Case Studies

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.

When you've got a passionate community of readers like Tricycle does, you have to tread carefully when it comes to changing your revenue model. We spoke with editor and publisher James Shaheen recently about Tricycle's decision in 2008 to switch to an online membership model and how it not only slashed the nonprofit's fundraising burden, but also led to a $200,000 revenue surplus last year. Read on to discover how the site is getting a 10% free-to-paid conversion rate, an 80% retention rate, using focus groups for price testing, and upselling subscribers on events and retreats. This is a great Case Study for any mission-oriented or nonprofit publication that thinks financial sustainability is outside its grasp!

If you're looking to get inspired by innovative content offerings in the digital subscription department, Jackson Fish Market never disappoints. Last year we profiled its first subscription site, A Story Before Bed. This week, we spoke with CEO Hillel Cooperman about the company's new subscription service -- Slide Bureau, which allows small businesses and professionals to create unique and artistic slide presentations. Cooperman discusses why the iPad app is worth a subscription, why the company is eager to produce custom templates, and why humility is the best approach when launching a new digital subscription product.

What do you do when you have a great subscription product an entire company can benefit from? Sell one division first! We spoke with Sharon Gillenwater, Principal and Founder of Boardroom Insiders, about how this subscription database is using internal champions to shorten its sales cycle. Plus, discover some great content marketing tips for database publishers, why designing a homepage like a landing page is a great idea for B2B sites, and one of the few times PayPal is a great choice for a payment processor.

In December, The New York Times featured Susan Miller's Astrology Zone app in a story about how popular apps are trying to find a revenue stream through paid subscriptions. In this Case Study, we interviewed Miller to get the actual data and stats, which included a 1.3% conversion rate. Read on to discover the pros and cons of the mobile app subscription industry, from awesome member engagement tactics like push notifications to a lack of control when it comes to renewal marketing. Plus, discover the one time social media has a better ROI than email marketing!

Virginia Lawyers Weekly (VLW) has been able to stay both relevant and profitable over a 27-year period, no small feat. Find out how this local B2B publication is leveraging trade show booths like no other and making both its print and Web content highly valuable to subscribers. Plus, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Paul Fletcher tells us how the site is getting a 91% retention rate with a simple practice.

In May of 2013, Enigma joined 30 start-ups vying for attention from venture capitalists at TechCrunch's Disrupt NY. By winning that contest (and $50,000 in seed funding), Enigma's visibility exploded, gaining the site 10,000 opt-ins for its free trial without any SEO whatsoever. In this exclusive Case Study, CEO Jeremy Bronfman spoke to us about how the site is on track to garner 7-figure revenues entirely from subscriptions, the hidden market for APIs, and the downside of massive publicity and broad appeal when it comes to conversion.

Northstar Media successfully changed the tire on a moving car in 2011 by leveraging its existing databases to launch travel42, a B2B subscription database providing customizable reports to travel agents in the US and Canada. We spoke with Tom Cintorino, EVP Digital Media, about how travel42 created a site and content with a better value proposition than the free, user-generated travel reviews out there, as well as how the site acquires new subscribers through marketing deals with travel consortia. Plus, find out how the site is getting an 87% retention rate and selling site licenses with tiered pricing.