AI has gradually become part of content management systems, but what does that actually mean for publishers? The rise of AI for smart publishers isn’t about replacing editorial teams and writing articles for you; it’s about helping improve how readers experience content and how you grow subscriptions.

 

Since AI’s big push in 2022, it’s started to make its mark on digital publishing. At first, mixing AI with traditional publishing felt daunting, like merging something familiar with something untested. But more and more, publishers are seeing how AI can support their work rather than take over it. Content management systems are changing because of AI, and publishers are starting to see the advantage of what’s possible.

​​​​​​​

✔️ How AI fits into CMS

 

AI can take on jobs that used to slow teams down, like:

• Suggesting tags or headlines
   
• Recommending related articles
   
• Predicting what will engage readers

• Simplifying editorial processes

   

By handing off repetitive tasks to AI, editors and publishers can focus on the creative and strategic work that matters and adds real value.

 

Features that AI brings to a CMS

 

Nobody who runs a business around content wants their site filled with clunky machine-written articles. But AI can help in ways that don’t replace good content but enhance and accelerate it. Some of the key tools include:

 

• Automatic tagging and metadata: AI can analyse articles, suggest tags, and even write image alt text — so editors spend less time on admin and more on content.
   
• Personalised content delivery: AI helps serve up articles that match what each reader is interested in, driving loyalty and keeping people engaged.
   
• SEO help: From suggesting keywords to optimising headlines or readability, AI can guide teams on how to strengthen SEO.
   

• Content suggestions: AI can surface related articles or flag older pieces that could be updated or repurposed.

  
  ​​​​​​​

Why AI is valuable for publishers

 

• A smoother user experience: Personalised content keeps readers on your site longer and coming back for more.
   
• Smarter subscriptions: Instead of rigid paywalls, AI-driven models adjust in real time, offering trials, discounts, or restrictions based on how users engage. This can lead to more subscriptions, better ad revenue, and a more tailored experience for readers.
   
• More efficient workflows: AI saves time by handling tagging, formatting, and other repetitive jobs.
   
• Better use of existing content: AI can help with repurposing old content that performed well by giving it a fresh republish.
   
• Stronger targeting: It’s easier to deliver the right content in real-time to the right audience with AI in the mix.
   
• Decisions based on data, not guesswork: AI provides insights to guide publishing plans, instead of relying on gut feelings.​​​​​​​

AI isn’t meant to replace editors — it’s to give them more time and better tools to do what they do best

 

Where it’s heading: AI search

 

AI-powered on-site search tools are another big opportunity. These integral search engines use natural language processing to help readers find what they want faster than sifting through an endless volume of articles. And instead provides readers with more relevant results. Publishers, like the Financial Times, are already using this tech to give users helpful article summaries and easier ways to explore content, adding real value for subscribers.

 

Final thoughts

 

AI is reshaping digital publishing, not by taking over creative work, but by making teams more efficient and helping publishers deliver a stronger experience for their readers. The future isn’t about fighting AI — it’s about using it cleverly to your advantage.

 

What It Really Costs — and Why Open Source Gives You Room to Grow

A SaaS platform takes many of the decisions off your hands—which can be ideal for some. It’s quick to set up, comes with support, and offers polished templates that work out of the box. For early-stage projects, it’s often the most straightforward way to get started.

But fast forward a year or two — your needs shift, your team grows, and you start to feel boxed in. The platform that once made things easy now starts to slow you down.

That’s vendor lock-in.

It’s not always obvious at first. You’re still shipping content, updating pages, doing your job. But behind the scenes, you’re running into the same friction over and over again — and you can’t fix it without raising a ticket or paying more.

 

It Starts Small, Then Gets Expensive

At first, the pricing looks fine — maybe even great. But dig a little deeper and things stack up:

• Want more control? Upgrade to Pro.
• Need API access? Extra fee.
• Support? Depends on your tier.
• Plugins? Not all are included.
• Basic analytics? Only with the next plan up.
• Need single sign on? That’s the enterprise plan and your price trebles!

Before long, your “simple” solution becomes anything but. You’re not just paying for features — you’re paying to work around limitations.

And your product direction is determined by them, you are essentially tied to their ecosystem.

 

Innovation Slows to a Crawl

You’ve got a new idea. You want to restructure how content is presented. Maybe rethink how your site guides users. But to make any meaningful change, you’re blocked by what the platform allows.

You check the forums. You email your rep. You ask if a feature’s on the roadmap.
The usual reply? “We’ll consider it for a future update.”

When your ambitions are bigger than your platform’s release schedule, you’re no longer in control.​​​​​​​

 

High Cost, Low Control

A vendor platform is someone else’s product. You just use it. And while that can work for a while, it also means you’re tied to their decisions.

They remove a feature you rely on? Not much you can do.
They raise prices? You pay more — or plan a costly migration.

Everything — your workflows, your site structure, your data — is shaped by their priorities, not yours.

 

So What’s the Alternative?

Open source. Not free software you download and hope for the best — we’re talking about serious, community-driven platforms like Drupal. Systems that can be built and shaped around your actual needs, not the limitations of a vendor roadmap —which can be crippling.

