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Been thinking a bunch about this lately. The other side of this would be to make clear to users just what the value they are exchanging is. Chronotope/775681723262787584Permalink On twitter.com
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Google's tools (the paywall-as-spotify model) are interesting, but still lack an important element: explaining to the user why this much?Permalink On twitter.com
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In mobile gaming, when the potential reward is strongly connected to the monetary ask, they seem to be able to get money easily.Permalink On twitter.com
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I think the first wrong assumption is that readers translate their values and needs in the same way journalists do.Permalink On twitter.com
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Yes, the average reader values press freedoms, democracy, etc ... but they don't think about it that way. With exceptions for some pubs.Permalink On twitter.com
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Obviously the post-Trump subscription bump (assuming it continues into first renewals) shows that this *is* a thing some readers care aboutPermalink On twitter.com
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But not all, or even the majority, of site readers think about it that way. Why not?Permalink On twitter.com
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Theories: 1. They have a hard time translating the cost of a subscription into the value of their personal freedoms.Permalink On twitter.com
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2. They don't believe that journalism is going to effectively defend those freedomsPermalink On twitter.com
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3. They value freedoms and information but don't contextualize it in a way that matches supporting it for 'great justice' the way media doesPermalink On twitter.com
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4. They think someone else will pay for it and there is no threat to their fav media orgs that should concern them.Permalink On twitter.com
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5. They do not believe that a media org delivers the value that matches or exceeds the asked cost.Permalink On twitter.com
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6. An extreme excess of supply means that they would rather move to a different publication than satisfy their personal demand via pay.Permalink On twitter.com
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Impact metrics and making them public are obviously hard. Every ONA I've been to has had at least one session on it.Permalink On twitter.com
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More than that, 3 years of being hard on the MTA (just an example) may cause change, but no one can reasonably draw a line from A to Z therePermalink On twitter.com
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So maybe we deal with the impact *not* paying has on the user? Like this minute. The minute they arrive on the site and are blocked.Permalink On twitter.com
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We could prob learn something from the mobile games industry here as well (as terrible as some of their casino-style techniques are).On twitter.com
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We could try not blocking people entirely without providing multiple options. We could provide three levels:Permalink On twitter.com
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4 levels of paywall entry: A. Time is Highest Value, Cost is Minor Value - Pay something small now for immediate entry to Just This Article.Permalink On twitter.com
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B. Cost is of Highest Value, Time is of Low Value- You must consume this ad to (and we make this clear) give us $ x.xx so we can give accessPermalink On twitter.com
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C. Cost is Highest Value, Time is Low Value, interests are non-specific- You cannot enter any article, but let us show you our best articlePermalink On twitter.com
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(C I think about a lot, it could also combine a bit with B, here's our best article and extra ads. Imagine the site b/c StumbleUpon-ish)Permalink On twitter.com
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D. Journalism's Values are my Highest Values, Cost is minor value - standard subscription ask.Permalink On twitter.com
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There's also the possibly that a user values journalism's values but also considers cost a major impediment. I think B is prob the solution.Permalink On twitter.com
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So, if our ad tech gives us an expected response in terms of revenue for a single page load, we can translate that into clarity for usersPermalink On twitter.com
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& if we build out a common API for transactions, that merges well with mobile device payment authentication, we can give readers a choicePermalink On twitter.com
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"You can view ads on this article or pay us the 12 cents (or whatever) we'd normally earn in ad views."Permalink On twitter.com
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This differentiates STRONGLY from Spotify-the-News techniques b/c it directly connects the current page with a current value and explanationPermalink On twitter.com
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Spotify works because, as a consumer, I value music as an undifferentiated product. But the news is VERY differentiated.Permalink On twitter.com
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Arriving on a song & knowing that my subscription fee is going, in part, to that song is a fine model because my goal is to listen to musicPermalink On twitter.com
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But people have very different goals for reading the news, sometimes different goals by reading different outlets, or articles...Permalink On twitter.com
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A system that assumes equal value between an article aggregating tweets about a celebrity's mag cover & a WH leak is suboptimal.Permalink On twitter.com
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Blendle works better outside the US b/c outside the US publication's avenues, style, and quality of coverage are IMO, more tightly definedPermalink On twitter.com
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But US publications, especially digital ones, try to do everything. For a user, it becomes unclear what they are paying for.Permalink On twitter.com
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Also, even people inside news orgs don't understand how they monetize. It would be better to make it clear to readers how money contributes.Permalink On twitter.com
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Spotify-style requires too much trust & preexisting knowledge from users. Paying by the single article doesn't. IMO, esp if costs are clearPermalink On twitter.com
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Ways to make cost clear for a better ask, show: time it will take to read; time it was in edit workflow; potential ad value w/o paywallPermalink On twitter.com
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In the long run a minor monetary ask will likely bring more profit to a publication than bombardment of big ones. AnnaTarkov/900355937851985927Permalink On twitter.com
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What we would need to make this happen: flawless fast transactions w/o registration to the site, on desktop. PS: qz.com/1057490/a-patent-that-helped-amazon-take-over-online-commerce-is-about-to-expire/Permalink On twitter.com
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Registrations are too long, paying is too complicated. Register with fill-ins from a social platform or not at all AnnaTarkov/900356607162425344Permalink On twitter.com
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If you're worried about leads, you're already constantly prompting for emails for topical newsletters; so don't sweat getting people's emailPermalink On twitter.com
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For mobile, you have to integrate to the payment tools on the device. Look at literally any "free-to-play" mobile game as an example.Permalink On twitter.com
