Learn how a local news publisher is driving audience and revenue growth
In this podcast, Pete and Tyler discuss how the Salem Reporter is growing their audience and revenue via Leaky Paywall and PaywallProject.
71 paid subscribers, 640 free subscribers and 57 active paid trials in 30 days. That’s what a digital-only local newsroom in Salem, Oregon pulled in a few months after switching paywall systems.
Salem Reporter covers local news for Salem, Oregon. No print edition. The two things they lean on hardest are hyper-local newsletters and a free registration system that feeds a subscriber-only newsletter. Here’s how the pieces fit together, and the numbers they produced.
The problem with the old system
Before the switch, Salem Reporter was fighting their paywall instead of running it. Readers hit content access problems and the support behind the system wasn’t solving them. A paywall that misfires costs you twice: the reader who couldn’t get in, and the staff hour spent chasing the ticket.
The one-and-one strategy
Salem Reporter now gives every reader one free article a month. To read a second one, you register with your email. Registration also gets you their free newsletter.
That’s the whole meter. One article free, one more for an email address, then the paid offer.
Why it works: the registration ask shows up at the moment a reader has already proven interest by coming back for a second story. The reader gets something concrete in return (another article + a newsletter), and the publisher gets an email address they can build a relationship on. Free content > registration > newsletter > paid.
Four revenue streams, not one
Paid subscriptions are the headline number, but Salem Reporter doesn’t rely on them alone.
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Sign up for expert advice straight to your inbox.- Paid subscriptions. The core of the model, fed by the registration wall and the free newsletter.
- Direct advertising. Salem Reporter sells ads directly and partners with local businesses on ad sales. No ad network in the middle taking its cut and filling the page with junk.
- Obituaries. Families submit and pay for obituaries on the site. It’s a cost-effective alternative to the traditional newspaper obituary, and it’s a service the community actually needs.
- Newsletter ads (coming). Their newsletter open rates are high enough that they’re exploring selling placements in it.
Notice that three of the four streams depend on having a direct relationship with local readers and local businesses. That’s the asset the registration wall is quietly building.
Two newsletters, two jobs
The free newsletter opens with a personal introduction from the newsroom, then runs the day’s articles with images, then a section on upcoming local town hall meetings. Every issue prominently features two things readers can pay for: an obituary submission and a subscription. Not buried in the footer. Right there in the body, every send.
The subscriber-only newsletter is simpler than you’d guess. It’s an afternoon edition that captures the day’s news so paying readers get it sooner. No extra reporting required. Timeliness is the perk.
That’s a useful lesson for any small newsroom. A paid newsletter doesn’t need extra reporting to be worth paying for. It needs to be reliably useful to the people who already care most.
The results
In the most recent 30-day window, Salem Reporter added:
- 71 paid subscribers
- 640 free (registered) subscribers
- 57 active paid trials
That’s a paid-to-free ratio over 10%, and it doesn’t count the 57 trials still running. Convert even a portion of those and the ratio climbs further.
Why the gap? Two reasons. The registration request lands at the right moment (second article, not first visit), and the experience from article to registration to newsletter to paid offer doesn’t break along the way. When the system works, the funnel works.
What to take from this
- Simplify the meter. One free article, then registration. Readers understand it on the first encounter.
- Put a human in the newsletter. A personal intro from the newsroom, then the news. Make the subscription offer clear in every issue.
- Offer a subscriber-only newsletter. It can be as simple as an earlier edition of the day’s news.
- Sell local ads yourself. Direct relationships with local businesses beat ad network rates and keep the page clean.
- Build the relationship funnel. Free newsletter first, with upgrade messaging in every send. Paid follows.
Hear the full conversation on the Paywall Podcast.
