A little over two years since launch, women’s online platform The Pool has decided to test out a new paid-for subscription option for £3 a month.
Billed as a VIP members club for the media brand’s most engaged and loyal audience, ‘Editor’s Circle’ will be delivered as an exclusive weekly newsletter from co-founder and editor Sam Baker, direct to a subscriber’s inbox every Friday, discussing what she’s been reading, doing, buying and watching during the week.
The Pool, which currently brings in around one million unique monthly users, said the decision to launch a paid-for newsletter was a result of numerous readers emailing to ask how they can access additional content on the site and ‘be more Pool‘.
The Pool said that the £3 is an introductory trial price, and that it will review price and payment options as the value of the Editor’s Circle grows.
“The VIP subscriber club was always in our longer-term plan, but as our audience have been regularly asking “How can I be more Pool?!!” we brought the Editor’s Circle to market sooner than expected,” said Jo Morrell, chief commercial officer.
“Testament to the brand resonance, and strength of engagement The Pool has, we have already had an impressive uptake from our regular readers, and this presents another opportunity for the right brands to interact in a positive way with our highly influential, high spending audience.”
The news coincides with the launch of The Street – The Pool’s new commercial service for fashion retailers, offering a bespoke combination of content, email, ‘influencers’ and pop-up events.
Brand-funded pop-up events have played a key role in growing The Pool’s revenue so far – including a recent collaboration with fashion brand Warehouse, which hosted a series of lunchtime events in Cardiff, Liverpool and London.
See also: Straight in at the deep end: The Pool’s publishing gamble
