How to Implement a Paywall

 How to Implement a Paywall

 

Business In the 21st Century, it is growing increasingly challenging for many Media companies, especially Publishers, to capture the attention of consumers, compete in a broader marketplace and ultimately drive (or even retain) revenues. The Publishing industry is largely seeing a shift in its customer base from traditional print circulation to digital as a means of content delivery and consumption. This is driven mainly by a proliferation of internet enabled devices building on a vast improvement in broadband internet services actually changing the way consumers are receiving and viewing content. The short history of internet-delivered publishing content has largely been on a free to view basis but with ever-falling print subscribers and the corresponding loss of advertising revenues, Publishers are forced to find new ways to monetise their content and they are finding that paywalls can enable them to achieve that very goal. Establishing project prerequisites A paywall is briefly a system

 which prevents internet users from accessing webpage content (most notably news content) without paying to access it. The larger debate of the pros and cons of paywall implementation is not something which we are attempting to highlight here, but assuming a paywall has been identified as a requirement, there are a number of factors which need to be considered in the implementation process. Firstly, there needs to be some analysis of the business requirements, the customers and the content on offer. Deciding which content to offer for sale requires an understanding of the purchasing habits and requirements of the customer. By looking closely at what content they choose to purchase, as well as the price they are happy to pay and even looking at potential objections and drop off points on a customer journey all helps to build a picture of the ideal commercial offering. Paywalls also must work closely with other revenue streams such as online advertising. Business decisions should be made where one is not utilised at the expense of the other before a project begins. Crucially, understanding the value content of the offering and the perception is vital to making a decision about costs and

 potential sales and again this should be factored into a project prior to implementation. There does also need to be an understanding of not only current customers but future customers. The implementation of a paywall and the potential to centralise entitlements and offer content delivery across multiple channels, including smartphones and tablets, as well as apps, means that the potential to diversify a company’s core readership is high. Bearing tomorrow’s readers in mind is also important from the outset, not least as habit forming begins early. Another key consideration is whether the new service is expanding and leveraging existing services or is a stand-alone service. If the digital offering is expanding on a print service then managing the transition needs to be factored in. Offering a centralised entitlement so content is consistent across