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.
Right from the start, Incisive Media was never particularly bothered about which delivery channels it used – whichever got the job done best. As Tim Weller tells Jo Bowman, this attitude has helped them to adapt to the enormous changes in media consu
While many lifestyle magazines are struggling, Woman's Weekly editor, Diane Kenwood, says her title is thriving. Her secret? As she tells Mary Hogarth, it’s all down to knowing the readers and engaging them with great brand services and activities th
Concerns about the impact of the 24/7 news culture – is ‘first’ best or does ‘first’ often miss the point – led Rob Orchard and friends to launch Delayed Gratification, to provide the missing sense of perspective. As Rob tells Meg Carter, it’s been a
For small independent publishers, the need to find additional viable revenue streams is ever-present. The Hall of Fame, launched in 2010, was one of Motor Sport’s attempts. Great idea, but it didn’t make enough money. So, writes Sophia Dempsey, the p
The Comments section of many newspaper sites have become virtual cesspools, full of bile, vitriol and aggression; a dark netherworld dominated by trolls, spammers and other digital low-life. But … it doesn’t need to be this way! As DiscussIt CEO Grah
To mark 20 years of FT.com, the Financial Times is giving new readers 24 hours of free access to its website, beginning at 12:01 am BST on Wednesday, September 9.
The Times has launched a brand new edition for the Irish market. It will be accompanied by a digital edition of The Sunday Times.
Launching in August 2015, The Times and The Sunday Times are offering readers who subscribe to one of three 7 day subscription packs, a complimentary National Trust membership worth up to £99.
Local World has launched its own loyalty programme, Local World Plus, designed to reward its most committed readers with an exciting programme of offers.
The Financial Times grew revenues and profits in the first half of the year, driven by digital growth.
Centaur Media Plc, the multi-platform content group, yesterday published its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.
Retro Gamer, the retro games magazine, announces a strategic partnership with online retro community GamesYouLoved.
Jim Foster on the world of ePublishing
Human beings have evolved to act on the emotional response evoked in the brain by stories. And that means copywriting that targets the same part of the brain has a better chance of success, says Andy Maslen.
Readly, the all you can read magazine app for tablets and smartphones, has signed a cooperation agreement with Deutsche Telekom.