You have the flexibility & ability to adapt, you define the structure, and you work with teams who understand how to make it fit your goals.

No one’s waiting for a product roadmap update in the next quarter, you choose your direction and new features. 

 

It’s Not for Everyone — But It’s Worth Considering

To be clear, productised platforms still have a place. If your needs are basic and unlikely to shift, they’ll do the job. But if your team is running into platform limits more often than not, or if you’re constantly compromising on how things should work, then it’s time to ask: What are we building towards?

Open source is a commitment. You need the skills to build or the budget to outsource. But it gives you product agility and more control, there are no hidden costs. And in the long run, that freedom is worth far more than the monthly fees you’re currently paying to stay stuck.

 

What It Really Costs — and Why Open Source Gives You Room to Grow

A SaaS platform takes many of the decisions off your hands—which can be ideal for some. It’s quick to set up, comes with support, and offers polished templates that work out of the box. For early-stage projects, it’s often the most straightforward way to get started.

But fast forward a year or two — your needs shift, your team grows, and you start to feel boxed in. The platform that once made things easy now starts to slow you down.

That’s vendor lock-in.

It’s not always obvious at first. You’re still shipping content, updating pages, doing your job. But behind the scenes, you’re running into the same friction over and over again — and you can’t fix it without raising a ticket or paying more.

 

It Starts Small, Then Gets Expensive

At first, the pricing looks fine — maybe even great. But dig a little deeper and things stack up:

• Want more control? Upgrade to Pro.
• Need API access? Extra fee.
• Support? Depends on your tier.
• Plugins? Not all are included.
• Basic analytics? Only with the next plan up.
• Need single sign on? That’s the enterprise plan and your price trebles!

Before long, your “simple” solution becomes anything but. You’re not just paying for features — you’re paying to work around limitations.

And your product direction is determined by them, you are essentially tied to their ecosystem.

 

Innovation Slows to a Crawl

You’ve got a new idea. You want to restructure how content is presented. Maybe rethink how your site guides users. But to make any meaningful change, you’re blocked by what the platform allows.

You check the forums. You email your rep. You ask if a feature’s on the roadmap.
The usual reply? “We’ll consider it for a future update.”

When your ambitions are bigger than your platform’s release schedule, you’re no longer in control.​​​​​​​

 

High Cost, Low Control

A vendor platform is someone else’s product. You just use it. And while that can work for a while, it also means you’re tied to their decisions.

They remove a feature you rely on? Not much you can do.
They raise prices? You pay more — or plan a costly migration.

Everything — your workflows, your site structure, your data — is shaped by their priorities, not yours.

 

So What’s the Alternative?

Open source. Not free software you download and hope for the best — we’re talking about serious, community-driven platforms like Drupal. Systems that can be built and shaped around your actual needs, not the limitations of a vendor roadmap —which can be crippling.

You have the flexibility & ability to adapt, you define the structure, and you work with teams who understand how to make it fit your goals.

No one’s waiting for a product roadmap update in the next quarter, you choose your direction and new features. 

 

It’s Not for Everyone — But It’s Worth Considering

To be clear, productised platforms still have a place. If your needs are basic and unlikely to shift, they’ll do the job. But if your team is running into platform limits more often than not, or if you’re constantly compromising on how things should work, then it’s time to ask: What are we building towards?

Open source is a commitment. You need the skills to build or the budget to outsource. But it gives you product agility and more control, there are no hidden costs. And in the long run, that freedom is worth far more than the monthly fees you’re currently paying to stay stuck.

 

 

This article was written by Stewart Robinson as part of the 'Content Creation Special' with InPublishing 

Q: What is best practice?

 

A: Having worked in both full church and state style publishers and management led publishers, the one thing that has rung true throughout both types is the need for editorial teams to know what is ringing a bell for customers. Whether this content is for or from a commercial sponsor or it’s classic newsroom content being delivered digitally — audience engagement is the most important thing.

 

We have moved on from publishing a piece and only really caring about the end sales of an issue, to a world in which we can know which single made the entire curated album worth buying, if at all; as well as where the end user came from and why. This knowledge can be incredibly powerful for content when gleaned effectively and put to work against your plans to generate more.

 

Content strategy is such a broad topic so this piece will focus on how to use your audience habits to steer it in a truly data-driven way, whether that content is purely for end readers or serving a commercial need as well. We like to dig deeper so we can know precisely what the audience is doing and why; not work against what we think they’re doing or legacy assumptions of what might have worked in the past.

 

For commercial or sponsored content, reporting usage, visibility and who has read the piece are often required as standard. But outside of this, there is a need to deeply understand what topics, underlying themes, campaigns and even basic tags are driving results for our brands. Collating all of this data along the way builds a super clear and useful picture for both internal planning and commercial delivery.

 

It is obvious that reacting to well performing content and trying to emulate its success is a good idea. What is less obvious is why that content did well. In traditional analytical settings, you know which piece did well but you won’t automatically know why or from what areas this content sprung to life. By setting up analytic tools within your CMS to track and analyse the metadata, you start to understand the trends within the content that consistently bring value to your users and, of course, your business.

