FEATURE
Is permission a circulation issue?
With the help of their own recent research, Opt-4’s Rosemary Smith explores the role of circulation professionals in obtaining and managing marketing permissions.
Subscriber Retention & Churn
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.
Essential Resources
FEATURE
7 reasons to obsess about your subscriber retention rate
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.
Subscriber Retention Special
Our subs retention strategy: New Scientist
A subscriber’s first 30 days are important to build habit but so is every day after, says Emma Robinson, head of customer experience.
Subscriber Retention Special
Our subs retention strategy: Our Media
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.
Subscriber Retention Special
Our subs retention strategy: Newsquest
It’s a well-known fact that engaged subscribers stay for longer, says Susanne Kinnaird, head of digital reader revenue.
Subscriber Retention Special
Our subs retention strategy: William Reed
It’s important not to lose subscribers and hard-fought revenue through involuntary churn, says Tracy Larner, subscriptions director.
Subscriber Retention Special
Cancel-save strategy
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.
Subscriber Retention Special
Renewal pricing
What determines pricing power is not only the category of need, says Andy Burden, founder of Substribe, it’s the stakes.
COLUMN
Aaaaaaagh!!!! All I want to do is cancel my subscription
Making it super-hard to cancel a subscription does no one any favours.
All Articles
FEATURE
Email marketing – keeping the magic alive
List fatigue is an ever present danger for email marketers, as recipients start to tire of the frequent communications. But, says Mark Edwards, there are a number of techniques you can use to extend the profitable life of a lead.
FEATURE
Renewal rates
Renewal rates are an obsession for most publishers, but great care should be taken over their calculation and interpretation. Misreading the analysis can lead to incorrect conclusions, and harmful action plans drawn up for non-existent problems. Greg
FEATURE
Setting a subs promotion budget
It always pays to get the maths right, especially when setting your annual subs promotion budget. A proper analysis of the key indicators will help you avoid making costly and far reaching mistakes. Laurie Wedd talks us through the logic.
FEATURE
Subs bureaux
For the many publishers that entrust the management of their subscriber and controlled lists to bureaux, the bureau represents the front line in their marketing efforts and the public face of their title. A productive, mutually beneficial relationshi
FEATURE
What some famous copywriters taught me
Few copywriters study enough. And many who commission copy study even less. So the partially-sighted serve the blind. No wonder, says Drayton Bird, most subscription copy isn’t very good.
FEATURE
Software trends
Most publishers recognise the need for change, even if they might disagree on the precise direction. Few, though, dispute that systems will play an increasingly pivotal role in tomorrow’s publishing world. James Evelegh looks at how newspaper sales s
FEATURE
Just tap and go!
Star columnists, DVD give aways, glossy supplements, Sudoku. What is your strategy for building sales, or at least slowing their decline. Could it be that a large part of the answer lies in smartcard technology? Deloitte’s Peter Simon and William Yar
FEATURE
Dutch option
Ask any publisher what they associate with Holland, and a vibrant magazine market may not end up high on the list. Tulips definitely, windmills possibly, the Red Light District - obviously, but magazines ... well possibly not. But, as COMAG’s Paride
FEATURE
Follow the reader
One of the highlights of the 2005 PPA Subscriptions Conference was the keynote speech by Peter Phippen, in which he outlined how he saw the relationship between publisher and reader evolving in the years ahead, and the central role that subscription
FEATURE
The copywriter’s secret agenda
What does a subscriptions copywriter actually write about? The answer is almost anything apart from your publication. Peter Hobday explains why copywriters and food critics have much in common, and presents a twelve-part list to distinguish good copy
FEATURE
Managing your subscribers and direct sales customers
Subscriptions and direct sales are becoming increasingly important to magazine publishers, so the way you manage your customer base is fast becoming a strategic choice rather than simply an administrative process. Gill Lambert examines the options.
FEATURE
The science of newspaper sales
The UK evening press market has had a torrid time of late – yet some titles have managed to increase sales, whilst some others have at least shed readers at a less alarming rate than most. The Norwich Evening News’ Philip Preston recently undertook r
FEATURE
Cover and out!
Last autumn saw a covermount frenzy in the national press with publishers falling over themselves to tempt floating readers with free CDs and DVDs. Yet, many in the industry, not least the proprietors themselves, are openly questioning their value. D
FEATURE
Alan Geere on the nationals - 2
Each issue, Alan Geere casts an eye over the performance of the national press.
