FT App: Subscriber Retention Strategy
- This article details how the Financial Times (FT) is leveraging its app to drive subscriber retention and engagement.Here's a breakdown of the key points:
- Desktop: Mobile usage peaks during commute times (6-7am & 8-9am) and evenings (7-8pm), while desktop dominates work hours.
- * Lower Churn: App users are 37% less likely to cancel their subscriptions.
Key Takeaways from the Financial Times’ App Strategy
This article details how the Financial Times (FT) is leveraging its app to drive subscriber retention and engagement.Here’s a breakdown of the key points:
1. Understanding User Behavior is Crucial:
* Mobile vs. Desktop: Mobile usage peaks during commute times (6-7am & 8-9am) and evenings (7-8pm), while desktop dominates work hours.
* Impact on Strategy: This understanding informs content delivery, notification timing, and app journey design.
* Core Beliefs: “Web is a vehicle for getting users subscribed. App is a vehicle to engage and retain.”
2. App Users are More Valuable:
* Lower Churn: App users are 37% less likely to cancel their subscriptions.
* Superior Experience: The app is faster and more immersive than the web version.
3. Three Key Strategies for App Retention:
* Encourage & Enable Early Adoption:
* Focus: Deliver value quickly and clearly.
* Tactics: Easy-to-skim content, a clear value proposition, and a welcome screen explaining app features (which has increased conversion).
* Build Habit wiht Push Notifications & Personalisation:
* Focus: Keep users coming back by delivering relevant content.
* Tactics: Personalized push notifications based on reading habits and interests (gathered through an onboarding flow asking for topic preferences). also, encouraging social media follows (social followers are 3.7x more engaged).
* Deepen Engagement with Mobile-Pleasant Content:
* Focus: Provide diverse content formats suited for mobile consumption.
* Tactics: Audio articles (subscribers listen to ~4.5 articles/day via audio vs.2-3 reading), podcasts, offline reading, live briefings, article cues, saved reading, and curated lists.
In essence, the FT is prioritizing the app as the core of its subscriber relationship, focusing on personalization, convenience, and diverse content formats to foster daily habits and reduce churn.