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.
Across the Channel is a vibrant publishing scene but because of language barriers, it is not one that UK publishers are overly familiar with. As Carolyn Morgan discovers, there’s lots that we can learn from our European neighbours.
Zephr has been incorporated into Zuora’s offering including a new Dynamic Offers module, with the application of Zephr’s functionality expanded to other industry groups beyond media.
Acast is introducing Acast+ Access, allowing any organisation with a subscription offering to add podcasts to their benefits.
AOP and Deloitte have released the latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index.
The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has sharply criticised a promotional campaign from Scottish regional newspaper publisher Highland News and Media.
Bundling is becoming increasingly popular with subs marketers as a way of increasing both revenue & retention. We grab 5 mins with Philippe van Mastrigt to look at the whys & wherefores of bundling.
Print marketing and distribution are central to many publishers’ businesses. We grab five minutes with Posthub’s Neil Carter to discuss the enduring appeal of print and what publishers can do to improve their performance.
Mats Brandt steps down as Group CEO of Readly International AB with Philip Lindqvist appointed as new CEO.
Guardian News & Media (GNM) has appointed Liz Wynn as chief supporter officer, leading the global digital reader revenue strategy.
What do the current travails of Vice and others tell us about the state of news publishing today?
Immediate Media Co has announced the appointment of Sean Cornwell as its new CEO and Tom Bureau as chairman.
Former WW International, Inc. executive Nick Hotchkin has joined the global executive leadership team at as Condé Nast chief financial officer.
WAN-IFRA has announced the winners of Digital Media Awards Europe 2023.
Readly has announced a partnership with Currys to provide consumer tech shoppers with unlimited digital reading.
Richard Reeves, AOP’s managing director, summarises the key takeaways from their latest research project, ‘Digital Publishing: Outlook and Priorities for 2023’.
