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Minal Bopaiah

How to Create Scarcity — and Importance — with Online Content

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Technology /

Marketing experts know that creating a sense of scarcity (even if there’s abundance) can create more value around a product, and thus, significantly help drive sales. Just think of how Apple ensures that its supply of new iPhones always trails demand (thus driving more demand). We’ve discussed before how online subscription marketers can create scarcity with a timed subscription offer. But scarcity was also long used by the editorial departments of print publications to convey the…

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‘Smart Suggest’ Lets Subscription Sites Set-Up Formal Refer-a-Friend Campaigns on Facebook

News, Subscriber Acquisition /

While social media isn’t great for acquiring paying subscribers, it can be a great traffic driver for subscription content sites, particularly those with a freemium model. Yet to date, few subscription content sites have a formal referral tool. At one point, Facebook had an option to “suggest friends” on fan pages, but that tool was discontinued. But fortunately, and independent developer known as VTools created Smart Suggest — an easy-to-install Facebook tool that lets current fans recommend…

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Zinio Moves to Subscription Model, Making Magazine-Hopping Easier

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps /

Zinio, the digital magazine newsstand, recently launched Z-Pass, a subscription service that allows consumers to get 3 magazines for $5/month. Best of all, the subscription plan adopts a Netflix-style to magazines, allowing subscribers to swap out titles. So one month, you can read Popular Mechanics, Fit Pregnancy and Esquire, and the next it’s Discover, Cosmo and Inc. Zinio has the advantage of being the first digital magazine platform on the scene, founded in 2001 — eight…

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How Behavioral Targeting Can Increase Member Engagement for Subscription Sites

Business Services, News /

While behavioral targeting, also known as behavioral advertising, is mostly being employed by eCommerce sites, is also a useful traffic driver and engagement tool for subscription and paid content sites. For example, Consumer Reports uses behavioral advertising to advertise it’s website (and get online subscription sales) on other content sites, such as the Christian Science Monitor. But behavioral ads aren’t just for B2C sites. During this week’s Members-Only Webinar on Subscription Site Insider, Erik Matlick, CEO of…

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TheStreet Makes $10.4 Million from Online Subscriptions

Business Services, Business Strategy, FInance, News /

TheStreet recently reported that it saw its online subscription revenues increase 13% compared to the same quarter the previous year, for a total of $10.4 million. The increase is largely attributed to TheStreet’s acquisition of The Deal last September for $5.8 million, which allowed the company to add new newsletter subscriptions to its existing subscription services (which already included six newsletter subscriptions and a host of other subscription services). The number of paid subscriptions by the…

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Politico Tests Metered Paywall in Six States, But Pledges to Remain Free in DC

Business Strategy, Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition /

Here’s an interesting market test for online content — selectively subject your audience to it based on geo-location. You largely don’t hear about geo-location testing anymore, yet Politco has decided to adopt this artifact of market research to test its audience’s receptivity to a metered paywall. Starting next week, readers in Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, Mississippi, New Mexico and Wyoming will be subjected to a meter count when viewing the site’s currently free content (Politico already…

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Social Networks for Elite Adopt Paid, Subscription Models

Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition /

If you attended Subscription Site Summit, you got to hear David Chun speak about Equilar Atlas — a paid social network for CEOs and senior executives. But Chun is not alone, as more and more social networks and membership sites adopt a paid, country-club model. The latest is ASmallWorld, which positions itself as an “international community of culturally influential people.” The site is charging €85 a year for invitation-only memberships. Previously, the site tried to be free,…

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Vimeo and T-Mobile Launch Paid, On-Demand Streaming Video

Entertainment and Streaming, Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition /

While major video streaming subscription sites like Netflix and Hulu have been busy making deals with major networks and big-budget original programming, little indie films and tv shows finally seem to be finding profitable platforms online. After crowd-funding helped support a Veronica Mars movie starting Kristen Bell, a little independent film, also starting Bell and known as Some Girl(s), is getting play time on Vimeo On-Demand. That’s right — the step child of user-sourced video creation…

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Case Study Lessons: Online Chat Is a Dual Investment for Subscription Sites

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscriber Retention /

While traditional acquisition methods, such as in-person sales calls and leveraging industry contacts often work best for B2B subscription sites, some smart online marketing tactics can be beneficial as well. That’s the attitude Datamyne has adopted, much to their advantage. As we show in this week’s Case Study on Datamyne on Subscription Site Insider, the B2B subscription database has a strong in-house sales staff. But it’s also employed an online chat feature, which Lisa Wallerstein, VP…

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Subscription Model Unlikely for Indian Audiences

Business Strategy, Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition /

For those looking to launch abroad in India, we’ve discussed before how business eBooks are a particularly good bet, especially when targeted to young Indian men. However, entertainment and more B2C content may see more resistance to paid content models, particularly online subscriptions. “We do not see a subscription model emerging in India anytime soon,” Manjit Singh of Multi Screen Media told Business Standard. “This is because in India, when you buy an internet connection, people say they…

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