 

Best practice on using your audience to steer your content strategy is to look beyond the basic analytics that you normally get and jump into knowing the habits of tags and topics within your content. Get to the point where you can understand which pieces get the best results from your audience.

 

Additionally, in commercial content settings where you are producing content for commercial partners, having these tracking and analytics tools becomes part of the delivery of results for clients as you’ll be providing audience, number of viewers, what they read about and how as part of your premium sponsored offering.

 

Do this by having analytics from tagging content by both the public tags and categories that you use as standard as well as hidden tags, themes and categories that can classify your content, link it back to a campaign or a customer and drive real value from knowing who has consumed it.

 

Q: What does outstanding performance look like?

 

A: Understanding individual pieces that are delivering well to audiences — even if that audience is a commercial partner — is easy now and is the absolute base level of content analytics you need to shape your content strategy.

 

To achieve outstanding performance though, we need to move above the individual content piece to the tags and topics that allow you to really understand the value that customers and readers take from your titles.

 

All publishers have some way of tagging and storing content within topics but only the outstanding ones have shadow or hidden taxonomies that allow content to be tracked against a collection of terms that are hidden from the reader but allow in-depth, truly actionable research to take place against them.

 

Even simple actions such as flagging content that has been the leader on a newsletter or attaching a commercial sponsor to an article allows tracking of what is doing well against a set of terms that are not shown to the customer consuming the content. Having these additional tags set against content allows a myriad of opportunities to see what drives growth across your portfolio.

 

Three top tips

 

1. Fine tune! Always have precise, granular analytics tracking on your content. Don’t settle for top-level data, get super specific.
2. Analyse your content against your tags, topics, and custom / hidden terms to highlight the performance of the content groupings for customers and readers. Build a complete and actionable picture.

3. Utilise hidden tags to analyse the events that have occurred throughout the journey to and through the content to align with content and commercial strategies. Internal markers for content events uncover valuable insights.

    

This article was originally published by InPublishing in June 2025, and was included in the Content Strategy Special.  Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.

Let’s cut to the chase: rigid paywalls are out. Sure, slapping a big “subscribe to read” banner across your site might feel like the fastest way to get people paying, but in reality? It can backfire—hard.

 

Instead, if you really want to grow subscribers and keep your audience happy, you need a paywall strategy that’s flexible, user-friendly, and constantly evolving. Let’s break down how to make that happen.​​​​​​​

 

Start With the User Journey (Not the Paywall)

 

Your first move shouldn’t be locking content behind a wall. It should be inviting your audience in. That’s where a datawall comes in—a gentle ask for an email address in exchange for a few free premium reads. It’s a soft entry point, a way to start a relationship and collect some valuable first-party data.

 

Once you’ve built that trust, then you can roll out a metered or dynamic paywall. But here’s the trick: it’s not about counting how many free articles someone gets—it’s about when, how, and why they’re shown a paywall. Think of it like this: casual readers get a teaser, loyal fans get a nudge to subscribe before they hit the limit. Timing and trust are everything.​​​​​​​

 

Keep It Simple, Seriously

 

Want people to actually pay? Don’t make them jump through hoops. Your subscription journey needs to be stupidly simple. Clear messaging, smooth registration, flexible payment options—remove every ounce of friction you can.

 

Also: the perceived value of your content needs to match (or beat) the effort you’re asking users to make. If your local news site throws a complex datawall at someone before they’ve even decided it’s worth it… guess what? They’re gone.

 

Test. Learn. Repeat.

 

The best paywalls don’t just sit there. They evolve.

 

Your audience isn’t static—and your strategy shouldn’t be either. Try out different calls to action, messaging styles, wall triggers, offers, layouts. Test everything, and let the data lead the way. No one has the perfect formula—but everyone can improve with good data.

 

Embrace the Hybrid Model

 

Here’s a reality check: not everyone will subscribe. And that’s totally fine.

 

Some folks might come back later. Others might prefer an ad-supported experience. The key is to cater to different preferences without compromising your brand. Offer a mix of free access, metered content, and full-on premium perks. Give people choices. You’ll grow both your audience and your revenue.​​​​​​​

 

Enter: AI-Powered Paywalls

 

This is where things get really cool. Today’s smartest paywalls use AI to tailor the experience for each individual user.

 

Imagine this: your system knows the difference between a loyal reader and a one-time visitor. It can adjust messaging, timing, offers—even button styles—in real time. It’s like having a personalised subscription strategy for everyone. Here’s how AI is transforming the game:

 

1. Behavioural Prediction

 

AI scans things like scroll depth, article types, visit frequency, and device type to predict if someone is likely to subscribe. It then customises what kind of paywall they see—and when.

 

2. Smart Timing and Messaging

 

New visitor? Get a soft nudge. Power reader? Show a stronger CTA. AI even tweaks the language and design for maximum impact.

 

3. Adaptive Metering

 

No more “5 free articles for everyone.” Now, high-value readers might hit the wall sooner, while newcomers get more leeway to explore.

