Does AI make the subscription business more important?

By Robert Keenan, President, Keenan Media LLC

The topic of subscriptions in BtoB media has been an interesting one. On one hand, a number of publishers, such as Adweek, Ad Age, and DigiDay, have jumped head first into the subscription business. Others, coming from a controlled circulation background, have leaned away from a subscription model, instead looking at things like custom content, advertising, lead generation and other tools as a way to drive the digital business forward. And, with brands like TechCrunch abandoning their subscription business for now, questions around the subscription business continue to grow.

The answer to subscriptions versus no subscriptions may have become event more important. With the evolution of ChatGPT and Google now jumping in full steam by implementing AI overviews in search results using its Gemini technology, (See this CNN piece or this one from Search Engine Land), things just got a lot more interesting on the subscription front.

Stop for a second and think of it this way. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal showed that publishers are seeing a 20% to 40% drop in traffic from search traffic. That was before the recent AI overviews announcement from Google. You can bet that this number will only continue to take a nose dive in the weeks, months, and years to come. Add to that the pending death of the 3rd party cookie and things are just about to get fun (don't miss the sarcasm in my voice here!).

3 Things to Consider

The reality is that if you are not doing subscription, this is probably a good time to revisit the topic. In today's market, we're going to need first party data. We're going to need better insights and connections with our audiences. We're going to need to know our audiences better. Fortunately, a subscription model can help while opening a new revenue stream for some publishers.

But before making the leap to subscriptions, here are 3 things that you definitely should consider.

1. Is My Content Good Enough: First, you have to take a hard look at the content you offer and see if there is enough value there to drive users to pay for it. Simply rehashing press releases and putting them behind a gate is not enough to win in the subscription business. You will need compelling content that is going to drive people to pay. Also, be sure to leverage all content you have. For example, providing access to on-demand event content can be a big way to drive a tiered subscription model for a subscription business.
2. Subscription Tools Aren't Cheap: If you're looking at moving ahead with a subscription model, you will definitely need to implement tech to handle the subscription flow. But don't expect this to be a cheap investment. While you can look at tools like MemberPress, the reality is you'll need a more elegant tool, like a Zephr or Piano, to handle subscriptions. These tools are not cheap. So, be sure you have a good business model in place before embarking on the subscription path.
3. You Have to Make a Choice: The biggest issue I see with publishers is the inability to fully jump into the subscription business. In a lot of situations, brands will launch a subscription model but will do a ton to open content to support an ad model. At some point, this just won't work. If you're going to be in subscriptions, you have to commit to it. If not, the business could continue to lag.

While these are all difficult considerations. With the right business, content, and tech plans, there is an opportunity to make subscriptions a healthy revenue stream for media brands. You just need to plan and make the leap!

About the Author:

Robert Keenan is the head of Keenan Media. You can reach him at rkeenan@keenandigitalconsult.com or at 973-219-9508.