It can be said the marketing team attains new subscribers, and the content team retains subscribers. However, when renewals are due, the marketing department can play an important role in retention. By presenting the right product at the right price at the right time, they can create a value proposition that makes sense for the consumer of the content.
There are a lot of steps you can take to make sure your renewal offer has the greatest chance of a positive response. To improve renewal rates, we recommend analyzing and comparing your data in a number of ways. Below, we’ve assembled seven different aspects that will help you gain a clearer picture of which components are truly effective.
- Review response rates by effort or campaign, so you can easily compare results. If you are sending just a few efforts and subscribers are still responding to each one, try adding an additional effort at the end of the cycle. Or, by contrast, if you have numerous efforts and the response rates are really low on the most recent efforts, try eliminating the late ones. Be sure to test your overall renewal rates to see if adding or eliminating efforts affects your overall renewal rates.
- Evaluate response rates by rate/price code. Always compare the response rates of the higher paying subscribers to those who pay less. The results may surprise you and can help determine which subscribers you should be working the hardest to attain and retain.
- Analyze response rates by source code. Be sure and examine renewal rates by the source of the order. You may find that subscribers who come from certain promotions, lists or offers are more or less likely to renew than others. This information can be used not only for planning future renewal series, but also in determining the “best” subscribers to acquire for long-term growth.
- Compare the original source to the renewal source. Frequently the source or channel of the original order will be the preferred method for renewing. Be sure to analyze the response rates by both the original source and the renewal source to see if your audience has the same preferences. Then, modify your renewal series accordingly. Use the same source for the renewal notice that you did for the original order.
- Examine usage and renewal rates by percentage and pricing. If you have access to usage data, such as email opens and clicks, online content accessed, number of downloads, etc., you can use this great information to supplement your standard renewal series and prices. You may find that heavy users of your content are willing to pay a higher price for their subscription than those that seldom open your emails or visit your content online.
- Look at the results by each customer type. Examine renewal rates for each type of customer to determine if renewal rates are higher in certain market segments.
- Create separate camps by Bill To. Both B-to-B and B-to-C publishers may have subscribers with a donor/recipient or accounts payable/recipient relationship. When contacting the Bill To, it’s important to contact them with messaging that is appropriate. Consider generating separate renewal campaigns for your Bill To’s with targeted messaging.
Now that you have compiled your data, you can use this information to improve and hone your renewal campaigns. Contact us at sales@multipub.com to find out how our system can help you do just that.