Getting to grips with exactly how you want to monetise your Community can be difficult. To get inspired, check out these commercial models and how they would affect your members journey.
These are the choices you can make about monetisation:
- Single plan or multi plan
This decides how many subscription choices you offer your members. You can offer up to three plans which can each offer different sets of content - Subscription billing period - Monthly and/or Yearly
This determines the length of time members are subscribed for, and how much it will cost (combined with the plan) - Hard or soft paywall
This decides whether or not you need a subscription to get into the community at all. A soft paywall will mean some parts of the App are visible for free (freemium model). A hard paywall will mean a member has to have a subscription to see anything (premium model) - Additional in-app purchases
Along with subscriptions, you can have some Folders or assets only available for an additional one-off fee
To make your life easier, we've built out a few scenarios to chose from, that help explain how they work and what your members can expect:
Scenario 1: Single Plan with a Hard Paywall
- Single plan subscription payment for access to the whole App.
- After signing up, members are directed to the paywall to pick the billing period they want to subscribe for.
- Until they subscribe, they can’t see anything in the App
Scenario 2: Single Plan with a Soft Paywall
- Single plan subscription payment for one/multiple sections of the App with the remaining sections free - also known as Freemium
- After signing up, members can access and contribute in the free areas of the App. Posts, Folders, Assets, Articles, Livestreams or Events that need a subscription are locked to them.
- Trying to access them will direct them to the paywall to pick the billing period they want to subscribe for
- After subscribing, they can access both the free and paid areas of the App (the whole App)
Scenario 3: In-app purchases
- In-app purchases of one/multiple files within the Folders.
- All other areas of the App are free to access
Combining: Scenario 1 & 3
- Single plan subscription payment for the whole App with additional in-app purchases
- Members need to buy a subscription before they can access the App.
- Once subscribed, they can also make further in-app purchases of content
Scenario 4: Multi Plan with a Hard Paywall
- Multi plan subscription payment for access to the App, with some sections of the App available based on the subscribed plan
- After signing up, members are directed to the paywall to pick the plan and billing period they want to subscribe to
- Until they subscribe, they can’t see anything in the App
- Once subscribed, they can access the areas of the App included with their plan, but any areas not included will show as locked to them
- A member can only have one plan - so make sure areas of common interest are available to all plans
Scenario 5: Multi Plan with a Soft Paywall
- Multi plan subscription payment for access to some sections of the App, with the rest of the App free - also known as Freemium
- After signing up, members can access and contribute in the free areas of the app. Posts, Folders, Assets, Articles, Livestreams or Events that need a particular plan are locked to them.
- Trying to access them will direct them to the paywall to pick the plan and billing period they want to subscribe for
- After subscribing, they can access both the free areas of the App and the areas included with their plan - but not areas not included with their plan, these will show as locked to them
- A member can only have one plan - so make sure areas of common interest are available to all plans, or for free
Combining: Scenario 4 & 3
- Multi plan subscription payment for access to the App, with some sections of the App available based on the subscribed plan as well as additional in-app purchases
We know there's a lot to consider here, so if you need any additional support or guidance, your lovely Customer Success Manager and Support team will be happy to help where they can!