How can readers pay?

However, even in the most developed markets, where users are accustomed to paying to watch movies, listen to music, etc., online, not all news organizations have been successful in implementing paywalls. The choice of model depends on the specific characteristics of each news organization.

In the ever-changing landscape of digital media, news organizations face the challenge of balancing broad audience reach with sustainable revenue generation. The report, “Success Stories with Reader Revenue Models,” published by WAN-IFRA earlier this year, emphasizes the importance of finding a business model that aligns with each organization’s strengths.

Wall charges reduce advertising revenue.

According to a WAN-IFRA report, readership revenue should ideally account for around 40% of a news organization's total revenue. This is considered ideal, alongside revenue from advertising, events, sponsorships, and service businesses.

But after the peak of "hard-paywall" subscriptions (where all content is locked behind a paywall), many news organizations realized that placing paywalls on previously free content wasn't effective. This reduced advertising revenue and failed to attract enough new subscribers.

Therefore, WAN-IFRA suggested the freemium model, combining free content and premium content (requiring subscriptions to access) to address this challenge. This is considered the optimal approach to balancing advertising and subscription revenue for several compelling reasons.

First, the freemium approach cleverly connects the need for widespread content access with the requirement to generate sustainable revenue. Offering a significant portion of content for free allows news publishers to attract high traffic, which is essential for advertising revenue. Simultaneously, premium content acts as a clear value proposition, encouraging readers to subscribe for exclusive or in-depth material. This strategy caters to both general and specialized readers, optimizing revenue from both advertising and subscriptions.

Secondly, the freemium model significantly enhances user experience and engagement, which is crucial for building loyalty in the digital age. Allowing free access to a portion of content attracts a wider audience and fosters regular reading habits, potentially leading to higher subscription conversion rates. This approach also maintains the news organization's visibility on search engines and social media.

Third, the freemium model offers a "try before you buy" experience, aligning with modern consumer expectations and demonstrating the quality of the publication to encourage subscription purchases. Its flexibility allows news organizations to adjust their paid subscription structure, ensuring effectiveness over time based on data about user behavior and preferences.

Research shows that the freemium model has been the most widely adopted globally in recent years. This model is easier for readers to understand because it clearly states: some content is free, and other content requires payment.

Freemium might be the right model.

Interestingly, tabloid newspapers, which previously relied on viewership and digital advertising, are now succeeding with a flexible freemium strategy.

Earlier this year, the Daily Mail shifted its strategy to a "freemium" model, specifically targeting readers in the UK to boost revenue. While some articles on MailOnline (around 10-15 articles daily) are placed behind a paid wall, the vast majority of content (nearly 1,500 stories per day) remains free. This decision marks a significant turning point, as the platform had previously been adamant about not charging readers.

The Swiss-German newspaper Blick launched its freemium paid wall in June 2024. In its first eight months, Blick+ attracted over 16,000 subscribers, nearly 80% of whom had previously subscribed using the free subscription wall. The subscription wall strategy began by limiting viewing to just one article per day for a small group of users (2% of the total audience) to gauge their reaction. Over time, this approach expanded, eventually offering 10-12 articles per day to Blick's entire audience (approximately 1.2 million people). Articles are carefully selected as they are considered valuable enough for people to consider paying for a subscription. The current Blick+ model limits approximately 10% of the website's content (around 200 articles per month) to subscribers.

The German tabloid Bild launched Bildplus in June 2013, reaching 700,000 digital subscribers by the end of 2023 – making it the largest subscribed newspaper in the German news market and one of the most popular paid news websites in the world . Approximately 12-15% of the news brand's total online content is paid, and the goal is for around 30% of articles in the homepage to be subscriber-only.

The examples above are expected to inspire news organizations in many countries to adopt the freemium model instead of other models that are considered less flexible.

Of course, thanks to technological advancements, including AI, news organizations have smarter pricing strategies by analyzing user data. The West Australian once saw a surge in paid subscriptions when it used the robot Sophi to label articles as premium instead of relying on editors' subjective judgment as before, because AI understands reader behavior and preferences better than seasoned editors.

Clearly, while understanding that revenue from readers is an inevitable direction, the deciding factor is choosing the right model. Adrian Gottwald, head of reader revenue at Blick Group, explains that they chose a freemium approach because they wanted to give subscribers access to a wide variety of content without significantly reducing the website's advertising revenue. Daniel Mussinghoff, senior director at Bildplus, shares this view, adding that Bild still has "enormous potential" and has not yet reached its growth limit.

Is that enough for other media outlets to consider learning from?

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/lam-the-nao-de-nguoi-doc-tra-phi-706273.html