Case Study: The Daily Beast achieves 16x conversion growth and redefines loyalty with Piano's dynamic paywall

How The Daily Beast Redefined Their Concept of Loyalty by Using Data to be Dynamic in Onsite Experiences

The Daily Beast, a modern news and pop‑culture site, partnered with Piano after launching a freemium model to better identify and market to “loyal” readers. Initial definitions (based on session counts) proved too binary: many mid‑frequency visitors were referral-driven and not truly loyal, so the team rethought audience segments to capture behavior and homepage engagement rather than just visit counts.

In 2020 they reclassified users into product, referral, and story types and implemented Piano’s Likelihood to Convert scoring on every page view, bucketing readers into four score groups and serving a tailored “next best action” or dynamic paywall along a defined “Happy Path.” By focusing paywall and messaging on true product loyalists and offering easier actions for others, The Daily Beast drove a 16x year‑over‑year increase in conversions and grew its most engaged audiences during major 2020 news events.

The Daily Beast

Lauren Bertolini

Chief Product Officer