How The Economist turns social visitors into subscribers / No. 55

I salute you Alain de Botton. Great deeper look at news, best I have heard so far. Why we cannot empathise with factual news - say 300 dead in Congo - but are moved when we understand how people’s normal condition has been changed. How medieval pictures of Jesus are copied by paparazzi catching famous people do plain things on camera. If you are passionate about news, you have to see this.

It takes nine weeks to convert someone on social media to a subscriber. Find out how the Economist does it. Or click here and learn more on the Norwegian daily Aftenposten that is pushing for more subscribers. They doubled the paying reader population from 32,000 to 70,000 over 2016. Whilst we are in Scandinivia, check out here how Shibsted has centralized its 250-strong developers team to follow a global strategy. Cracking how to turn fly-by readers into loyal subscribers is the “sum of a thousand experiments.” It has created a comment system for Norway subscription title Bergens Tidende, for example, meant to bolster loyalty that springs from a sense of community. Smart stuff.

Meanwhile in Texas….there is this thing called the Engaging News Project. Click on the link for all this amazing research, all tested web-based strategies for informing audiences, promoting substantive discourse, and helping citizens to understand diverse views. They look at business goals, too. Just browse through tests on solutions journalism, clickbait, election coverage, mobile notifications and comments.