Free vs. Paid Content

One of the reasons that got me interested in GROW was that I see a clear analogy between consumer paid online service like Keventajat and a special-interest magazines. We sell different lengths of memberships, magazines sells different lengths of subscriptions. The content is highly targeted and connects people to their passions in the form of articles, tools, discussion forums, video clips, etc. Magazines, though, have an interesting triangle of free web sites, subscription based magazines and paid digital editions, but both of us struggle to find a way to keep up with consumers' changing habits and to take advantage of the opportunities that it brings. We also share the same competitor and threat to the business: free content. It is not a surprise that the internet has a big part in distributing loads of free information. The question of free and paid content is interesting and effects us both.

So, why do magazines publish free web content? Or why did they start doing so in the first place? Even today, the strategy and goal of the website can simply be to draw visitors to the site and engage them with the brand as one step in becoming a paying customer. But it is a totally different strategy to decide how to turn free content into revenue generating business once you start to see free content taking over your customers. I would say that you always have a better chance to convince consumers to pay for a new brand or service. So, start from the clean table. Re-conceptualize the existing content in order to save spendings under a sub-brand or sub-site or create a new business launching a new parallel brand. But don't forget to re-launch the existing site and communicate it as a step of improvement. The steps of transforming and producing content between these two sites should be planned and gradual. The sudden switch from free to paid content can be interpreted as a rip-off and won't convince the consumers for the extra value. It also might appear as an unclear strategy and uncertainty once you start to go back and forth. But the cases are always unique and nobody really can tell what might work best and what should be done. This is what makes the online business interesting and the learning curve never-ending.

One other thing that connects us is the level of commitment costumers have with the brand and the way they relate to the subject in question. This is something that can be seen also among the staff. I could not help of noticing this when I walked through a people working for Marlin-magazine and a man at his desk was wearing a Marlin cap on his head. Also, there isn't any centralized B2B organization and I understand that this is an advantage. Everyone related with the brand needs to breathe the same air in order to be convincing in front of the readers and advertisers.