 

4. A/B Testing on Autopilot

 

AI runs hundreds of design and messaging tests behind the scenes—so you get the best version live without lifting a finger.

 

5. Contextual Adjustments

 

Breaking news? AI might ease the wall to build reach. Exclusive content? Time to tighten it up and maximise conversions.

 

6. Churn Prevention

 

AI doesn’t just acquire subscribers—it helps keep them. If someone’s showing signs they might quit, they might see a loyalty offer or friendly reminder of their perks.

 

Your To-Do List: Best Practice Tips

 

✅​​​​​​​ Dos

• Segment your audience early using real behaviour.
   
• Start with a soft wall or datawall to build trust.
   
• Test constantly—messaging, timing, placement, everything.
   
• Personalise the journey with AI where you can.
   
• Align with editorial and UX—don’t let your paywall break the experience.
   
• Track beyond conversion to understand the full customer journey.
   

❌ Don’ts

• Don’t treat everyone the same. Static paywalls = static growth.
   
• Don’t be aggressive too soon. Let people explore first.
   
• Don’t forget about mobile. Seriously—check your mobile UX.
   

• Don’t overcomplicate offers. Clarity > cleverness.

   

Behind the Scenes: How It Works (Tech Bits)

Here’s the backend magic:

• Drupal collects behavioural data.
   
• An external AI model (think Vertex AI, Hugging Face, etc.) analyses it.
   
• That model tells Drupal who sees what, when, and how.
   

So yeah, your paywall is officially smarter than ever.
​​​​​​​

Final Thoughts...

 

Building a smart paywall is more about strategy than software. Think user-first, stay flexible, and let AI do the heavy lifting. If you evolve with your readers, you’ll convert more, keep more—and annoy fewer people along the way.

 

Win-win

What It Means for Our Clients and the Community

 

We want to take a moment to acknowledge our Drupal Diamond Certification, as we haven’t spoken about what this means to us, Drupal, and our customers. We’re proud of the certification and what it represents to the Drupal Association, as well as highlighting our long-standing commitment to open-source.​​​​​​​

 

At Full Fat Things, we’ve been working with Drupal since the very start. You could say we’ve helped shape it. Over the years, our team has contributed thousands of hours of code, design, and innovation to the Drupal project. These contributions have become part of the core ecosystem of Drupal that powers some of the biggest and most complex websites.

 

 

Being a Diamond Certified Partner is recognition backed by the Drupal Association itself. Every line of code we’ve contributed has been audited and validated. This certification is proof that:

 

• We’ve made sustainable and significant contributions to Drupal.
   
• Our expertise is proven, not just claimed.
   

• We have visibility of what’s coming, which means we can help future-proof our clients’ projects.

   

Stewart Robinson Managing Director at Full Fat Things;

“Your average Drupal developer knows how to drive Drupal. We know how the engine works."

 

Top Leaders of Drupal

 

Full Fat Things is one of the largest Drupal contributors in Europe, and the largest in the UK. Our work places us high on global visibility, as well as having one of the top 3 contributors in the world working at Full Fat Things. This matters because the Drupal ecosystem can be vast and hard to navigate. For businesses looking to adopt Drupal or scale with it, knowing where to turn can be a challenge.

 

We are a validated and trusted partner, making it easier for companies to engage with Drupal confidently. We’re here not just for developers, but also for businesses trying Drupal for the first time, helping them understand how the platform can evolve alongside their needs.​​​​​​​

 

Our Drupal Relationship

 

The relationship we have with Drupal is built on balance. Our investments in open source—real, long-term, and strategic—have helped make Drupal stronger. In return, our customers benefit from tools, updates, and inside expertise.​​​​​​​

 

Internally, our developers are part of the global open source community, contributing, learning, and making a name for themselves. We actively hire people who not only know how to drive Drupal, but who understand how it works at its core. Our commitment will continue to grow as Full Fat Things grows. We’re proud of what we have achieved, and we’re looking forward to our future within the Drupal community.

One of the first benefits publishers associated with AI was in the area of workflow efficiencies. Stewart Robinson, Managing Director of Full Fat Things, looks at how far the publishing sector has come in realising those benefits.

 

Q: What have you learnt about using AI for workflow efficiencies?

 

A: AI is definitely growing up and out into existing systems that drive or support workflows, to help to speed up humans delivering quality work of all kinds across publishing companies — be that work in content generation, quality control, data conflation and presentation thereof. Or in the case of at least one customer, laser-focused sales targeting.

 

 

On the whole, AI can already do a great job of automating repetitive tasks such as content tagging, article formatting, first-pass style and fact-checking — all things that remove manual labour and time from editorial teams, leaving more time for all-important content generation and value creation.

 

 

In some cases, AI is also being used to create entire sub-products in its own right with automatic, dynamic translations of pre-existing content, opening up entirely new geographic markets by simply plugging directly into existing workflows without really adding to cost at all, let alone anyone’s time.

