What I’d like to understand is the audience breakdown between referral and direct. I would wager that the vast majority of people do the same thing, which explains why SEO has always been such an integral part of review sites. My first instinct was to search Google and then land on whichever site came first. I need to do something about all this sitting at my desk. I did a Google search today for a rowing machine.
#THE WIRECUTTER REVIEWS PROFESSIONAL#
By 2016, those ages had risen to 65 and 56, respectively.ĬR’s aging audience is a particular problem because younger people don’t have the built-in allegiance to professional reviews, preferring online opinions.Ĭan Wirecutter, which has notoriously been a free site, suddenly start charging? That depends on this next point…
In 2008, the average age of a CR print subscriber was 60, and that of the average online subscriber 50. However, Consumer Reports has an incredibly strong brand and it’s an aging audience that has stuck with CR for years now. So, it’s clear that people are willing to pay for access to the reviews. That was up $10 million from the previous year. If we look at CR’s 2018 tax return, it appears to have generated $109 million in digital subscription revenue. Having 2.9 million online subscribers who are paying for professional reviews is an incredibly strong indicator of consumer interest. Its online traffic grew to an average of 14 million monthly uniques in 2017, up 17 percent from the previous year, according to a company spokesperson.
In 2017, CR had 3.6 million print subscribers (more than People), who pay $30 a year, and 2.9 million online subscribers. The reality is, Wirecutter wouldn’t be the first to have a subscription built into its review website.Ĭonsumer Reports has always done it, convincing millions of people to grab either a print or digital subscription for access to all the in-depth, professional reviews. Let’s look at three separate areas to potentially support this move. This feels like a situation where the company is so myopically focused on building a subscription on every one of its products even if the model doesn’t support it.īut let’s give The Times the benefit of the doubt-many people questioned the more than $30 million purchase in 2016-and try to understand why The Times might be making this move. If people start to hit a paywall anytime they want to see a product review, that affiliate revenue is likely to drop. “…it’s better to be in a position of having multiple revenue streams.”Īt its core, Wirecutter’s purpose is to provide useful information to consumers so that they are inclined to click through to Amazon and purchase goods. Having someone come in from a marketing perspective is a key part of puzzle for us.” “To launch a subscription offering you need to deeply understand the audience, what the willingness to pay is, and what the execution needs to be like. David Perpich, Head of Standalone Products at The Times, told Axios: You will oversee Wirecutter’s efforts to expand its reach and build its consumer business from the ground up.Īxios confirmed these plans with The New York Times and had more to offer.
Wirecutter is seeking an all-around marketing leader to drive the strategy and go-to-market execution of its future consumer subscription product. It looks like Wirecutter is looking to hire a Director of Marketing to, in part, help the company build out a subscription product.