This piece is based on a case study of how French publisher – Alternatives Economiques – relied on newsletter inscriptions and registration walls to boost its paywall conversions.
A hard paywall strategy may prove successful for premium publishers like The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. But it may not work well for smaller publishing businesses because users ideally need time to engage and interact with content before opting for a subscription.
So, publishers can present users with a newsletter wall that blocks content and asks readers to sign up for a weekly newsletter in exchange of free access to articles. Such a soft conversion step enables content discovery, increases engagement and develops strong reader relationships. But, they should make the CTA clearly indicates that passing through the newsletter wall would give readers access to an entire article, for free.
Publishers can even integrate payment into the wall to simplify the process and reduce a step in the overall conversion funnel. However, a newsletter wall strategy also comes with certain limitations. For instance, there may be a large time gap between a user passing through the wall and finally opting for a subscription. Yet, this strategy can help publishers build a foundation for their registration strategy in the long run.
[5 minute read]
