With advertising in decline, developing reader revenues is seen as the best way forward for a growing number of news, consumer and B2B media companies.
And… the best type of reader revenue is the recurring type, but revenues won’t recur if either your product doesn’t deliver or your retention processes are ill thought through, contradictory or poorly executed.
Getting your retention strategies right is important because:
- It costs a lot less to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one.
- The lifetime value of loyal subscribers is high, through the renewal payments and increased cross and up-sell opportunities.
- Retention rates are a good indicator of the overall health of your publishing product.
- Loyal readers are your best brand ambassadors.
- All of the above translates into higher profits for your business.
It’s dangerous to take existing customers for granted and assume that renewals will take care of themselves. They won’t. A coherent strategy, based on excellent customer care, market insight, price discipline, consistent messaging, intelligent segmentation and underpinned by rigorous and ongoing analytics, is essential for achieving high retention rates.
With some honourable exceptions, publishers don’t perform as well in this area as some of the big players in other media sectors, such as Netflix.
But, by happy coincidence, we’ve just published a new strategy guide which will help change that.
The InPublishing Guide to Retention Strategies for Publishers has been written by Julian Thorne, and is, err… absolutely superb. Written over the course of the last six months, Julian drills deep into the subject to deliver an exceptional publication, full of strategic and best practice advice. If you’re serious about improving your retention strategies, then you can find more information on our new guide here.
