When Free Isn't Free Enough - Transitioning from Free to Freemium in the Consumer Space

2. “FREE OF FREEMIUM, THINGS ARE
STARTING TO LOOK UP AT NING”
Taylor Bueley
Forbes, August 20, 2010

3. Every group, business
and organization needs
a website.

4. Online users visit
social networks in 2010
58%
2014201320122011201020092008
52%
58%
64% 65% 66%
61%
42%
SOCIAL HAS GONE MAINSTREAM
Source: U.S. Social Network Users, eMarketer – April 2010

5. Every website
will be social.

6. NING MAKES IT EASY TO
BE SUCCESSFUL
• Creative freedom and control
• Seamless social integration
• Robust, scalable open platform
• Turn-key monetization solutions
• Powerful data and insights
• Complete privacy control

7. THE WORLD’S LARGEST PLATFORM
TO CREATE CUSTOM, POWERFUL
SOCIAL WEBSITES

8. NING IS THE HUB OF YOUR WEB
AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY

9. THE DECISION

10. NING CUSTOMERS @ APRIL 2010
15,000
325K /
1.1 million
80%
20%
PREMIUM
FREE
(active/total)
TRAFFIC

11. DIFFERENT CUSTOMERS
…DIFFERENT NEEDS
<5% Conversion to Premium
Low Effective CPM
Leverage Advanced Features
& Customization
FREE PREMIUM

12. OUR GOAL: Build the very best
product for our customers and
align our resources to support
profitability.

13. ROLLOUT

14. 3 NEW PLANS FOR DIFFERENT CUSTOMERS
14

15. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
April
2010
August
2010
End to free
networks
April 15, 2010
Pearson
Partnership
June 24, 2010
New Revenue
Channels
June 16, 2010
Announce Plans &
Education Sponsorship
May 4, 2010
Mini Plus Pro
Launch
July 20,2010
WEGO
Partnership
July 19, 2010
Public announcements supported by
•Steady Drumbeat of customer communications
•New feature releases every 2 weeks
•Ongoing discussions on our Creators Site

16. Finally! You guys are
listening! Great decision and
I can’t wait for the New
Ning! We’ve got your back.
Source: customer email

17. RESULTS

18. FOR US IT WORKS
• Tied revenue to our customers’ success
• Shed the cost and complexity of being an
uber-publisher
• Clarified our product position and target
customer
• Gave us the freedom to invest in building the
BEST product for our customer

19. 74 million
Source: Google Analytics Sep 15 – Oct 15 2010
CONVERTED NING CUSTOMERSMONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS
BY THE NUMBERS
70,000
MONTHLY NEW CUSTOMERS
5,000
90 % of our former traffic

20. A NEW ROADMAP & FOCUS
Fast, reliable, cost-efficient infrastructure
Network
Creator
control &
visibility
Engaging and
delighting
members
Integrated
monetization
Platform
access &
3rd-party
connectivity

21. AN OPEN APPROACH TO INTEGRATION
& PARTNERS
SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
CUSTOM
APPLICATIONS
NING EXTENSIONS MOBILE PARTNERS
INTEGRATED
MONETIZATION
ANALYTICS