 

Of course, AI can also generate content but in an industry increasingly reliant upon quality and true value, we see the co-pilot concept being adopted by publishers with far greater velocity. Great results can come in terms of accelerated proof-reading, searching for related items for prior editorial ‘stance’ on particular topics and optimising headline generation for specific channels. As well as adding / managing metadata around taxonomies, articles and content.

 

So, the main learning we’re seeing is AI being used in multiple different ways to support and assist rather than replace or remove processes. We think this has the potential to change but it’s not there yet. And even when it is, we see even higher quality of even more content generation as the output. Efficiency for more, not less.

 

Q: In which use-case has AI proved most effective?

 

A: We mainly see a growth of demand for CMS editing tools enriched with AI for publishers looking to enrich and support an efficient workflow. The concept of generating more content, of better quality, optimised for multiple channels, in less time and without adding extra resources is of course super attractive — who doesn’t want this in an audience-centric industry?

 

The issue we stumble across time and time again is that the demand for change is often tracking at a different pace to the maturity of the technology itself. Things are moving at such speed that by the time requirements have been gathered, work estimated and development scheduled in an already overburdened roadmap, AI can do even more to help.

 

We see lots of AI-derived promises in development, which — by the time they are ready for use — are already surpassed by AI’s capabilities. This makes it really difficult for publishers to invest wisely in their tech, particularly when there is demand across multiple departments for AI tools and support: AI-driven audience insight, AI-curated and automated marketing, AI-led lead gen... and on it goes.

 

To counter this huge demand — at least in the short-term while publishers and suppliers like us alike figure out where AI is most useful — we have developed specialised things for the content teams such as a browser extension that plugs into a CMS to ingest content, brand, writing styles, editing styles, headline lengths, SEO and other preferences before offering suggestions in a CMS agnostic method. It’s supporting the CMS, its functions and workflows, without yet being fully embedded. This enables our customer to start to adopt AI practices that will soon be commonplace, without enormous investment in CMS-wide change or even replatforming.

 

This tool effectively allows editorial staff to work across systems in tandem with their acceleration tool rather than it either waiting in a development queue — or in the cases of smaller publishers, entirely impossible to shoehorn into a rigid off-the-shelf CMS without breaking something! Possibly the bank.

 

This use-case has been a good example of where publishers are embracing AI wisely and experimentally before fundamentally altering their tech stack. Or building an entire roadmap based on AI that hasn’t taken the sheer rate of acceleration in this area into account.

 

Of course, the goal will be a completely embedded set of tools within the CMS. And we are experimenting in this area ourselves. But we love to see publishers trying on the practices first before sacrificing all other product development in favour of AI tools.

 

Three best practice top tips

 

1. Accept that your current systems can take a while to grow and look for ways to boost the humans using accessible AI tools right now. Don’t wait for the roadmap. AI is moving way too fast for even the most agile of programming teams.

    

2. Great AI tools are being paired with good integral search to add relevance to content sets. Look for AI solutions that will use your content as well as provide insights or suggestions to bolster or check the current piece.

    

3. The “Emperor’s New Clothes” phenomenon is huge at the moment when it comes to AI. And AI changes every few months. Don’t lock to current AI patterns or switch to AI enabled publishing and workflow that lack in other more practical areas. AI should not be the reason to replace a good system that does many things well.

    

Stewart and the other contributors to our AI Special will take part in an ‘AI Special – Q&A’ webinar on Tuesday, 28 January. Click here for more information and to register.

 

This article was originally published by InPublishing in December 2024, and was included in the AI Special.  Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.

This article was written by Vicky Macey as part of the 'Subscriber Acquisition Special' with InPublishing.

Q: What is best practice?

A: Best practice is striking the right balance between monetisation strategy and user happiness. It’s not just about slapping up a pay / data wall and hoping for the best; it’s about figuring out the combined impact of the specific treatment on both the business and the audience/s.

 

One-size never fits all. This approach has been proven to fail since the beginning of digital publishing plans. Dynamic paywalls that adapt and respond to user behaviours — frequency of visit, what they read, whether they’ve engaged before and how — are far more effective than a hard and fast, rigid barrier.

 

Of course there is an AI use case here! AI-driven paywalls can analyse behaviours to determine the best monetisation approach in real time. For example, it can assess whether a user is a casual passer-by or a loyal visitor and adjust the paywall experience accordingly — be it a free trial, discount, or restricted access to premium content at the right moment.

 

Datawalls and paywalls are friends. Email addresses and a few basic demographic details in exchange for limited access to premium content can be a great way to build up first-party data without scaring potential readers off. It also supports segmentation for personalised approaches and offers later on.

 

Readers will drop off if signing up or subscribing is remotely painful. Keep it simple with friction-free registration, multiple standard payment options and single sign-on so users can move across devices.

 

A/B See! Testing placement, messaging and pricing is crucial. As is regular — if not continuous — assessment and refinement.

 

Mix up monetisation models to find a sweet spot for your specific audience. Some audience segments will pay for premium, while others with exactly the same content interests are quite happy to read for free with ad-supported access. The hybrid model — free, metered and full paywall — gives audience agency and maximises revenue potential.

