Outsell, Scout Analytics Launch Subscription Analytics Tool for Paid Content Providers

The tool is designed to help clients find "holes" in their paid content revenue streams.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Research and advisory firm Outsell, Inc. announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with subscription analytics solution provider Scout Analytics to create a new service called Outsell Scout Analytics, which will help media companies increase revenue from online paid content.

The Outsell Scout Analytics tool allows publishers to gain more insight into how their subscribers are utilizing and navigating the paid sites, thus revealing any “holes” that might be costing them money. For example, via Web analytics, the tool can recognize if multiple people are using a site license made for a single user, or if subscribers are trying to access parts of a site that they're not currently subscribed to. The tool gives each subscriber a “demand rating,” which essentially tells the publisher how likely the customer will renew his or her subscription.

“When we were working with one particular client, we found that 24 percent of its user licenses were being shared by more than one person,” Matthew Shanahan, SVP, strategy, Scout Analytics, told AD. “This is a revenue leak, and knowing this information gives the publisher the opportunity to stop the sharing of the license and boost its revenue.”

For the same client, Shanahan said that 66 percent of its group site licenses were only being used by one person at the company. “This is yet another revenue risk because when their subscription runs out, they may not want to renew since a group site license is so much more expensive,” he said.

Once the tool has given its ratings and produced reports, Outsell’s team helps its clients to review and analyze the results, and then offer advice on what to do next. “We work with the clients to figure out what kind of programs will help them boost revenue, whether it’s through marketing or some other avenue,” said Louise Garnett, VP and lead analyst, Outsell, Inc.

According to the company, clients that have used the service have uncovered opportunities to improve their subscription revenues by an average of 10-15 percent.

In addition to a revenue boost, the tool can also help companies boost customer and advertiser satisfaction, Garnett said. “There’s a lot more competition in the online paid content space these days,” she said. “Tools like these enable publishers to increase not only their revenue, but their value proposition as well.”

Garnett added that Outsell is working on a library of best practices stemming from the recommendations they give to clients using the Outsell Scout Analytics tool.