On 8 December 2023, Nikkei announced that the number of paying subscribers to the Nikkei digital edition and other digital services offered had surpassed 1 million*. This is the first time that has been achieved by a Japanese news publisher. This remarkable achievement is the result of a combination of various measures, including the launch of new media specialising in dedicated topic verticals, the expansion of content such as data visualisation using Nikkei's expertise, and the development of new strategies for corporate subscribers. Yet fundamentally, behind this success, is a framework borrowed from the Financial Times that Nikkei has reimagined for its own context in order to propel growth initiatives. *Nikkei updated the the latest numbers on 16 January, 2024.
Nikkei launched its digital edition in 2010, and since 2015 (when it acquired the FT), it has accelerated their digital transformation by actively adopting the FT's model. Some of the notable changes that have taken place in their newsroom are as follows:
- The first major change was moving up the deadlines of article submissions to fit digital readers’ preferences. At the time, articles for the morning editions were given top priority, and deadlines were set accordingly. Yet, many readers of the digital edition accessed the site during their morning/evening commutes and lunchtimes. The submission time was brought forward significantly so that articles could be updated in line with this timing.
- Another new initiative was created in a similar team that the FT had created called the Audience Engagement Team. The AE team now analyses the behaviour of readers in detail and reports daily to the newsroom. This has helped forward-planning, and overall helped in creating content that meets reader’s expectations and builds closer relationships.
- Nikkei also incorporates a metric utilised by the FT, which places a high value on reader engagement. That metric has been the RFV metric - you can read about it here.
Ryoichi Emura, General Manager, Digital Strategy and Planning Unit, Subscription Business, Nikkei, says that the key to success is reader understanding and empirical testing, which has also been thoroughly implemented in the FT. Today, a culture of conducting reader surveys, including in-depth interviews as well as data analysis, has taken root before developing any new initiative or experiment. All measures are also now tested before implementation, including UI/UX changes, verification of thumbnail positions, and content.
Currently, Nikkei's KPI is the number of digital subscribers, and measures are being committed across departments to achieve a common KPI under the 'Subscription Business' division, which was founded in 2022.
Furthermore, in 2023, Nikkei decided to incorporate the new FT goal-setting methodology: the FT now has a 'Global Paying Audience' (GPA) metric, with a goal of a GPA of 3 million. Nikkei has also adopted this indicator and has also set a common GPA goal for the entire Nikkei Group, including the FT.
At FT Strategies, we are very honoured to know that the FT's frameworks has contributed to a leading Japanese news publisher achieving the one million digital subscribers mark, and we hope that the FT's successful model will spread further to other news publishers in Japan and around the world.
About the author
Natsuko is working as an engagement manager with over 15 years experience in marketing and communications at local/global big tech platforms. Prior to joining FT, Natsuko oversaw communications in Japan at Twitter as a Director, and she also engaged with improving digital and social media optimization among various stakeholders, including users, publishers, and educational institutions.
