The trend for newspapers to implement metered paywalls is emerging in Northern Ireland, says MPP Global. Powered by MPP Global’s cloud platform, eSuite, the Irish News’ metered model will enable non-subscribers to access a number of free articles per month and subscribers will receive access to print, digital and mobile content.
With print and advertising revenues continuing to decline, newspapers are focusing on offering exclusive content to generate new revenues. With an average daily circulation of approximately 40,000, the Irish News has the opportunity to attract a larger audience with its first venture into paid content and the launch of its brand new website.
Thanks to eSuite’s range of industry-driven modules, the Irish News can define metering and access controls on how much ‘free’ content its readers can consume before being prompted to fill in their details. The company can track and then target registered consumers with promotions, offers and incentives to draw them back to the website and then turn them into loyal subscribers.
The Irish News now has a single customer view of all its online consumers, from identification and registration to authentication and single sign-on. This functionality enables the company to manage all of the customer data from a central location; eSuite HQ, while readers can easily manage their own account and purchases with self-care capability.
eSuite’s eCommerce and Billing module features one-click payments, recurring subscription payments and eWallet capability. The Irish News can define and bundle its digital offerings across multiple platforms, as well as centralising its revenues through a single platform and launch usage based pricing models across a myriad of products and services.
The Irish News can also create mass campaigns both for its entire customer base or targeted campaign lists, featuring discounts, offers and other incentives. The company can offer free trials for different users to attract consumers to register for its services, which maximises data collection and conversion percentages. This functionality is particularly important as the Irish News wants to encourage users to its new website and it can align its campaigns to match its new digital strategy.
The Irish News can monitor the data they receive from its services, enabling the company to make better decisions, faster across multiple data sources. The data from the platform can be used when the Irish News need to target a selected group of its customers for marketing campaigns, for example all of its non-subscribers or mobile users.
Working in partnership with D-Share, an international provider of digital solutions for the media and publishing industry, MPP Global was able to integrate with its CMS platform, Kolumbus. MPP Global provides the Irish News with a seamless and centralised dashboard to monitor its consumers, supported by the close working relationship between MPP Global and D-Share, says MPP Global.
Liam McMullen, The Irish News’ Systems Manager, said: “This project sees us starting our digital journey with the eSuite platform providing our customers with a seamless service to access the content they want, helping us to stay true to our digital words.
“Now, our all-access subscribers will not only get print on the days they want it, but they will have complete access to all of our digital platforms on any device, any time they want it, making this project a valuable tool for us to grow and retain subscribers.”
Paul Johnson, MPP Global’s CEO, stated “This project reaffirms the continued success of eSuite and content monetisation in the media industry. With the Irish News using eSuite to manage its new digital service, the company will gain a new level of insight into their customers and their digital strategy.”
