The Economist is studying whether a new video series can drive subscriptions, reports Lucinda Southern of Digiday.
Southern reports, “In September, as part of a project funded by the Google News Initiative, The Economist will launch a weekly exclusive YouTube series, provisionally called ‘The Truth About….’ Each episode will be roughly 10 minutes long and take a more in-depth look at a topic that Economist journalists are covering. The series is planned to run until March.
“According to the publisher, the series aims to drive reach and subscribers on YouTube, where The Economist has nearly 900,000 subscribers, but also to drive traffic to its own site. Ultimately the aim is to deepen its relationship with audiences and explore how video can drive subscriptions and retention.
“‘In the last six months, we’ve been starting to ask how much further into the customer journey is there a role for video and what does that look like,’ said David Alter, director of programs at Economist Films at Digiday’s Video Summit, Europe.”
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