How The Economist’s new app tries to keep people from unsubscribing

Lucinda Southern of Digiday writes about how The Economist’s new app aims to keep readers from unsubscribing.

Southern writes, “For the past eight months, The Economist has worked to drive retention, as it’s cheaper to keep readers than to acquire new ones. Case in point is its new Economist app, which went live May 2 and is free to download, but requires a subscription to access articles.

“Denise Law, who led the project in a newly created role of head of product, said the new app was developed with the awareness that readers are overwhelmed by the amount of content in it, which leads them to unsubscribe.

“‘People who engage with digital products are more likely to re-engage with their subscription,’ said Law. ‘We want to demonstrate through the app that you don’t need to read from cover to cover to get value.’

“Traditionally, The Economist’s products were designed to drive revenue from advertisers and circulation, but now that circulation revenue exceeds advertising revenue, its strategy has shifted.”

Read more here.