Publishers have realized that revenue from ads is not reliable with the duopolies ruling over the arena. Marketers are hunting down different ways to boost revenue. They have slowly realized that building a paid subscription model is a viable option, helping not only to increase revenue but also to build an owned audience. Afterall, with paid subscriptions, the readers get exclusive content and publishers bag more moolah. In the UK the revenue from subscriptions and sponsorship rose by 24% in Q4 in 2019 compared to 10% in Q4 2018, publishers in India as well seem to have dipped their toes into uncharted territories.
While the reader revenue model has worked splendidly well for the UK and the US, the Indian publishers are striving towards building one. But here is the big question every publisher planning to start off the reader revenue model wants to know- Is India ready to pay? Ankit Dikshit, VP Marketing and Products, Inc42 Media, draws a picture of how the adoption of the reader revenue model in India looks like, how both publishers and readers are evolving and what the future looks like for publishers embracing paid subscriptions.
Ankit covered -
Ankit is an advisor to media businesses on user growth and revenue, focusing on digital businesses. He also plays the role of VP - Product & Marketing at Inc42. Previously, he was Head of Products & Subscription at BloombergQuint and Head of Subscription Products at FirstCry. His work of growing BQ WhatsApp subscribers base to half a million has been published as a case study by Harvard Business Review. Under his leadership, BQ’s subscription strategy won at WAN-IFRA in 2020. He is an MBA graduate from IMT Ghaziabad.