Engaging readers by better understanding their needs

Situation

The programme is designed for publishers who are looking to accelerate their digital transformation, data and analytics capabilities. The cohort of eight publishers was diverse in nature, across publisher size, addressable audiences, medium of publication, and participants at different stages of their subscriptions journey. The programme itself spanned five countries across Southeast Asia.

Engagement

  • Each publisher launched a reader survey on their existing audiences using a standardized question set.
  • There were a series of inspiration sessions for the cohort with expert speakers on the subject of audience understanding and its importance.
  • Each publisher had a cross functional team of 3-5 employees in order to encourage cross-organization alignment on the topic of data and insights.

Results

At the end of the programme, the eight attendees:

  • FT Strategies used the publishers’ data and audience insights to produce actionable business recommendations on topics such as data collection, data metrics, and building a data-led subscription strategy that was reader-led
  • Provided unique and tailored recommendations for growing and engaging subscriptions for each publisher
  • The programme created an environment for the publishers to discuss their own experiences from successes to failures in utilising data across their organisations.

"The programme was a catalyst that allowed us to step away from the daily grind and have fresh perspectives on how things are. The reader survey and data analysis was very useful in helping to identify opportunities for us to work on.”

Ng Kai Ling Audience Growth Editor, The Straits Times