Every subscriber who leaves has to be replaced before a subscription business can grow, which makes retention the quieter half of reader revenue and often the more profitable one. The first renewal is the real test of whether acquisition brought in the right people.
Retention starts with habit. The publishers that keep subscribers longest engage them well beyond the welcome emails, and renew on the strength of the brand rather than another discount. A surprising share of churn isn't a decision at all. Expired cards and failed payments quietly lose revenue that can often be recovered.
Some brands are losing subscribers and hard-fought revenue that could be saved with some attention and effort.
Tracy Larner Our subs retention strategy: William Reed
When someone does want to leave, how it is handled matters. Understand why before offering anything, and make the exit easy, because subscribers treated well on the way out are far more likely to come back.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on subscriber retention and churn, from engagement and renewal pricing to payment failure and cancellation, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
Does your CEO know what your subscriber retention rate is? The chances are, probably not. But, according to Julian Thorne, author of our Guide to Retention Strategies for Publishers, this number should never be far from his or her (or your) mind.
A subscriber’s first 30 days are important to build habit but so is every day after, says Emma Robinson, head of customer experience.
You cannot improve a process until you have documented it, and you cannot achieve an objective until you have a process and system to support it, says Rosa Sherwood, head of CRM, engagement and loyalty.
It’s a well-known fact that engaged subscribers stay for longer, says Susanne Kinnaird, head of digital reader revenue.
It’s important not to lose subscribers and hard-fought revenue through involuntary churn, says Tracy Larner, subscriptions director.
It’s important to understand the reason for cancellation and to ensure the retention offer directly addresses the subscriber’s stated concern, says Mike Halstead, managing director of HH&S.
What determines pricing power is not only the category of need, says Andy Burden, founder of Substribe, it’s the stakes.
Making it super-hard to cancel a subscription does no one any favours.
Up until quite recently, free was the most common price for online content. The failure of advertising revenue alone to sustain the publishing model has lead to a radical rethink across the industry. Carolyn Morgan looks at some of the different pric
Informa has released preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2009.
iSUBSCRiBE has overhauled its website and undertaken fresh branding with the launch of a “new and innovative” customer-focused website.
Haymarket has launched a digital version of Autosport magazine that will be made available to subscribers through Autosport.com.
The CDS Global report into ABC’s subscription highlights July to December 2009 has been published.
The National Magazine Company has released the following statement to accompany the recent release of the July-December 2009 ABCs:
The Spectator is the latest winner of a Media Pioneer award, awarded by the organisers of the Specialist Media Show.
IPC Media has released the following statement to accompany yesterday’s release of the July-December 2009 ABCs:
The latest issue of Classic FM magazine comes with a cover-mounted CD of music that, when loaded into a computer, will give readers access to extra multimedia content online.
The Specialist Media Show, a new conference, exhibition and workshop programme for professionals working in and around specialist publications, events and digital media launches on 25 May 2010.
CDS Global has announced the acquisition of the Optima business, previously operated by Optima Data Intelligence Services Limited, Optima Data Intelligence Limited and Optima UK Limited.
Good riddance to 2009. What an abysmal twelve months that was! The new year is a time for predictions; some will be gloomy, some more upbeat. Karlene Lukovitz is determined to position herself in the latter camp ... for the time being at least.
The problem with newsstand sales is that publishers have no direct contact with their readers. They don’t know who they are and, outside of the magazine itself, have no opportunity to sell to them. David Garratt and Charles Arthur argue that, by grad
Though his feet rest in the fertile soil of direct mail, these days, subscriptions copywriter Andy Maslen is as likely to be writing a landing page as a renewal series. Here he looks at the places where online and offline copywriting diverge.
Factory Media, one of Europe’s largest action sports media owners, has announced the release of thirteen iPhone applications available for download from the iTunes 9 App Store.
