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The ultimate case study database

Every case study we’ve ever published, in one place. Filter by topic to see how publishers around the world are approaching engagement, conversion and retention.

Immediate Media 🇬🇧

Reader revenue at Immediate Media: 1.2 million paid subscribers, and a custom model for almost every brand

🇺🇸 SFGATE

Why SFGATE launched an app instead of a paywall, and called it “Friends”

🇬🇧 The Economist

The Economist’s push to get closer to readers with audio- and video-only subscription

🇺🇸 Foreign Policy

3 acquisition tactics from Foreign Policy, a publication offering near-to-zero free articles

🇩🇪 Funke Media

From opinion to evidence: how we built a data-led product framework for news apps at Funke

🇬🇧 The Observer

Inside The Observer’s first digital subscription: one tier, one price and a lot of self-discipline

🇬🇧 The Guardian

Why 1.4 million people pay The Guardian for something they could read for free

🇺🇸 The Washington Post

The Washington Post tests flexible access models, addressing the gap between willingness to pay and willingness to commit

🇫🇷 Le Monde

Inside Le Monde in English: Four Years in and already profitable

🇬🇧🇦🇺 Broadsheet

Broadsheet’s path from reader to subscriber: The registration flywheel in action

🇨🇭 Ringier

Knowing the value of our users: Ringier combines revenue from readers and advertising to calculate holistic Customer Lifetime Value

🇬🇧 The Sun

Sun Club at One: what The Sun learned from a year of freemium

🇬🇧🇦🇺 Broadsheet

From Melbourne to London: how Broadsheet is scaling culture and reader revenue

🇳🇴 Amedia

Amedia ignored older subscribers to attract younger ones

🇨🇦 Radio-Canada

Obligatory registration at Radio-Canada: a successful gamble

🇩🇪 Stern

Stern+: How one of Germany’s biggest magazine brands rebuilt a subscription business from scratch

🇲🇽 Milenio

Owning the community and gamifying loyalty: Inside Milenio’s engagement strategies

🇨🇦 Les Coops de L'information

Les Coops de l’information “Pay What You Can” Campaign

🇩🇪 Spektrum

Spektrum’s evolution of audience segmentation and testing

🇧🇪 Mediahuis

The essential subscription: how Mediahuis is bundling beyond journalism

🇺🇦 The Kyiv Independent

How The Kyiv Independent is growing membership through relationship-building

🇸🇪 NTM

Winning the young ones: how NTM grew its under-25 subscriber base by 500%

🇺🇸 Forum Communications

Minor tweaks make all the difference: lessons on breaking the subscription plateau from Forum Communications

🇫🇷 Le Monde

Profitable by 2026: the business logic behind Le Monde in English