Case Studies

At just three years old, Readly has experienced rapid growth and is defining success in the digital magazine publishing space. Now offering nearly 1,100 magazines and more than 17,000 issues in 49 countries, learn more about Readly in this exclusive INSIDER Case Study.

"BOB" stands for "Best Of Business" and BOB.tv was established to deliver premium knowledge content to industry practitioners. The company leverages a subscription-based learning platform, aggregating high-value content used by professionals to build skills and stay abreast of industry knowledge. In this case study, learn why Tony Lorenz, Founder & CEO of Bob.TV, decided to focus on video content and how he has grown was BOB.tv; via innovative partnerships with respected industry associations to deliver content to -- and beyond -- it's professional member base. Still in early-growth phase, BOB.tv has hit upon a unique, scalable model for success that we can all learn from.

Starting with just the spark of an idea, founder Ben Wolford put his journalism education and instincts to work, creating Latterly magazine last fall. This digital-only magazine features the type of narrative journalism Wolford admires yet seldom finds. Within a matter of months and some crowdfunding, Wolford took this idea and turned it into a subscription hybrid business model, combining revenue streams to fund and develop a publication he expects to break even in less than a year.

Nineteen years ago, psychotherapist Dr. Victor Yalom had a vision to capture the teachings of his mentor Dr. James Bugental on video for training purposes. That vision has turned into a seven-figure online subscription business that offers education and training to clinical psychotherapists across the country.

Politico Pro is proving that politics-oriented publications can flourish behind a subscription-based business model. With a large editorial team covering 14 public policy verticals, quality journalism and attention to detail has driven their growth into a successful subscription public policy news outlet in just three short years. Learn how subscribers are paying thousands of dollars for the convenience of email updates. Plus, find out how the site is getting a 96% retention rate and optimizing email for engagement via smartphones!

The rumor mill says local newspaper are dying, but The Texas Tribune is demonstrating how digital-native local news can flourish, even with a nonprofit model. Publisher Tim Griggs spoke with us about the site's multiple revenue streams, including subscriptions and memberships, and how the site is bringing general political news to a niche market. This is a great Case Study for anyone interested in using both membership and subscriptions (and yes, they're different) to boost their bottom line, or looking for a business model to support mission-oriented content. Finally, get tips on paywall optimization, the effective use of crowd-funding, and why social media does matter (even if it won't make you a dime).

What's the most important rule of innovation? Fail fast. Innovation Excellence Research (IXR) - a website dedicated to innovation for business professionals - takes that to heart with its new premium subscription model. Chief Research Officer and Principal Analyst Doug Williams spoke to us about the company's pivot to an innovative revenue model after a disappointing launch. Plus, discover interesting pricing benchmarks and why retention is so difficult for research library models.

For big sites like Euromoney Institutional Investor, site traffic is not a problem; getting qualified leads from all their traffic is. In this Case Study, Ben Eva, Global Head of Conversion Management, spoke to us about how Euromoney is testing marketing automation technology and tactics on five of the company's 100 brands. Discover how you can use this technology to score leads and hand off more qualified prospects to your sales team.

CellarTracker offers wine enthusiasts an online database to store, track and update their tasting notes and maintain an inventory of home wine cellars. In this exclusive Case Study, Founder Eric LeVine talks to us about how this B2C site in generating 7-figure revenues with a freemium model and "pay what you want" subscription program. Find out how the site gets 40,000 -- 50,000 unique visits a day, and is converting 8% of its user base into paying subscribers. Plus, discover the one tool CellarTracker is using to prevent site scraping.

As software companies adopt subscription models, they offer important lessons for other subscription content sites. In 2013, Bonitasoft -- the makers of business process management (BPM) software -- saw an 82% increase in their subscription revenue through savvy marketing tactics. In this Case Study, lead and demand generation specialist Mac McConnell spoke with us about the company's freemium product, how a community discussion forum helps engage prospects and subscribers, and why B2B sales are best conducted with a mix of marketing automation and real-person support. Plus, discover how content syndication and "road shows" can boost your lead generation.