FT Edit

FT Edit – a “daily dose of fresh perspectives” – is the FT’s response to overwhelmed readers’ requests for a curated offering. Eight daily articles – a mix of analysis, longer reads, opinion and FT Weekend pieces – are presented simply and ad-free to facilitate easy navigation and focused reading.

The objective – to woo back people who are turning away from the news – seems to be working: in its first year, FT Edit was downloaded around 140,000 times, with a subscription conversion rate higher than Apple’s benchmarks for news apps. The accessible pricing – a free month’s trial, followed by six months at 99p, rising to £4.99 a month subsequently – helps, but FT Edit also enjoys higher engagement with its articles than those on ft.com or the main FT app.  

The collaboration between editorial, product and commercial led to innovations such as the FT’s first influencer campaigns, with guest editors including serial entrepreneur Steven Bartlett and gut expert Professor Tim Spector taking over curation for a day and promoting it to their followers. Downloads and conversion rates rose by more than 60 per cent.

The judges described FT Edit as “a breath of fresh air … a brilliantly curated selection of stories, putting an end to endless scrolling.”