The Economist has spent the last few years developing products and offers that foster deeper, more human relationships with readers. Its latest launch, Play, provides a lower-priced audio and video subscription tier aimed at a growing audience across all age ranges who consume news in these formats but aren’t yet ready for a full-price subscription. Crucially, it serves as an accessible entry point to bring younger demographics into The Economist’s orbit before they transition to the full access tier, which also includes all written journalism.

We spoke with Nada Arnot, Co-Managing Director of The Economist, about Play’s launch and how it fits into the publication’s wider relationship-building strategy.

> The Economist has launched a dedicated subscription tier for access to audio and video formats, priced lower than the core digital subscription to attract new audiences

> The "Halo Effect": From early signals, the team has observed an uptick in core Premium sign-ups. Seeing a cheaper, format-specific option next to the full product acts as an anchor, nudging undecided visitors to pay a little extra for the full suite.

> Net-New Audience: Conversions through Play have been driven almost entirely by brand-new readers rather than existing subscribers trading down.

> Play is part of The Economist's wider strategic development (alongside podcasts, short-form video and "Insider") towards building deeper, more "human" relationships with audiences

Play, a new audio and video subscription tier

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In a strategic move to engage a new and distinct audience, as well as take note from the creator economy, The Economist has launched its data journalism newsletter, “Off the Charts,” on Substack. This decision to venture beyond its traditional paywalled ecosystem offers a fascinating glimpse into how a legacy publisher is adapting to the evolving digital landscape.

I sat down with Aaron Coultate, Head of Newsletters at The Economist, to discuss the thinking behind this exciting initiative.

> The Economist has put Off the Charts, its data journalism newsletter, on Substack, deliberately building an audience on a platform it doesn't own to reach people not yet ready for a full subscription

> The reasoning is where readers already are. Substack has over 5 million users, many of them data visualisation enthusiasts, plus discovery, recommendation and community features a plain email newsletter can't match

> The Economist publishes unsigned, so the creator economy is an awkward fit. Its answer is a collective personality: a rotating cast of data journalists, so readers get to know a team rather than a star

> Cannibalisation is managed by keeping nothing exclusive. The £7 monthly Substack tier carries the same data journalism core subscribers already receive, adding only the archive and a comments section

> Aaron Coultate is explicit that this is meant to be a standalone product rather than a funnel into the main subscription. Success is measured in Substack growth and engagement, not conversions

Context: an innovative idea for an established product

The idea to launch “Off the Charts” on Substack was born from a great collaboration between the editorial and commercial teams. The core idea? To find a new way to reach potential readers who are interested in a specific area of The Economist’s content but might not be ready to commit to a full subscription just yet.

“Off the Charts” was the perfect candidate for this experiment. It originally launched as a free newsletter back in 2021 before being moved behind the paywall as part of the core subscription. But the vibrant data journalism community that had grown around it was too compelling to ignore. This new Substack launch, which was in the works for several months, is a deliberate effort to both create a new revenue stream and nurture that niche audience.

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The topic of subscription ceilings, or peak subscriptions, has come up a lot in conversation recently, but after a chat with the HBM Advisory team it seems the problem has been misunderstood.

The post The concept of peak subscriptions is not a problem with readers appeared first on Audiencers.

The context

Educating subscribers about their entitlements is critical for successful onboarding. One effective method is to send subscribers a targeted email welcome series. However, inboxes are becoming more crowded and email engagement such as click and open rates are declining. Additionally, the average subscriber at The Economist is older and affluent, so we saw an opportunity to test sending a physical welcome pack—opening an additional channel and creating a premium and tangible experience. 

The post Stand out with an onboarding pack: How The Economist increased new subscriber engagement by 3.5% appeared first on Audiencers.