"That's a modern day miracle" - Chris Delahunt on achieving 40% traffic growth, record ad revenue, and seven-figure subscription revenue simultaneously.

After nearly three decades as a free-to-access publisher, Citywire introduced paywalls across their network of wealth management websites. The outcome defied conventional wisdom: subscription revenue soared while advertising revenue hit record highs and traffic grew 40%.

In a recent Renewd webinar, Chris Delahunt, Director of Renewable Revenues at Citywire sat down with James Feeney, CEO of Alliance Sales Support and shared the strategic decisions that made this transformation possible.

🎥 Watch Now - Taking the leap from free to paid, and why being late to the party encourages innovation.

The foundation: Audience intelligence over technology

The single most critical decision Citywire made had nothing to do with paywall technology - it was made years earlier.

"We always asked everybody to register and verify who they were, creating a complex taxonomy for each website," Delahunt explained. This allowed Citywire to separate audiences into two groups:

• Core audiences: High-value professionals advertisers pay to reach (kept free)

• Non-core audiences: Sales and marketing professionals (monetized via subscriptions)

The result? Both revenue streams grew simultaneously. Advertisers continued reaching their target audience without impediment, while subscription revenue created an entirely new profit center.

Key insight: One publisher recently told Citywire they didn't even have user registration. Without detailed audience taxonomy, sophisticated paywall strategies become impossible.

The strategy: Be bold, not cautious

Citywire's US launch revealed a counterintuitive truth: aggressive paywalls outperform gentle ones.

Their UK sites used a "dynamic paywall" that gradually reduced access over time based on individual behavior - being careful not to alienate long-time readers. But their US Pro Buyer site took a different approach: strict limits with minimal free access from day one.

"We were wonderfully naive," Delahunt admitted. "We didn't know what we didn't know, and that created mega frustration, which led to lots of sales."

The aggressive US approach drove faster growth without damaging traffic, which actually grew 40% year-over-year despite the paywall.

"Praise be to the Alliance sales team for helping us to do that," Delahunt said, "because that's a modern day miracle."

Lesson: Users adapt to restrictions faster than you expect.

The partnership model: Avoiding the bundling trap

Citywire partnered with Alliance Sales Support for subscription sales, creating what they call "clear blue water" between advertising and subscription revenue.

"Bundling is absolutely your enemy," said James Feeney, CEO of Alliance Sales Support. "The moment you fall into that trap, you're undervaluing what you've got."

Partnering with Alliance Sales Support helped Citywire's ad sales team be able to honestly tell existing clients: "Subscriptions are a separate part of our business." This prevented the common trap of siphoning ad budget to artificially inflate subscription numbers.

The key: Subscriptions tap different budget pools - information and market data budgets rather than marketing budgets - unlocking genuinely new revenue.

The results: Revenue that compounds

Three years in, the metrics speak for themselves:

• 95%+ renewal rates on institutional sites

• 20%+ year-over-year revenue growth

• 40% traffic growth despite paywalls

• Record advertising revenue maintained

• Seven-figure subscription revenue within two years

"Every January, I look at the numbers and think this is an absolute miracle," Delahunt reflected. "We never used to have this lump of money, but now we do."

The combination of Alliance Sales Support's execution and Citywire's strategic foundation created what Delahunt repeatedly called miraculous results - growth that defied industry expectations.

What works: Institutional audiences & actionable insight

Not all audiences convert equally. Citywire's institutional sites - targeting wealth managers, fund managers, and investment researchers - dramatically outperformed retail-focused properties.

Why? Institutional audiences need actionable insight that helps them make better investments, do their jobs better, or win clients. It can't be nice-to-have content available elsewhere - it must be competitively differentiating.

Geographic patterns emerged too:

• US: "Subscription natives" who readily accept paywalls

• Europe: Initial resistance that gave way to strong adoption

• UK: Most pushback due to 27-year history as a free service

The unexpected benefit: Journalist retention

Subscription revenue solved a persistent problem: talent retention.

"We used to lose journalists to the FT and Bloomberg all the time," Delahunt explained. "But you can't take them anymore, because we can pay them now."

Engaging journalists with subscription metrics - showing them the direct revenue impact of their work - created unexpected enthusiasm that improved content quality, driving a virtuous cycle of better journalism and higher retention.

The roadmap: What it actually takes to move from a free to paid subscriptions model

Timeline: 12 months from decision to launch

Critical steps:

• Build detailed audience taxonomy with verified registration

• Separate core audiences (advertisers want) from monetizable audiences

• Invest in paywall technology that can personalize by user

• Bring in experienced consultants who've done this before

• Consider specialist partners for subscription sales to avoid bundling

• Communicate extensively with audiences before launch

• Don't over-engineer pricing - you can adjust post-launch

The plateau challenge: Even successful subscription businesses face revenue plateaus. Citywire is addressing this through continuous product innovation: AI search tools, enhanced data capabilities, and mobile apps - all exclusive to subscribers.

"Introducing a paywall changes how you think about your entire organization," Delahunt reflected.

The bottom line

"Subs revenues compound so wonderfully, and they're great for your sanity," Delahunt noted. "Obviously, once we'd done it, we thought: why didn't we start this years ago?"

For media/events business leaders, the question isn't whether to introduce subscriptions - it's whether you're prepared to do it right. Citywire's journey proves that with proper audience intelligence, bold strategy, genuine value creation and the right partners, even a decades-old free-access publishers can build a sustainable subscription business without sacrificing existing revenue.

🎥 Watch Now - Taking the leap from free to paid, and why being late to the party encourages innovation.