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

New Scientist – our subs journey

The New Scientist is a subs success story. During the pandemic, the title boasted double-digit acquisition growth, but when growth began to slow, it became clear that a new strategy was needed.

By Jo Adams | 12/04/2023

REVIEW

Uncertain times

There was no sugar coating it at the recent SoE conference. The press faces a number of considerable challenges – rising costs, the implications of AI and an increasingly difficult to deal with police force.

By Ray Snoddy | 12/04/2023