ALM, the legal and commercial real estate news publisher is looking to expand its consumer base by offering a bundled news service package. The digital reader program, which launched at the end of August, is cost-free.

The catalyst for the creation of the digital membership program, according to ALM SVP and chief marketing officer Lenny Izzo, is mainly consumer convenience.

“We’d just seen that our audience had been changing in how they consume media,” Izzo says. “A big part of the change for us was the significant adoption of mobile and the engagement on social media.”

The free membership package includes digital access to five news articles every month from three controlled circulation publications, online access to news alerts, newsletters and previously archived news stories, and discounts on ALM products and services.

Encouraging Sharing

This movement of content from behind the paywall to the forefront with free access is a key advantage for subscribers, says Izzo. But it also helps make the content easier to spread around.

“The benefit to paid members is the ability to share the content to colleagues and potential clients,” Izzo says. “This ability to pass on a story to a colleague digitally makes that sharing process, either from social media or from your inbox newsletter, easier.”