5 Ways to Make Paywalls Suck Less

How digital publications can improve on the "Times" model and keep readers in the digital fold.

Mar 29, 2011
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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Yesterday, the much discussed New York Times paywall went live, marking a bold new step to reverse the long building tide toward free print content online.

The Times model is sure to be emulated by other print publishers grasping for revenue straws in the future, but, like any experiment, it's not without its flaws. Here's where we think the Times paywall goes right and wrong, and how other content creators can do better.

5. Preview the Goods

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There are plenty of sales tactics that work like gangbusters in the physical world, but don't hold up online. Sneak previews aren't on that list.

The most crucial thing to remember when digging a moat is building a bridge: online readers need ample opportunity to come inside, kick off their shoes and sample the goods -- even if you're going to kick them out later.

The Times gets this right by always making front page articles free, and by allowing 20 inside articles per month also free of charge. But even better than that is the big first-month sale the paper announced on launch day, emulating the initial discounts of other digital subscription purveyors like Netflix and Rhapsody. Readers can now get all the Times digital content they can eat, a $35 value, for just 99 cents during the first four weeks.

If publishers want to get online readers on the hook, they definitely can't skimp on the bait.

4. Keep Payment Plans Simple

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When no one wanted to pay for music anymore, iTunes got wallets to open up again by enforcing a strict 99 cents per song rule. Just as important as the price point was how straight forward the system was: consumers didn't have to fret about complicated price structures, just one, simple, flat rate.

For the more diverse array of content offered by a digital newspaper or magazine, a tiered system makes more sense. But publishers should favor only a few digital subscription options, rather than divying up content into too fine slices.

The Times makes a misstep by forcing subscribers to choose between the iPhone and the iPad app or pay a steep $15 dollar premium to get access to both. The subscription packages look like this:


$15 for Web access + smart phone app.


$20 for Web access + iPad app.


$35 for All of the above.

This system overcharges for an isolated iPad experience while giving away the smart phone app with the most basic web plan. Instead of frustrating iPad customers by denying them the smart phone access, an alternative would be to give iPad customers all access, while charging Web only subscribers more to get in the app game. i.e.:


$15 for Web access


$20 for Web access + smart phone app.


$30 for All of the above + iPad.

With this plan, the $20 option looks the most appealing (as opposed to the $15 option in the Times system) and each moderate increase in price gets you more and better content. A more palatable payment plan = happier consumers = more money to be made. Simple math.

 

3. Don't Be a Nag

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Much has been made of the holes in the Times paywall, but those focusing on the ways to cheat the paper are missing the point. People who are set on getting their news for free are set on getting their news for free. On the Internet, there will always be a cohort willing to hack around content restraints-- that's the nature of the beast. If you take a draconian stance and expend resources playing whack-a-mole to fight all the baddies, you play a losing game and risk alienating a broader audience.

What the Times understands is that the smart thing to do is to rely on the better angels of your readers-- that segment of the audience that values your content enough to support it. The primary purpose of a good paywall isn't to keep out invaders at all costs, but to encourage people to come through the front door.

2. Print is Premium

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Charging for digital content is fine and good, but most stuff online isn't seen as having the same value as the physical counterpart and customers simply aren't likely to pay as much. The Times tries to skirt this logic by pointing subscribers to its pricey $35/month all accesss digital subscription, a rate that is actually $70 more per year at $455 than the five-day-a-week print paper which only costs $385. Since print subscribers get all digital access for free, the Times is essentially saying: "If you want to read us regularly but won't take all these dead trees off our hands, it's going to cost you."

Surely this is backwards thinking. As tempting as it is to use digital content as leverage for pushing more print subscriptions, smart publishers in the digital space should realize that growing the amount of customers willing to pay for the digital content is the chief priority for thriving in the future media landscape. Those subscribers who want to hold the print issue in their hands already know that the product has a value and have shown that they're willing to pay more for it.

1. Make Content Soar

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There's a great new documentary about the modern New York Times making its way around the festival circuit, but the best underscore for the new digital subscription plans comes from a scene in another new film: the Conan O'Brien documentary, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop.

After announcing his post-Tonight-Show live tour, Conan is humbled by the news that he's sold out some of his biggest venues within a few hours... long before even he knows what his act will be.

"There's nothing to motivate you to put on a show like selling a bunch of tickets," he quips.

Erecting a paywall is a lot like selling tickets to a show that many people are accustomed to seeing for free-- the pressure first and foremost is to make it worthwhile. The functions of newspapers and magazines have value, it's historically true and it can be true online. But whatever value they can attain in today's climate of content farming is in direct proportion to quality.

The easiest way to make a bitter pill like a paywall go down smoothly is to remind readers daily how enriched their lives are because good journalism is a part of it. That means thoughtful, well-informed writing and breathtaking multimedia content.

Flaws aside, it's tough to think of a better organization to set that standard than The New York Times.

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