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.
On 10 June, John Witherow, editor of The Times, gave this year’s Society of Editors Bob Satchwell Lecture at Stationers’ Hall in London. This is an abridged version of his talk.
After a decade or more of downbeat outlooks and downcast publishing conferences, Dickon Ross senses a new wave of optimism spreading among magazine editors and publishers.
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.
AOP and Deloitte reveal that industry confidence increased by 33% in Q1 2019 compared to Q4 2018, despite a fall in publisher revenue.
Intermedia Brand Marketing, a provider of circulation marketing and distribution solutions, has announced a new partnership with pre-school magazine publisher Redan Publishing.
Publishers are increasingly competing, not with each other, but with all the other calls on people’s precious time. We ask Readly CEO Maria Hedengren where she thinks the opportunities lie.
JazzTimes is now offering subscriptions to individuals and institutions through its new collaboration with digital publishing company Exact Editions.
Readly, a digital magazine subscriptions company, has announced that it has completed a €15 million investment round.
Mediapro, a leading European broadcaster and multimedia communications group, has selected MPP Global’s eSuite to power the launch of their new international Canadian soccer OTT service, OneSoccer.
Well-constructed and executed retention strategies are at the heart of the recurring revenue model.
InPublishing has this week published the ‘InPublishing Guide to Retention Strategies for Publishers’, written by Julian Thorne.
Times editor John Witherow called for the breakup of the digital giants Google and Facebook at the Society of Editors annual Satchwell lecture.
Kiplinger has acquired the Direct-to-Publisher (DTP) subscription file from Money magazine, which Meredith Corporation recently announced was ceasing publication.
Six chief executives took part in ‘View from the Top’ panel sessions at the PPA Festival. James Evelegh heard what they had to say.
Newtrade has selected Beeline Data Services to manage their data and subscriptions operations.
