The FT wanted to amplify its quality journalism to a relevant target audience at peak moments of interest: namely the UK referendum on EU membership and the US Presidential Election. The creative would have to run live as results rolled in, gaining attention over competitors and fake news outlets. This meant working in collaboration, the FT's marketing team worked to align paid media, editorial, CRM and onsite messaging for maximum effect.

For the US election, as each state announced its results, the FT shared the update online, serving a relevant ad creative on Facebook that highlighted the candidate in the lead. At the end of the night, our ads promoted Trump’s victory 12 minutes after it was announced by Associated Press, well ahead of most news outlets.

With Facebook as the main platform, the FT pre-prepared multiple creatives depending on a range of different scenarios for both the EU Referendum and US Presidential Election. As Hillary Clinton took the lead we promoted updates to an audience of millions. We did the same as Trump went in front and eventually won the race to the White House.

When people clicked on the ads, they were taken to a content hub, which offered paywall-free access to the Financial Times’ quality coverage of the US election.

This activity built on prototype work around the UK’s referendum on European Union membership and proved invaluable in heightening the FT’s subscription growth.

Overall, in the weeks surrounding Brexit, subscriptions increased 75% versus average levels. For the US election, they increased 33%. These two campaigns greatly contributed to the FT’s record-high circulation of almost 850,000 across digital and print in 2016, with digital subscriptions accounting for more three-quarters of the total paying audience.

Now, more than ever, when truth itself is questioned, audiences are searching for a voice that objectively and accurately reports the news. These results show that after 125 years, readers still look to the Financial Times to be that trusted voice.