Newsrooms have fewer than 10 seconds to convince a reader to become a paid subscriber, said Colleen Kimmett, a Google News Initiative trainer. The company’s AI-powered News Consumer Insights (NCI) can help.
NCI offers tools and strategies to help publishers retain readers, optimize the user experience and drive newsroom loyalty for revenue models. The presentation focused on two reader revenue models: subscription-based publications that keep content behind a paywall and a contribution-based model funded by readers.
“You really need a more emotional bond, a reason why people would want to give,” said Kimmett, noting that contribution-based publications have seen more success in hyperlocal newsrooms with deep connections in the communities they cover.
Photo by Paisley Huang.
Newsrooms should optimize engagement by experimenting with article layouts, such as adding data visualizations, audio features, summary sections and improving site speed, Kimmett said.
They often include a call-to-action prompt to convert and retain supporters. For example, in its call for donations, The Guardian, which provides free articles, shows readers how many stories they’ve read in the past year at the end of every story.
“Going back to your value proposition, why your organization exists, what purpose it serves and using that to inform whatever calls-to-action you’re making on your website,” Kimmett said.
Successful call-to-action cases assure readers they can cancel their subscription at any time, address decision fatigue by highlighting the most popular subscription plan or specify what readers would spend money on, Kimmett said.
For example, one Ukrainian newsroom experienced an increase in reader support after telling readers that revenue would be used to buy a generator during power outages caused by the war.
A 2024 consumer report showed that 78 percent of U.S. consumers would prefer to see more ads rather than pay for to access websites, Kimmett said.
For more information on News Consumer Insights, click here.