Key Digital Subscription Metrics INMA Media Subscriptions Week 3.0 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Subscription Accelerator: Key Digital Subscription Metrics

February 26, 2020

INMA Media Subscriptions Week 3.0

Session Overview

Objective: Discuss 10 key metrics that significantly impact digital subscription performance Background: These metrics were developed during the Google News Initiative North America Subs Lab, a year-long collaborative program of 10 local publishers attempting to scale digital subscriptions and revenue Subs Lab Impact:

Key Metric Framework

3

ENGAGE ATTRACT

1 2 3 5 6 7 4 Customer Journey Select Metric(s)

Audience Penetration Subscriber Penetration Visit Frequency | Site Depth Visits per UV Page Speed Registration | “Known” Audience % of “Known” UVs Paid Subscriber Conversion Intercept Rate Starts per UV Purchase Intent Article Count Distribution Monetization Effective ARPU Retention | Engagement Monthly Churn Rate Newsletter Sub %

CONVERT RETAIN

4

10 Key Digital Subscription Metrics

1 2 3

Visits Per Unique Visitor % Known Visitors Article Count Distribution

4

Intercept Rate

6 7 8

Newsletter Subscriber % Monthly Churn Rate Effective ARPU

9

Page Speed

5

Starts Per Unique Visitor

10 Subscriber Penetration

DEFINITION Visits Per UV = Visits / Unique Visitors [Monthly]

5

• Visit frequency is the most

critical metric for establishing customer stickiness

• Publishers should seek an

average of 2.0x+ Visits per UV

• Newsletters | push notifications
• AM |PM editions

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers

Goal

DEFINITION % Known Visitors = Known UVs / Total UVs [Monthly]

• Increasing “Known” audience

allows for more effective marketing as well as an

• ptimized user experience
• Target known audience of 5%
• Newsletter sign up
• Registration

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers

Goal

DEFINITION Article Count Distribution = % Per Article [Monthly]

• Guides paywall strategy to
• ptimize intercept rate
• Roughly 70% of traffic

reflects 1 article “fly-by” traffic

• Recirculation efforts
• Newsletters

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers

DEFINITION Intercept Rate = Paywall UVs / Total UVs [Monthly]

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers Intercept Rate by Paywall Setting Industry

• Intercept rate is a critical measure

for indicating the tightness of a publisher’s paywall

• Most publishers have intercept rates

that are too low given their digital subscription objectives

• Adjust paywall settings – meter,

premium content, archive, etc.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

Goal

DEFINITION Starts Per UV = Starts / UVs [Monthly]

9

• Ultimate measure of

subscriber conversion effectiveness of current audience

• Publishers are converting

less than 0.10% of UVs per month

• Maximize subscription

funnel and email marketing efforts

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers

Goal

DEFINITION Newsletter Subscriber % = Newsletter Subs / UVs [Monthly]

10

• Newsletters are key path to

conversion along with subscriber engagement

• Publishers push for

newsletter signups with varying degrees of frequency

• Increasing the number of

newsletter signup options (inline, modal, exit intent, purchase flow, etc.)

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers Newsletter Subscriber %

DEFINITION Monthly Churn Rate = Cancellations / Subscribers [Begin Month]

11

• Subscriber retention is critical to

maintain growth trajectory

• While typical churn ranges between 3-

4% month, publishers should minimize churn via two-pronged approach for voluntary and involuntary churn

• Subscriber nurture | engagement

practices

• Non-pay churn by automatic credit card

update services and recycling

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers

Goal

DEFINITION Effective ARPU = Subscription Revenue / Subscribers [Monthly]

12

• ARPU may be more

important for driving sustainability than both conversion and penetration

• Industry price leaders

exceed $20 per month for Digital-Only subscribers

• Price Testing
• Tiered | Premium Models

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

GNI North America Subs Lab Publishers Industry

Goal

Large Med Small

Page Speed [Home Page Measurement]

13

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Mobile Desktop

GNI Subs Lab Leading Publishers

• 50%+ of visitors bounce if a site

doesn’t load fully within 3 seconds [Google NCI Playbook]

• Few publisher prioritize page

speed

• Mobile is particularly slow
• Consistent measurement |

auditing

• Organizational priority –

understanding tradeoffs

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

Goal Goal

Page Speed Live Test [Google Page Speed Insights]

14

Subscriber Penetration = Subscribers [Cumulative] / UVs [Monthly]

15

• Overall measure of digital

subscriber success

• Target 1.5% - 2.0% in the

immediate term; 2.5%+ in the long-term

• Making digital subscriptions

a priority across the

• rganization
• North star metric

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT? WHAT’S THE GAP? HOW DO WE ADDRESS?

Goal

Q&A

Thank You

PETE DOUCETTE

MANAGING DIRECTOR | BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

PETE.DOUCETTE@FTICONSULTING.COM 617.747.1709

EXPERTS WITH IMPACT

™