🔓 How do you turn registered users into subscribers?
In our report, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀, created in partnership with the Google News Initiative, we explore how publishers across EMEA are using smarter registration strategies to drive measurable growth — including Project Syndicate.
Facing stagnant registration growth and minimal engagement differences between anonymous and registered users, Project Syndicate redesigned its registration proposition as part of the Subscriptions Academy EMEA Programme in 2025.
Instead of offering just one free article per month, they introduced:
🔹Three free reads every 30 days in exchange for registration
🔹 Clear, value-led messaging (follow authors, build a reading list)
🔹 A stepped soft-to-hard paywall journey showing users exactly where they were in their allowance
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀:
📈 A 52% increase in registered users becoming subscribers
📈 Wall success rate increased from 7% to 9%
📈 17% uplift in RFV for registered users
More than half of users who were exposed to the new widget interacted with it, demonstrating that transparent value exchange and structured sampling can meaningfully shift behaviour.
Project Syndicate is just one of 12 case studies featured in The Power of Registration, drawing on insights from publishers across EMEA and the Financial Times’ own approach to registration strategy.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 👉
eu1.hubs.ly/H0s50KH0
We are grateful to the publishers who took part courtesy of our partnership with the Google News Initiative:
L'Orient-Le Jour, Ouest-France, HENNEO (Heraldo de Aragón), Il Fatto Quotidiano, Majarra | مجرة, Le Parisien, ABC (Vocento), Irish Farmers Journal, Pagella Politica, News24 Business / Netwerk24 (Media24), Project Syndicate, Courrier international
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