Sophie Cassam Chenaï, digital Palestinian Territories Email List presents the editorial, digital and technical levers put in place by the newspaper to increase its number of online subscribers, on the occasion of Marketing Remix organized by Viuz. The home page of the Parisian site with the yellow banner and the mention of paid articles to encourage readers to subscribe. © BDM capture While traditional news media are gradually carrying out their digital transformation, moving from print to an online format, Sophie Cassam Chenaï, digital director of Le Parisien, has observed another profound change: that of digital subscriptions. “ We are in the process of moving from an advertising-oriented model, which is the previous model, to that of digital subscription, with readers who subscribe to press media to read all of their news all the time. the day. This news becomes partly paid in order to make this model of digital subscriptions work.”. But the challenge ahead remains significant.
According to an IPSOS survey, 15% of people questioned in France would be ready to pay for verified and quality information, while the average stands at 27% globally, recalls Sophie Cassam Chenaï. The obstacles preventing the adoption of digital subscriptions Among the main brakes noted, the digital director points to the arbitration often made on subscriptions within households, with in particular the news media which are in the balance vis-à-vis other cultural offers, such as Netflix, Spotify or Deezer. The other barrier concerns social networks, a source of information that is used more today by the French than the news media. For these brands, it is a question of differentiating themselves from social media thanks to teams of professional journalists, who verify their information.
The obstacles preventing the adoption of digital subscriptions
While it has doubled its digital subscriptions in one year to reach the 40,000 subscriber mark in 2020, the newspaper has adopted an ambitious new strategy: Le Parisien 200,000 . It consists of reaching the 200,000 subscribers mark within 5 years. ” The most difficult is to reach the level of the first 100,000 subscriptions “, specifies Sophie Cassam Chenaï. To achieve its objective, a series of editorial, digital and technical levers have been put in place to support this change of model. A change of editorial line to adapt the content offer For the digital director, content represents the most important lever and it requires the greatest transformation within the newspaper. “ Changing the editorial line requires reorganizing the entire editorial staff, which has 450 journalists, to adapt it to a digital subscription model, therefore paying. ” Selection of subjects and articles with higher added value
For this, editorial teams must review the way they design their articles.
“ Do less but better. We want articles that are less numerous in quantity but more impactful on digital, both in terms of audience, engagement and subscription. ” The topics are now selected and journalists will focus on content with high added value to subscribers, such as surveys, stories, long formats, the feuilletonnage, with quality information, exclusive content and supported. For Le Parisien, local news is part of the newspaper’s DNA. ” This is one of the sections most consulted by our readers, ” confirms Sophie Cassam Chenaï. To meet the ambitions of its new strategy, the media wants to change its position by now bringing to its news a more regional than micro-local dimension. The latter is indeed less valuable because the information is public within the city and already known to all.
A change of editorial line to adapt the content offer
We want to give more power to this type of information with field surveys and files, to put regional information back at the heart of our news. To encourage readers to subscribe, new themes have been created, such as real estate and housing, which is a major subject in particular for the inhabitants of the Paris region. “ We didn’t have a real estate unit about a year and a half ago. Today it’s a theme that works very well. We realized that Parisians needed this type of information, which is of value to them, ”explains Sophie Cassam Chenaï. The other themes launched by the media in recent months: purchasing power, the environment or even health, a topical subject with the current health crisis.
“ It was important for us to be able to develop our editorial line, to have journalists and sections dedicated to these themes. A new mobile application and innovations to generate more engagement
To have a ” good product, easy to use and useful for the reader “, Le Parisien operated the overhaul of its website in 2019 and launched a new version of its mobile application. “ It’s the flagship product for our new digital subscribers. 1 in 2 subscriptions is made via the mobile application. As soon as our readers are engaged, we know that they are using this App from which they can consult more articles and in a simplified way ”. The advantages of the new version of the Parisian mobile application: hierarchical information and access in preview, the day before, to the edition of the digital newspaper