 

Data-driven decision making is the foundation of all successful pay and datawall strategies. Keep on iterating based on what your audience does and not what you think they’ll do.

 

Q: What does outstanding performance look like?

 

A: Higher conversions, better engagement and sustainable revenue growth — all without driving away casual readers. Some examples we’ve seen working on:

 

• Adaptive AI-powered paywall that adjusted access based on reader engagement levels — the AI analysed the frequency of the visit, types of content consumed and whether they had shown interest in subscriptions before. The system then decides whether to let the reader in for free, show a datawall or trigger a paywall with a personalised offer. This led to a solid uplift in subs while keeping ad revenue — the publisher’s bread and butter until now — steady.
• First-party data done well, by setting up a datawall whereby users had to register before accessing premium content. Data-driven insights then allowed for razor-sharp segmentation, allowing for more targeted marketing and optimised subscription offers. This boosted both data collection and conversion over time.
• Tailoring subscription offers by analysing browsing habits and engagement so that it could be determined which users are most likely to subscribe, then serving the right offer to the right user groups; for example, discounts to frequent visitors, trials for new ones and premium bundles for high-value users.
• A number of publishers are taking a super flexible, hybrid approach — keeping some ad-supported content while introducing premium subs-only articles. Again, data behind the scenes has been key to getting the balance right between monetisation and audience satisfaction.

The best paywall and datawall strategies don’t just generate revenue but create amazing experiences for all users, making them stick around for longer.

 

Three top tips

 

1. Let data guide you. Always. And all the better if you can get AI to do the heavy-lifting while you do the thinking around optimised offers and experiences for audience groups and revenue models. Track content consumption, frequency of visits and engagement to determine when and how to introduce a paywall for the best chance of conversion.
2. Whether the aim is sign-up or subscribe, make it dead easy. A painful paywall is a lost opportunity. The process should be smooth, clear and largely uneventful for the user. Automation can be used to streamline further, predicting when users are likely to drop out and budging them back on track with the right incentives.

3. Experiment with different models. Don’t just rely on one approach because that’s what’s always worked in the past. A carefully crafted combination of datawall, metered paywalls and premium content tiers maximises appeal to different audience segments. Effective use of AI and data strategies can help identify which types of users are more ad-tolerant and which are more likely to subscribe and really channel your efforts and treatment of each group.

    

This article was originally published by InPublishing in April 2025, and was included in the Subscriber Acquisition Special.  Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.

Going digital can bring all sorts of cost savings and new revenue potential to your business - digitally mature businesses are 23% more profitable, according to Forbes.

 

For some, the necessary pace of change can be overwhelming. But you don’t need to boil the ocean to make great progress.

 

If you’re noticing a lack of progress or process inefficiencies in your business, the answer could be to go digital. But this needs to be rationalised. Where there are new strategies, unprecedented events, outdated technology, or even business reorganisations, there are drivers for digital change.

 

We all really want to avoid a long, expensive, all encompassing project to fix everything we find. Almost everyone has to work on a project called “Phoenix” at some point and that is what we do not want here. We want constant improvement without big bang economics to deliver it.

 

There are FOUR steps to go through.

 

 

1. Involve the team, take stock

 

The first place to start is always by noting what processes you already have in place. Map out essential and critical processes, such as payroll or going to print. This highlights what’s needed to support your business growth in its simplest form. You don’t need to detail everything, just how data flows.

 

Hold one-to-one sessions with key stakeholders. You may come across some change resistors here, so avoid butting heads. Listen to their insights. Embrace their experience by involving them in delivering the outcome. It highlights inconsistencies and allows you to see where different departments see value. You’ll be surprised how they’ll become advocates. 

 

Identify the journey of your data. Where does it come from and where does it go? Discover its touch points, where there’s potential for errors or bottlenecks, and check how visible the work queue is. A critical process that relies on the memory of a single human is a disaster in the making.

 

Publish the data flow map that you’ve made – it’s alright if it’s just bullet points and it shows the direction of traffic. Get feedback from the team to see if you’ve identified the main data flows. It is common at this stage to receive additional information and processes that you haven’t caught, so this is an important step.

 

 

 

2. Prioritise and measure

 

With your team, identify the pain points (they’re usually time consuming or cause friction) and missed revenue chances.

 

Look at where data has multiple touch points, the potential for errors or bottlenecks, such as a manual data extraction or conversion before the next step. Check how visible the work queue is and where work silos have formed. For example, what fails if somebody is sick?

 

The highest priorities are those that will bring the biggest rewards, or reduce the risk of critical process failures, and will become clear during these sessions.

 

Put in some basic measurements to check you’re optimising the data flows that will bring about the biggest rewards. For instance, ask each member of staff affected by a process how long their parts take. This allows you to see whether this is worth investing in. For example, five minute tasks don’t need fixing unless they are repeated one hundred times a month.

 

 

3. Make the change

 

There are many factors involved in deciding what to do at this point, and depends on the cause of the issue you’re addressing. The answer isn’t necessarily a brand new system.

 

Other options include training, adapting existing systems or building an interface that talks to your current systems or using some software that automates tasks.

