The Art of Showing, Not Telling: Going Beyond the Paywall

Imagine this. You just subscribed to a digital publication and are excited to explore all it has to offer. As you dive in and scroll through the content, you are hit with another subscription or product to purchase.

Even worse, the paywall often offers no visual insight or incentive into what you will receive! You are typically left staring at blurred-out content with no real clue about what is actually there.

So, how do you show a new product’s value without giving too much away or “frustrating” users? What will excite them about the product and drive conversions?

The use of visual storytelling!

Recently, our partners at a major political news publication came to us with the task of creating a design that would integrate a new premium subscription-based product into their existing ecosystem.

If successful, the design would drive conversions and let users access all subscribed products in one place.

We created promotional graphics and widgets that provided a “sneak peek” of the new design and showcased the product’s unique feature: legislative trackers.

The “sneak peek” graphics we created allowed the user to visualize the value of what they will receive. Being able to see the actual design of the trackers and what they contain doesn’t leave the user in the dark. Instead, it piques their interest and educates them about the product and what it contains in a visually interesting way. They are being shown the value, rather than just being told.

In addition to the promotional graphics, we strategically incorporated widgets throughout the site and newsletter that flowed naturally within the existing product.

Rather than discouraging users with mysterious content behind a paywall, we were able to use visual storytelling to highlight an exciting design, ultimately leading to more user interest and conversions.