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How to use Subbly as a paywall?

Jun Hyeok Yang Updated by Jun Hyeok Yang

This article explains how to use Subbly as a paywall, allowing you to create exclusive pages on your website that are only accessible to subscribers. With Subbly, you can offer exclusive content, digital downloads, or discounted products to your subscribers.

Getting started

A paywall serves as a digital barrier that restricts access to certain content or products, typically requiring users to pay a recurring fee in order to gain entry. This approach enables businesses to monetize their offerings by offering exclusive or premium content to their subscribers. And with Subbly, this is possible!

What's the first step?

The first step in using Subbly as a paywall is to set up a membership product. This will help you clearly define that the right customers are granted access to exclusive content or discounted offerings.

It is important to take into consideration that membership products are always in an ad-hoc billing setup. And we need to use the automation feature to create a custom cut-off logic for this product. Check the section below.

Check this article to understand what an ad-hoc setup is.

Custom cut-off logic for ad-hoc billing cycles

This gives you control over when customers are billed. It's valuable for sending updated passwords to renewed customers, ensuring only active subscribers access premium content. This prevents canceled customers from retaining access with old passwords. With custom cut-off logic, maintain subscription integrity and provide exclusive content to active subscribers. Here's how you can set it up:

  1. Go to your Subbly account and navigate to the Automations tab.
  2. Click the Create an automation button.
  3. Choose the trigger "Subscription created".
  4. Choose the action as "Change renewal date".
  5. Choose how many days, weeks, or months you want to push back before the renewal occurs.
  6. Choose the day of the week or day of the month on which the renewal should occur.
  7. Set the conditions for the automation to trigger. You must specify that the custom cut-off logic applies only to a certain product (key) + equals to (operator) + choose your product (value). Click Save.

By setting up custom cut-off logic, you can ensure that your subscribers are billed at a time that works best for you.

If you set up the renewal for the 2nd of each month, it means that you need to change the password on the night of the 1st of each month. Don't forget to update the automated email in the last section!

How to create a password-protected page?

To use Subbly as a paywall you need to create a password-protected page in your website builder. This page will only be accessible to customers that subscribe to your membership product, allowing them to access exclusive content or hidden shop pages with discounted prices. To create a password-protected page, follow these steps:

  1. Access your website builder and create a new page.
  2. The fourth option gives you the chance to set a password on a specific page, click the lock icon named Set Password. Enter the password in the Set Password field.
  3. Add your exclusive content or shop page to the password-protected page.
You should change the password every month and send it to your subscribers via email. This way, only active subscribers will have access to the password-protected page. If you don't change the password constantly, canceled subscribers may have access to the content.

This is what your customers will see whenever they try to open a password-protected page.

How can I share the password with my subscribers?

Ensuring that only active subscribers receive the password to access premium content is a crucial step. It's essential to prevent canceled subscribers from obtaining the password and accessing content they are no longer entitled to. Subbly provides a convenient automation feature that streamlines the process of sharing the password with active subscribers. By following the instructions provided, you can automate this important step and ensure that only current and valid subscribers receive the password. Here's how you can set it up:

  1. Go to your Subbly account and navigate to the Automations tab.
  2. Click the Create an automation button.
  3. Choose the trigger "Subscription created" or "Renewal success".
  4. Choose the action as "Send SMS" or "Send Email".
  5. Set the delay for when you want the message to be sent (e.g., immediately or a certain number of days after the subscription is created).
  6. Write the message you want to send to your subscribers, you can add the password here. You can even use tags to personalize the message.
  7. Set the conditions for the automation to trigger. You need to specify that the message is only sent when a certain product (key) + equals to (operator) + choose your product (value - membership plan). Click Save.
For a visual reference, you can rely on this article.
If you want to share the password every time your customers get renewed, create two automations, one with the Subscription created trigger, and one with the Renewal Success trigger. Don't forget to update the email the night before the renewal happens!
Make sure to disable the email templates found here. Otherwise, your customers will receive duplicated emails.

If you have any more questions about setting this up, feel free to reach out to our customer support chat to get further assistance!

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