 

Make sure the new digital flow can both hold the data and the process so you always know where items are in the process. This will help you revisit your company’s “engine” after building out the processes.

 

If the tasks that take the longest time are tackled and there’s no more internal room to improve but there is still pain, it’s time to consider replacing systems.

 

 

4. Re-measure, review, prioritise

 

Once the new process is introduced, allow the team to work through the new process for a couple of cycles. Then, review and re-measure the process to see how much improvement you have unlocked. Often you’ll notice other successes too.

 

A vital part of the process is to celebrate success. By publishing results, you’re sharing learning, acknowledging the transition team's efforts and helping to win over the sceptics.

 

There may be further improvements to be made. But before you jump in, repeat the process from step 2 and take time to reprioritise, so your iterations are most effective.

 

Once the biggest tasks that take the longest time are tackled, and there’s no more internal room to improve, but there is still pain, you look to replace systems.

There comes a time when every business has to choose the best software to maximise its growth.

 

Whether you want to replace all or part of an existing system or invest in a completely new solution, you have two options: an off-the-shelf package or bespoke software services. Despite the relative ease and affordability of generic solutions, custom software continues to grow in popularity. But why are so many companies choosing bespoke software and does your company really need it?

 

What is bespoke software development?

 

Bespoke development is tailored toward specific users and unique business requirements. Unlike off-the-shelf software, which is designed as a large-scale generic solution, bespoke software services are completely customisable. A bespoke software company can provide stand-alone products for different devices and applications, or it can design software that seamlessly integrates with existing systems.

 

 

Bespoke using open source

 

Bespoke development doesn't mean 'from scratch'. Using open source we harness tried and tested code built by the best brains around (including some of our own) in a composable way to create a bespoke experience. This means it can also be completely connectable to other parts of your infrastructure, allowing seamless data and workflows to become established and saving an enormous amount of human time and effort. This is particularly powerful when CMS-led product meets CRM - with the right configuration, you can connect the experience directly with audience experience and data to unlock huge commercial potential.

 

What does bespoke software offer that off-the-shelf doesn’t?

 

Tailor-made software can improve productivity, customer service, employee wellbeing and sales. Off-the-shelf products might seem like quick, lower budget options, but they are too broad in scope to align with specific business needs and USPs. Bespoke software is scalable and secure, which aligns with organisational objectives. 

 

Full control

 

The true brilliance of bespoke software lies in its flexibility. It can be used to integrate with existing systems, replace legacy systems or create an entirely new solution. Since it’s tailored to an organisation’s specific needs and goals, clients can create workflows that are functional and appealing to all stakeholders. Out-of-the-box products offer a one-size-fits-all solution with an abundance of features you might never use. Why bog down your system with lots of redundant features?

 

A competitive edge

 

Bespoke software gives your company a competitive advantage. While off-the-shelf solutions are comparable to most of your competitors’ offerings, a custom-made solution will help you stand out by providing a unique user experience. Faster, more efficient and targeted processes enable you to keep one step ahead of your competitors and encourage brand loyalty from customers. 

 

The potential for high profits

 

Although companies have to invest more money up front into bespoke software solutions, this cost is offset by a strong long-term ROI. For example, Full Fat Things helped Google dramatically reduce the costs of translations on its maps and local listings. We achieved this by building a Drupal-based solution that tracked versions of translations in several languages.

 

A generic software application wouldn’t have been able to offer this level of customisation and guidance for both Google’s translators and editorial owners. We always use established open source software, such as Drupal, Ember.js and Python, as a foundation for our bespoke software development services. We call this ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’.

 

Grows with your business

 

Despite its name, off-the-shelf software often has a shelf life. An out-of-the-box product might be fine for your company at first, but as your business needs expand, you could find your potential limited by your existing software. For example, you might notice employees are wasting time on inputting duplicate data, or perhaps your software doesn’t allow for automation.

 

A bespoke software company can create applications with the most cutting-edge technology that not only follow industry best practices, but lead the way in digital transformation. Specialist media company Key Publishing’s key.aero platform hadn’t aged well and had a very limited digital offering. Full Fat Things helped transform the outdated platform into an engaging digital content hub. We automated the process of adding print articles to the website, which included years of past content. This reduced the time staff spent on menial and repetitive tasks. We also implemented a permissions system for readers to access physical magazine subscriptions digitally with the potential to buy additional content.

 

Bespoke software is best implemented with an ongoing strategy that you can review, modify and update as your needs evolve. Off-the-shelf might be an easy and convenient short-term fix, but it could be a costly mistake, particularly for ambitious companies who plan to rapidly upscale or expand their services. 

Specialist Economic data publisher transformed its content architecture with Drupal-based system.

 

Capital Economics is an independent economic data and information service operating globally out of London, Toronto, New York and Singapore.  Founded in 1999, the company has always produced written macroeconomic analysis targeted at financial market participants and has an international client base of financial service and corporate institutions. In 2012 it won the Wolfson Economics Prize for the best proposal on how a member state could leave the Eurozone. In recent years it has developed an increasing range of proprietary data and forecasts, data APIs and applications, and opportunities for clients to interact with and commission projects with our economists.  

