Who is the Programme for?
The programme is designed for publishers at the beginning of their digital reader revenue journey. It’s aimed at organisations looking for rapid and actionable solutions to help in their transition to digital reader revenue. This includes:
- Local and hyper-local publishers.
- Publishers with a content website, not only an e-edition of the publication.
- Publishers who are yet to offer digital subscriptions/memberships or at a very early stage of that process.
- Typical headcount (newsroom + operations): 9-50.
- Typical online monthly unique visitors: <250,000.
What is the outcome?
Publishers will leave with:
- An actionable plan to tackle a key reader revenue or engagement challenge
- Key next steps with milestones, outcomes & owners
- Practical experience on how to apply the North Star tool
- 1on1 consulting
- Exclusive in-depth insights and feedback from FT experts across data, editorial and marketing
Frequently Asked Questions:
Who is the programme for?
The Digital Immersion Programme is designed for publishers at the beginning of their reader revenue journey. It’s aimed at organisations looking for rapid and actionable solutions to help in their transition to digital reader revenue.
What stage of the reader revenue journey should publishers be at? Are we still eligible for the programme if we have a reader revenue model in place?
Publishers might have taken the first steps towards driving value from digital readers, including subscriptions, donations or memberships. These should not be fully developed though; the goal of the Digital Immersion Programme will be to optimise elements of their reader experience to activate or accelerate the journey to sustainable reader revenue.
If you already have a reader revenue model in place, that’s great! Depending on what stage of the journey you’re at, you may still be eligible for the programme.
Can publishers outside of the UK apply?
Yes! We actively encourage applications from news organisations across Europe, TH, providing they can speak the programme language.
How much work is involved?
So that you can get the most value out of the programme, we will provide you with a selection of pre-reading materials. These will offer a short introduction to reader revenue models, making the most of data and analytics, and sketch out global changes and trends in the digital news landscape. We highly recommend working your way through this (short) list so that you can hit the ground running and extract the most value from our expert-led workshops.
What does the application process look like?
After submitting an application form we’ll be in contact over the next few weeks to confirm your place. If we think you’re slightly too advanced or nascent for the programme, we’ll recommend resources and next steps for you to take.
Which employees should attend the Digital Immersion Programme? Can multiple people from our organisation attend?
Bearing in mind the topics covered, we recommend that you send a mid or senior level decision maker who works within the most relevant areas, and who has a good knowledge of / is responsible for audience engagement and (reader) revenue growth. The participant might be within the data, digital, marketing, strategy or technology departments.
For each programme there can be a maximum of 12 publishers, with up to two participants from each publisher. For the morning webinar sessions, we invite participants to invite as many relevant people in their organisation as they like (up to a maximum of 20) to help share and embed the knowledge.
What sort of time commitment will be required each day?
The daily time commitment is around 5 hours of content and activities.
The programme is a great mix of insights from knowledgeable experts and accessible exercises for practical application in our own organisations. I especially appreciate the ongoing opportunities for learning and networking after the programme through additional consultations and alumni events.
Rebecca Quinn Digital Transformation Adviser, The Connexion
The Digital Immersion programme was extremely well organised and well presented, containing reams of useful information about developing reader engagement and monetisation models. I am sure that the materials provided and the topics discussed will prove very useful to me and my organisation in the future.
Emma Morgan Regional Editor, Nub News
The FT's Digital Immersion lab has been an extremely worthwhile experience that I would recommend to all publishers however big or small. The speakers are knowledgeable, inspiring and full of thoughtful advice. I have really, really enjoyed the past five days and am overflowing with ideas and actions! I also appreciated that the schedule allowed time to carry out my day-to-day work.
Emily Hewett Head of Audience, Archant