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.
Flip-Pay says its new publisher-integrated technology drives reader donations, ‘Guardian-style’, while allowing open access to journalism.
After years of resisting paywalls, Reach is now launching them across its titles. But David Higgerson, Reach’s chief content officer, carefully avoided the word ‘U-turn’ when interviewed by Steve Dyson.
In the face of AI disruption, one thing publishers can do to differentiate themselves from the bots, is by creating a sense of community. Phil Clark looks at the way various publishers are approaching the task.
Back in January, Mark Carney told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the world was experiencing a moment of sudden “rupture” rather than gradual “transition”. Jim Bilton looks for parallels in the media industry.
The global winners of the Digital Media Awards 2026 have been honoured at WAN-IFRA's Marseille Congress.
Reach has appointed George Grist as chief customer officer for its newly created division, bringing together reader revenue strands.
James Evelegh hears the NYT’s Tom Armstrong give further insights into the publisher’s successful strategy.
Immediate has announced the appointment of Charles Cox as performance marketing & acquisitions director.
James Evelegh picks out eight of the many tips on offer at InPublishing’s ‘Subscriber Retention Special – Q&A’ webinar…
Darwin CX wins new global publisher accounts as media companies prioritize unified subscription data.
History Today has chosen Air Business to support its US renewals journey.
Email newsletters are changing! Where once they were seen as a means to an end, publishers are now seeing them as standalone products and relationship builders. We grab five minutes with Upland Adestra’s Ewan Sinclair to find out more.
James Evelegh picks out eight top tips from InPublishing’s recent subscriber retention special.
Daily Mail has announced that DailyMail.co.uk has transitioned to a new global domain, DailyMail.com.
The Newspaper and Magazine Awards last week announced its 2026 winners at a ceremony in London.
