September 5th, 2024
Background
As one of the largest media groups in the U.S., Advance Local reaches 55 million people each month through 10 trusted news organizations. With a mission rooted in impactful local journalism, it became an essential source of information during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering timely, reliable coverage when communities needed it most.
But while audience engagement surged, advertising revenues faced mounting pressure. Recognizing the need to future-proof its business, Advance recognized the importance of focusing on growing reader revenue. To do so, it needed to better understand what content its readers truly valued. That’s when Advance turned to Sophi to uncover deeper insights into content performance and accelerate the growth of its new subscription business.
Objectives with Sophi
Advance initially launched a paywall featuring both a metered approach and premium content, achieving promising early results—particularly with its premium offerings. Still, the team believed there was more opportunity to capture. To refine and accelerate its subscription strategy, Advance implemented Sophi’s Dynamic Paywall Engine. This enabled them to harness deeper, data-driven insights into content performance and better understand the key factors that drive conversions, engagement, and sustained reader loyalty.
We wanted to see how much farther Sophi could take us, so we tested Sophi Content Paywall on one of our largest sites. The results were transformative. We were hoping for a 10% lift in conversion rate and Sophi delivered four times that result. We’re continuing to roll out Sophi solutions across more of our sites as we speak.– Neil Katz, Chief Customer Officer, Advance Local
Path to Success
Advance implemented Sophi’s Dynamic Paywall Engine on one of its largest sites, Cleveland.com. Leveraging advanced natural language processing, the technology analyzes every article in real time and determines which content should be placed behind the paywall—selecting only those pieces where the potential subscription revenue exceeds the advertising revenue that would be lost.
To evaluate its impact, Advance ran an experiment comparing Sophi’s performance alongside its existing paywall. The results validated their decision: Sophi drove a 45% increase in subscription conversions and revealed valuable content opportunities that editors hadn’t previously identified as subscription drivers.
Impact and Results
The 60-day test delivered impressive results. Sophi not only boosted subscription numbers dramatically but also outperformed the editorial team’s own decisions. Rather than simply replicating the newsroom’s successful paywall choices and avoiding mistakes, the algorithm uncovered entirely new pockets of value—driving incremental subscriptions in areas previously untapped.
Throughout the experiment, both the test group and the editorial control group saw roughly the same number of paywall prompts. Yet Sophi’s approach proved far more efficient, delivering a remarkable 45% increase in subscription conversions—quadrupling the team’s original goal for the test.
Conclusion
The successful implementation of Sophi’s Dynamic Paywall Engine marks a pivotal step in Advance Local’s transition to a reader-first revenue model. The remarkable 45% increase in subscription conversions not only surpassed initial expectations but also revealed new areas of untapped value, empowering the editorial team with data-driven clarity. This partnership highlights how technology and journalism can work hand in hand to build a more sustainable future for local news.
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