 

Capital Economics traditionally delivered the bulk of its research and analysis by email, but its customers increasingly required a digital content experience. There was a clear need to replace the existing website and back-office systems to be able to compete with new customer demands according to Ray Fawcett, Capital’s director of technology.

 

“Our clients were telling us they were looking for a more personalised and multimedia service.” he recalled. “We knew we had work to do to get platforms to the right place to meet this opportunity, but that the prize could be substantial.”

 

Capital Economics blueprint for the future

 

A fresh approach was clearly needed and the Capital Economics team realised a digitally led solution was essential to retain existing – and attract new – clients.

 

“Customer expectations had changed,” explained Fawcett. “We’d been sending people PDFs attached to emails but they were now expecting a more digital experience.”

 

This meant packaging up graphics, multimedia-rich content and plenty of easily digestible data in a format that could be updated quickly if the macroeconomic drivers and events changed.

 

Teaming up with Full Fat Things, a London-based digital agency, they put together a blueprint for a fully integrated, flexible website that could provide customers with a personalised experience.

 

“The goal was to get off the existing cumbersome platforms and start building new products,” said Fawcett. “A lot of cosmetic factors such as branding and email templates were also needed.”

 

Combining data and content

 

However, there were a few puzzles to solve. For example, prior to the revamp, data and content had been treated almost as separate entities, whereas readers wanted them to work in tandem.

 

“Over the past five years, customers have wanted more data and to integrate it into their own platforms,” said Fawcett. “While there’s a huge amount of data available, if we can get it to them quickly and easily then that’s a huge advantage.”

 

Another issue was how to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to providing content that was more tailored to the individual needs of subscribers.

 

“A chief investment officer might only log-on when they have a major decision to make, whereas an analyst could be on every day and be reading everything,” explained Fawcett. “We had to take a more granular approach when it came to who was accessing our content.”

 

Adapting to meet the demands of an ever-changing events cycle, particularly given the volatile economic backdrop of the last few years, was also seen as crucial.

 

“We needed a flexible entitlement model that allowed us to share content between different subscriptions very easily,” said Fawcett. “This includes being able to package up related articles when a particular macro event breaks in order to give readers more context. Our clients know we are the first to make sense of what matters in the global economy so the speed of our platform delivery is also important.”  

 

Streamlining CMS from ‘clunky’ WordPress-based system

 

The first step in the remodelling was updating the infrastructure, which had previously been centred around WordPress.

 

However, the various custom integrations that had been added over time only served to make everything clunky and unnecessarily complicated.

 

“We wanted to move away from too much customisation and more towards standard plug-in methodologies because this involves less maintenance,” explained Fawcett.

 

The route chosen was to build an entire website structure as a wraparound to the Salesforce CPQ solution, according to Stewart Robinson, founder of Full Fat Things.

 

“Capital wanted an end-to-end reinvention of their platform to have everything synchronised,” he explained. “The idea was to have sales, accounts and content providers all working together.”

 

Such an approach enables everyone to see what is being read, how customers are interacting with the site, and whether there are opportunities to upsell to them.

 

“We also gave Capital editorial tools via the Drupal web system that enabled them to automate manual tasks such as sending out newsletters,” said Robinson. “The team was also able to explore different ways of chopping up and repackaging content.”

 

Concision and clarity

 

Capital Economics has forged a reputation on providing concise articles in clear language, which has always been an effective approach for the most successful publishing groups.

 

“People don’t want to read an 80-page document to reach a conclusion, especially when a buy/sell decision is at stake with a lot of money involved,” said Fawcett. “Whoever’s first normally has a huge advantage over the competition.”

 

The analytics capability was also a game-changer in so much as economists realising analysis and data to the site could see whether their content was connecting with audience.

 

The new set-up provided solid foundations on which to build products such as CE Advance, its premium product featuring embedded videos, podcasts and audio files alongside content and data.

 

“It even has a Q&A function where subscribers can have questions answered by economists, which saves them having to recruit specialists in different areas,” added Fawcett.

 

The platform provides exclusive access to a range of proprietary data and indicators, as well as tools enabling users to create charts for presentations and analysis.

 

Personalised content feed for subscribers

 

Another area that needed attention was personalisation. With the amount of information available today, it is essential for subscribers to focus on the content they require.

 

“We created an interface that allowed customers to be more selective of what they wanted from the various services offered,” said Fawcett. “It enables them to drill down into areas of interest, such as inflation in China.”

 

Fawcett is delighted with the new-look Capital Economics site and is full of praise for the crucial role played at every stage by Full Fat Things.

 

“It was able to offer us everything under one roof,” he said. “The Full Fat team was great to work, very flexible and willing to give us extra resources when we needed them.”

 

Looking ahead, while he accepts that the fast-developing nature of content means the pressure will always be on companies such as Capital Economics to upgrade their offering.

 

“Our platform was due an update to meet market expectations a few years ago but now it’s overtaking the competition,” he added. “That’s a great place to be.”

 

Originally published by Press Gazette, November 2024