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.
The concept of paywalls, which publishers continue to agonise over, is a by-product of our digital age. But, writes Ross Sturley, there are some valuable lessons to learn from an earlier wall-building exercise.
Internet research publisher and digital training specialist Econsultancy has won the Small Online Business of the Year accolade at the 2011 National Business Awards.
Informa’s Peter Rigby is one of publishing’s longest serving CEOs and has overseen a huge growth in the company’s size, as well as its successful digital transformation. Peter talks to Meg Carter about the reasons for Informa’s success to date and wh
According to the NFRN, London newsagents were yesterday expressing their anger over a loose insert in the Guardian Newspaper which is offering a direct delivery consumer subscription to readers within the M25 area, which directly attacks retailers wh
The number of paying digital subscribers to the Financial Times has broken the quarter of a million mark; an increase of more than 30% year on year.
It’s just over a week old, but publishers are already daring to dream, writes Peter Houston, that Apple’s Newsstand can drag digital magazines out of the doldrums and into the mainstream.
Reed Elsevier recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Accuity Holdings Inc. from Investcorp, a global investment firm, for a consideration of £343m payable in cash.
Imagine Publishing has announced the launch of 20 of its premium magazine brands on Apple Newsstand.
Guardian News & Media has announced its Guardian iPad edition is now available on the App Store.
Ten media companies have won 2011 XMA Cross Media Awards, the annual prize from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) that focused this year on paid-for content apps for smartphones and tablets.
The PPA has announced the shortlist for the 2011 Customer Direct Awards 2011.
Air Business has appointed Jonathan Middleton to the role of Group Business Development & Marketing Director.
This week, Amazon has launched four new Kindles, including the Kindle Fire.
Catalysts Ltd, a specialist publishing systems integrator, has announced its appointment by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting in England and Wales.
Mag+ has announced today the release of two new opportunities for publishers: the integration of digital subscription management and support for Apple’s upcoming iOS5, featuring Newsstand.
