EXECUTIVE SERIES:
Get four key insights about newspaper paywalls and digital subscriptions from research with 900 U.S. news consumers
Learn How Targeting a Narrower, More Engaged Customer Base Can Rescue a Declining Industry
Netflix. Spotify. Apple iTunes. As the cliché goes, content is king. These companies have profited mightily from creating customer-focused platforms for digital content.
However, the industry with the most respected content of the past few centuries has struggled to make that leap. What can newspaper publishers do to transform their customer experience to be able to profit from consumers' growing hunger for digital content experiences?
This issue of the MECLABS Institute Executive Series explores four key insights from consumer research and expert interviews. Our goal is to arm newspaper executives with research-based ideas that they can test with their audiences.
These insights were formulated from:
- A survey of 900 people who earn at least $40,000 and spend at least three hours a week consuming print or digital news
- Interviews with industry and academic experts
Read the Executive Series and get ideas on how to increase the probability of converting the many readers who are open, but have not yet committed, to digital subscription news products.
“It’s better to have a … smaller collection of loyal, engaged customers that pay a significant amount to support your journalism than trying to have … more that pay virtually nothing.”
KEY INSIGHTS
This three-month study led to the discovery of four key insights:
- Because digital subscriptions lack a perceived product-level value proposition, consumers have commoditized digital news content.
- News consumers have been conditioned to expect a seamless digital experience.
- Exclusive content is the primary motivation for subscribers.
- Customers are waiting for you to ask them to engage.
EXPERT CONTRIBUTORS
To add qualitative perspective to the quantitative survey data, industry and academic experts in the field weighed in on the current state of the industry.
|
Peter Doucette Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing The Boston Globe
|
|
Michael Brunt CMO and Managing Director of Circulation The Economist
|
|
Charles Duhigg Author The Power of Habit Senior Editor The New York Times
|
|
Ava Seave Principal Quantum Media Assistant Adjunct Professor Columbia Journalism School
|
|
Randy Bennett Executive Director, External Relations College of Journalism and Communications The University of Florida
|
|
Craig Barberich Head of Media Zuora
|
|
Flint McGlaughlin Managing Director MECLABS Institute
|
About the MECLABS Institute Executive Series:
Research that provides actionable knowledge and a competitive edge
The MECLABS Institute Executive Series is designed to give a high-level look at customer preference and attitude data, which you can leverage to test new products, messages and strategies with your own customers.
In each edition of the Executive Series, you will find:
- Survey results that measure the pulse of key marketplace segments
- Research distilled into insight that you can apply to your own business
- Strategic ideas you can immediately put to work with your teams to drive more revenue
