advice on research becomes powerful. You can then phrase your argument in such a way that the better subscribers do, and the latter subscribers (the bad ones) don't.
  • Posted by koen.h.pauwels on 2/16/2013 at 7:58 AM Accepted
    Dear Mary,

    I agree with the great advice by Moriarty and Michael, except for "if the value is high, you won't have a problem converting folks". As consumers, we are all overwhelmed by a mix of free and fee options to satisfy a need - and sometimes do not recognize the value of a fee option. You have to work on both increasing perceived value AND lowering perceived obstacles. Key is to get people to experience the benefits of your offer (typically with a free trial) so they will miss it when they don't pay, and then lower the fee obstacles by making it very convenient to do so. MarketingProfs itself is an excellent example: when it went from free to fee, it used effective marketing communication and price discounts for first subscribers (as studied in the Journal of Marketing paper by founder Allen and myself).

    Good luck! do let us know what happens,

    Cheers

    Koen Pauwels
  • Posted by mary.kelly on 3/4/2013 at 12:51 PM Author
    Thank you all for your submissions. We do have a win in the fact that we will be presenting the sub offer with a significantly lower price than it has been. Another compelling benefit is that it is the only on-demand source of local news. We are segmenting them during a warm-up phase by recency of log-in and later I'm hoping to target them by frequency of log-in. Love the research advice from mgoodman. Perhaps an email survey with incentive might be in order. Again, thank you all.
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