The Athletic’s secret to a 25% visitor-to-subscriber conversion ratio

Hello & welcome! 
This week, we’re introducing a new format.

Twipe has rebranded, and we’ve revamped this newsletter to give you more insights into what’s happening in the news industry.
What can you expect:

• Weekly stories on media industry trends, case studies, and key events.
• Monthly in-depth analyses on key topics with our insights.

We’re excited to grow this community and would love your feedback on our new format. 

Happy reading, 

Sarah Cool-Fergus & Carlo Prato 

P.S. We’ve got a little gift for you at the end of the stories! 

The Athletic’s secret to a 25% visitor to subscriber conversion ratio

The results are in. Press Gazette released its ranking of publishers with “the highest ratio of digital subscribers to online audience”. 

Source: Press Gazette

What’s going on at The Athletic? The Athletic has a conversion rate of 25%, which is incredibly high when compared to the industry median of 0.6%. The fact that it’s bundled with the New York Times and is a niche publication (more engaged audience) has certainly contributed to its success. Other possible reasons could be that it’s a great year for sports (Olympics, Euro, Copa Americana, Grand Slam) and its success in converting newsletter readers to subscribers.  

These results show the exception rather than the norm. Only brands with over 100,000 subscribers were considered, which can skew the results. A 2022 INMA study among 166 publishers shows that the median conversion rate is 0.6%, so this ranking shows just how exceptional these results are.

But we can still take away some common factors for success:  

• Specialist or niche publications represent 4 out of 5 of the highest ratios.  
• Hard paywalls force readers to register to access the content.
• The longer a publication has had a paywall, the more likely it is to have a larger number of digital subscribers. 

Daily Mail courts YouTube 

Catch up: The Daily Mail is investing in creating long-form video content on YouTube to attract younger audiences and generate ad revenue.

Why it matters: The 2024 Reuters Digital News Report, which we covered last month, shows that younger audiences are increasingly turning to video for their news.
Among younger audiences:  

• 72% of news video consumption happens on video platforms (such as YouTube and TikTok).
• 51% watch long-form videos, compared to 66% for short-form. 

They’re not alone: The most popular news channels on YouTube are led by broadcasters, but there are still quite a few traditionally print-focused papers on the platform. The Sun and The Guardian have strategically built a presence on the platform and have seen great success.  

What’s next? Already boasting 3.8M subscribers on YouTube, the Daily Mail is hiring 12 full-time staff to create 20 shows to be released over the coming year. According to Digiday, shows will focus on “entertainment, news, sports, true crime and the royals.” 

1 in 4 German newspapers is sold digitally

A recent study on the ePaper in Germany highlighted that “almost one in four newspapers sold is now digital – and the trend is rising.” Even more striking: 42% of people under 30 in Germany read the ePaper, a product often used as a bridge for print readers to digital.  

What makes the ePaper attractive? The finite (compared to the endless scroll) and curated edition format were cited as reasons readers enjoy the ePaper. Easy accessibility and additional digital features were also key factors. 

Why it matters: Our original research found that the average price of a digital subscription increases by +74% when an ePaper is included in the package. This price differential reflects the added value that ePaper editions provide to readers that publishers can leverage.

Register now for the Twipe Digital Growth Summit

Discover the latest program that brings together speakers from The Economist, Die Zeit, JP Politiken, Reuters, and many others to discuss recent trends in Generative AI and finite experiences.

As a subscriber, use discount code NewsletterSubs to get a 20% discount on the tickets until August 1st. 

See you on October 8th in Brussels!

The Telegraph’s upselling journey for puzzles

Puzzles are an important part of any publisher’s digital offering. The Telegraph even sells a separate subscription for puzzle access. 
What’s new? The Telegraph has added the ability to upsell their puzzles access subscription within Twipe’s Modular News App. This feature has boosted their sales and allows users to easily buy a subscription within the app and start playing immediately. 

How do you feel about our new newsletter format?

🗞️ What we’re reading

• The Atlantic’s CEO shares details behind the publication’s deal with OpenAI. 
• Inside Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung‘s strategy to reach 300,000 digital subscribers by 2025. 
• Will tomorrow (July 19th) be the Evening Standard’s last daily printed edition? 

💡 Twipee recommendations

Nicolas Hall, Customer Operations team member and Twipe’s in-house movie guru has high praise to give to the movie “Fire of Love”:

“The documentary is a beautifully crafted piece about the lives of a married French couple who dedicated their lives to each other and their pursuit of volcanos.”

Check out the trailer!

Thanks for reading the first edition of our new newsletter. 

Any feedback or comments? Let us know! We’re keen to make this newsletter as useful and enjoyable to read as possible. 

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