How the FT is using YouTube to drive subscriptions

Lucinda Southern of Digiday writes about how the Financial Times is using YouTube to boost its subscriptions.

Southern writes, “The FT knows that video plays a role in driving subscriptions: If an anonymous user on FT.com interacts with a video on either the first or second visit, they have a higher propensity to subscribe compared to someone who doesn’t. The issue is the volume of subscriber conversions is small, so the FT is increasing the amount of relevant video in articles to better understand how effective video is at driving conversions.

“To help assess how video can drive conversions, the FT is growing reach and referral traffic through YouTube, where it can point the viewer to additional relevant text or video content through links to related articles and end cards. According to the publisher, videos that drive the highest click-through rate tend to be series of videos explaining a dense topic, like blockchain or cryptocurrencies, but the FT was unable to share specific numbers. Roughly 10 percent of the publisher’s referral traffic comes from social platforms, according to SimilarWeb.

“‘YouTube understands the journey doesn’t need to end on YouTube. We appreciate that important factor,’ said Kayode Josiah, director of commercial development at the FT. ‘YouTube is an important video-viewing platform for the general population. We have to take it seriously.'”

Read more here.