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When I want to buy the currency in a mobile game that is connected to IRL dollars, it is a prompt for my fingerprint on Android and done.Permalink On twitter.com
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We also need to have a better understanding of revenue from an engineering standpoint.Permalink On twitter.com
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To make clear to the user what their single-article ad footprint is worth, so we can ask to supplant it, we need to figure it on our sidePermalink On twitter.com
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We need to provide a discreet and clear time cost as potential exchange. Right now, that cost exists but as background stress in ad loads.Permalink On twitter.com
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Instead we could (again) look to free-to-play: Watch a single high value video ad of X length in exchange for reading this site.Permalink On twitter.com
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The very nature of that ask means the ad would be very high value, guaranteed viewable, high impact.Permalink On twitter.com
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I know that sounds crazy, but pick up a F2P mobile game and they literally all do it. A service exists to make it work, prob more than one.Permalink On twitter.com
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The important thing is it can't be a *surprise here's an interstitial* ad like we often do now. It has to be an ASK or it doesn't work.Permalink On twitter.com
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IMO, that's how we should be dealing w/ad blockers too. People turn them on for a reason. Don't ask them turned off, provide an alternative.Permalink On twitter.com
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Drawing a direct clear reward b/t watching an ad & the value of the content is established and users understand it AnnaTarkov/900360289417388032Permalink On twitter.com
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Make the return they get from an ad watch or minor payment clear and give people expanded options to buy things other than a month's sub.Permalink On twitter.com
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Like mby they just want a discounted total by buying 3 articles at a time. Etc...Permalink On twitter.com
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And finally we need to provide a fourth way: Subscriptions, one-off Payments, Ads, and... lower level consumption AnnaTarkov/900360538957508608Permalink On twitter.com
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A major tricks of F2P games is even if you don't pay you end up doing stuff in game that keeps you engaged while watching clock tick downPermalink On twitter.com
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If your response is to push people off your site, then they leave and you lose the opportunity to connect them to something they value.Permalink On twitter.com
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So response to people who don't want ads & don't want to pay shouldn't be to block them off from the site, but to provide a low-lvl productPermalink On twitter.com
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One good idea is to give them some sort of daily pass. Most F2P games have daily quests that keep people coming back MattSaccaro/900362124962037760Permalink On twitter.com
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Another good thing comes from thinking about what exactly the product is that people want from a news site. Besides the news I mean.Permalink On twitter.com
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Talked up-thread about how one characteristic of US news orgs that make Spotify-models unsuitable is how differentiated they are internallyPermalink On twitter.com
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Pursuing a particular vertical w/in a publication, t/f, is a value. And we now are thinking about people paying specifically for an articlePermalink On twitter.com
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We can also use cookies to track & store information about what they want without storing information internally AnnaTarkov/900357816178716672Permalink On twitter.com
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So if you don't want ads and you don't want to pay and you've consumed your daily free portion of content what's the next thing?Permalink On twitter.com
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We control the choice. Put a timer for how long to next free thing up top, put a money amount to say what an article is worth and then...Permalink On twitter.com
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Turn your site into StumbleUpon mode, use their preferences to select free articles for them from the archives.Permalink On twitter.com
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What this does is A: increase the chance they'll stumble on and distribute something that would normally not see the light of day anymore.Permalink On twitter.com
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And B: make it clear that what they're paying for is choice and control. A clearer and more immediate value to many than 'saving democracy'Permalink On twitter.com
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They will stay more engaged in your site, increase social lift for the brand, and have a clearer understanding of the value of the work.Permalink On twitter.com
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Basically what we're hinging on here is that not all readers value the news in the way journalists do. We prob can't change that, but...Permalink On twitter.com
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... we can offer alternative ways to present the access cost of a news site in ways that those readers do understand and value.Permalink On twitter.com
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And we can provide rewards consummate with their values. Ex: Stumble an article every day & unlock an increase to your weekly paywall cap.Permalink On twitter.com
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Sharing things via publisher tools might also unlock ad cap.Permalink On twitter.com
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The 'pay w/a like' model mostly hasn't worked, but mby b/c we ask for pay b/f they can see what they are paying for. Combine that w/StumblePermalink On twitter.com
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This model would even reward journalists because it would increase traffic to old and long form articles.Permalink On twitter.com
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If your CMS can output wordcount, you can include that as a factor of what to present when your site is in 'Stumble-mode'Permalink On twitter.com
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I dunno. None of this is guaranteed to work (obviously) but we need to think about other models and get outside our own value system.Permalink On twitter.com
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The thing that people say when talking about spending money in F2P games is that they don't mind paying to better use something they love.Permalink On twitter.com
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We need to move away from a model that is 'use journalism or don't' to 'use journalism or use journalism better'.Permalink On twitter.com
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Especially because putting people in a position where 'don't' is a possibility can have actual dire possibilities for democracy.Permalink On twitter.com
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This thread is too long already but if you take away anything it should be: empathize & understand all users, not just ones you agree w/...Permalink On twitter.com
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...because different people have different values that doesn't make them wrong/unreachable. It just means you need to provide more options.Permalink On twitter.com
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If sketch as fk F2P gaming can get people to pay regularly into their platforms, surely all hope is not lost for media doing same, betterPermalink On twitter.com
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