Tuesday 7th November: Day passes tempt never-subscribers at Advance Local

November 07, 2023

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There’s just one month to go until Mx3 AI; a live event in London from Media Voices and Media Makers Meet. We’ll be featuring sessions on AI in local, national, consumer and B2B media, as well as discussions on innovation, developments and regulation.

Advance Local finds a way to reach prospects on their terms

Advance Local implemented an audience segmentation model that buckets prospects according to their readiness. This provides the first of many steps to align offers to where a prospect is in their subscription journey.

www.inma.org/blogs/ideas/post.cfm/advance-local-finds-a-way-to-reach-prospects-on-their-terms

There’s a lot to learn in this piece from a number of angles, but my favourite (yes I’m going to poke the micropayments bear again here) is what Advance Local learned from introducing a Day Pass.

A vast number of visitors to paywalled publisher sites aren’t going to subscribe - it’s too big a leap for the limited time they spend. But gating single articles behind walls in exchange for a few pennies has too much friction for readers and publishers to bother. But day passes? Now we’re talking.

“Of the 1,826 day pass purchases, 12.3% have subscribed,” Advance Local’s Debbie Tolman writes. “Interestingly, 2% of day pass purchasers are repeat buyers. This indicates a portion of the audience rejects the commitment of a subscription. They are willing to pay a premium price to avoid commitment.”

What to expect at our upcoming AI-focused event for publishers

There’ll be plenty to learn from all of the speakers, but here are just a few of the sessions we’re most looking forward to at Mx3 AI.

voices.media/what-to-expect-at-our-upcoming-ai-focused-event-for-publishers

If you’re looking into how AI could help your business or you’ve already got a few automation projects under your belt, there’ll be something for you at Mx3 AI. The (pretty much) full agenda has now been released, so I’ve gone through and picked out the ones I’m most looking forward to hearing.

Will Lewis Named C.E.O. of The Washington Post

The former Dow Jones executive most recently co-founded The News Movement, a start-up aimed at young audiences.

www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/business/media/washington-post-will-lewis-chief-executive.html

We don’t often feature hiring news here for a variety of reasons but given this is for one of the most prominent news publishers in the world, this profile is worth a scan. If you couldn’t care less about who’s running WaPo now, click here to find out who Gannett hired as their first full-time ‘Swiftie’ journalist.

As digital subs overtake print at i, editor Oliver Duff explains why future is bright for title

Digital subscriptions revenue is forecast to be paying for most of the i's editorial budget within four years, according to editor Oly Duff.

pressgazette.co.uk/paywalls/i-editor-oly-duff-digital-subscriptions-reader-revenue-dmgt

A good one which slipped the net just before the weekend: digital subscriptions at the i overtook print subscriptions about three months ago, and is proving to be a ‘healthy, sustainable model,’ according to editor Oly Duff. There are some eye-opening charts in here too, from the huge quantity of sales which come from newsstands, to the Covid drop-off in print circulation which hasn’t ever come close to recovering.

Why did the Covid print circulation drop-off never recover, and why are people who once bought the i every day no longer doing so since lockdown, even though daily life has returned to ‘normal’? Answers in our community forum please!

More from Media Voices

Motor Sport Magazine's Zamir Walimohamed on making subscriptions work

Zamir tells us about how Motor Sport Magazine has managed bringing print subscribers into its digital ecosystem, and more.

voices.media/motor-sport-magazines-zamir-walimohamed-on-making-subscriptions-work

We need to talk about podcast listener numbers

Most podcasts probably get fewer listens than you think. As the gold rush continues, are we in danger of skewing podcast listener numbers to try and keep up?

voices.media/we-need-to-talk-about-podcast-listener-numbers

Nine things we learned making an indie print magazine

The Grub Street Journal is a magazine for people who make magazines. Here are nine things the team learned making the print-first magazine.

voices.media/grub-street-journal