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A free audience of more than a million monthly page views became a paid membership, led by research with the super fan readers who built it.

A Loyal Free Audience

Situation

For years, tech enthusiasts had come to Thurrott.com for Paul Thurrott's take on Microsoft and the personal technology the audience used every day. The site, one of the BWW Media Group brands, drew more than a million page views a month, and none of it was behind a paywall.

Then came the question every free site eventually faces: would that audience pay? Thurrott Premium, a paid membership, would put some of the reporting behind a paywall. Industry norms at the time said a paywall costs a site about half its traffic, and for a blog with a fan base this devoted, that was a serious risk. The goal was to build the membership while losing as few readers as possible.

Our Approach

Solution

Before building anything, HEEDGROUP ran multi-step primary research with a group of Thurrott.com's readers to learn what they valued. They stayed involved as the program took shape. We presented the Thurrott Premium rollout to them and gathered their feedback at every stage, all the way through release. That input shaped the membership, the site redesign with subscription eCommerce, and a communications plan that prepared the wider audience for the change.

Thurrott Premium promotion web page designed by HEEDGROUP
A Paid Membership, Launched

Results

Thurrott Premium was successfully launched

Through the research series, we gathered first-hand feedback on the content features readers valued most. We sorted what they told us into the content that belonged in Thurrott Premium and content that could stay part of the free blog.

Those findings drove the redesign. We rebuilt the blog with eCommerce functionality for subscriptions and developed a communications plan for the new business model. The campaign warmed the existing audience to the paywall and drew new readers to the blog as well.

Thurrott Premium launched on top of the free audience, without losing readers or fans.

Key Takeaways

Research with loyal readers shaped a paid membership that grew alongside the free audience.

 
About HEEDGROUP

HEEDGROUP is a Marketing + Creative agency in New York City, founded in 2015. We provide strategy-led marketing and bold creative for companies ready to lead their markets, across brand and identity, campaigns and demand generation, events, audience and market research, and growth and analytics. HEEDGROUP is an agency partner to many marketing platforms and the creator of GoalTrackHQ. HEEDGROUP is women-owned.

QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

What did HEEDGROUP do for Thurrott.com?

HEEDGROUP researched Thurrott.com's loyal readers, redesigned the site with subscription eCommerce, and led the rollout of its paid membership, as part of its work as BWW Media Group's marketing and sales team.

How did HEEDGROUP keep Thurrott.com's audience through a paywall?

HEEDGROUP ran multi-step primary research with a group of loyal readers before building anything, then kept them involved with feedback through release. What they said shaped what went behind the paywall and a rollout that prepared the wider audience for the change.

Was Thurrott.com part of BWW Media Group?

Yes. Thurrott.com was one of the BWW Media Group brands HEEDGROUP managed, alongside Petri.com, Unity Connect, and the GET-IT virtual conferences.

Marketing Services Provided by HEEDGROUP

Audience Research

Multi-step primary research with loyal readers, with their feedback through release.

Site Redesign

Rebuilt the site with subscription eCommerce for Thurrott Premium.

Launch Communications

Planned the rollout that warmed the existing audience to the paywall and drew new readers.

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Featured Work

Learn about our client success stories and how we got them there.

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Marketing collateral for a fixed income data platform
FinTech | Data as a Service
FIXED INCOME FINTECH

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Discover how marketing affects pipeline growth

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Media
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One team created new newsletters, ran a single calendar, and grew the opted-in lists behind each, reaching ~400,000...

Discover how email reached 400,000