Best ways to sell online news subscriptions
The print media publications have been on a downward spiral for many years. Since people want information right away instead of later, online news websites have a significant advantage.
If you’re thinking about starting an online news website, you may be considering options to sell online news subscriptions. When it comes to monetization, apart from selling advertising space, subscriptions are another revenue source for online newspapers.
If you haven’t thought of this strategy yet, you should definitely incorporate online newspaper subscription sales into your plan.
Many major newspapers are selling subscriptions online, and gradually the hyperlocal publishers are also incorporating the strategy.
Getting a subscriber is a smart option as the subscription market is tremendously growing, and besides, subscribers generate reliable, recurring revenue.
To successfully adopt this monetization strategy for your publication, you must put the right measures in place. Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to sell online news subscriptions.
1. Design perfect Subscription sign-up pages
Subscription sign-up pages are the best tools to influence and encourage readers to take action and become paying subscribers.
Use a clean layout and user-friendly design for the sign-up page. You can use exit pop-ups on your website to make it cool. Ensure you highlight the best deal and create a sense of urgency with calls-to-action on your sign-up page.
2. Build an Email list
Most beginners who start running news sites do not build their email lists. You can use Mail Chimp to start building your list for free. You must collect the email list of hundreds of potential buyers and not any mere uninterested people. An email list helps build a relationship with your subscribers and later enables you to convert and monetize.
3. Know your reader interest
You must know what types of content your readers are fascinated by and which content they are bouncing over altogether. You can utilize analytics to get a better idea. You can filter the results for the website visitors and subscribers by using the accurate tool once you get an idea of the content that can engage readers and create related content to light up the subscription rates.
4. Learn what separates subscribers from non-subscribers
You must perform some in-depth study to learn the traits which differentiate visitors from subscribers. You can analyze the data of visitors based on similar subscribers’ behaviours to discover potential subscribers. The visitors with similar interest to subscribers are most likely to subscribe in future. You must next target such visitors with personalized and applicable subscription promotions through pop-up ad or email.
5. Restricting archived content to subscribers
It is one of the common ways of selling online news subscriptions to allow premium content access to subscribers. You can thus encourage interested visitors to pay and thus increase sales of online news subscriptions. However, make the subscription worthy enough for readers.
8. Ad-free digital subscription
Advertising is a significant source of revenue. A website with decent traffic can enable publishers to make a high income using the Banner Ads, Pay per Click ads etc. You can try offering an ad-free digital subscription for the subscribers. Significant publishers have already tried and implemented the strategy successfully.
6. Reasonable pricing
Whether you are a big publisher like the New York Times or just a hyper-local publication, you can set monthly costs for your subscription. However, you must make sure the amount is justifiable. You can study the market and examine what competitors in your market are charging for subscriptions. You must adjust your costs to the offers available on your news website. If you need to put a hefty subscription price, you must offer exclusive benefits that nonpaying visitors cannot access.
7. Provide good ROI for readers.
The best ways to sell online news subscriptions online is to attract readers with a good ROI for readers!
Sometimes the content you provide to your subscribers is accessible elsewhere on the internet. So, the subscribers may not find your content worth investing. You must give a good return of investment to the subscribers. Try to offer full access to website archives, podcasts, videos, exclusive articles and other digital content.
You can also offer Ad-free access to articles which many will love! Apart from that free downloads of high-resolution images, videos and exciting gifts like bags, t-shirts or other accessories from local businesses.
Over to You!
So these were some of the best ways to sell online news subscriptions online.
However, the number of visitors and subscribers to a news website majorly depends on few other factors such as a good website, quality content, effective strategy to drive more traffic etc. It would help if you worked hard to get the right balance between these factors.
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