Publishers are tying virtual events to subscriptions
As publisher events have been forced online, they are becoming more entrenched with other parts of the business, particularly subscriptions.
Over the last few months, virtual events have been used as an incentive for people to subscribe to publisher paid-for programs. Since launch in April, Verizon-owned TechCrunch has hosted 10 <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/16/announcing-the-extra-crunch-live-event-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="members-only investor Q&A series (opens in a new tab)">members-only investor Q&A series</a> events, Extra Crunch Live, via its subscription tier, Extra Crunch. Most of its 2020 events are for Extra Crunch members. Extra Crunch subscriptions have increased by 600% year-on-year, the company said. Elsewhere, publishers have moved more events online. Bloomberg Media’s newest virtual event, Bloomberg Reports which focuses on the impact of coronavirus, helps attract new subscribers. One subscription publisher is seeing strong subscriber participation in its virtual events series, many of who had never been to its in-person events before.