Staying Ahead of the Curve: Best Practices for Digital Subscription Management

In today's digital age, digital publishers face fierce competition in attracting and retaining customers. With so much content available online, customers have an overwhelming number of options to choose from. Therefore, digital publishers must stay ahead of the curve and adopt effective strategies to manage their subscriptions successfully. This blog will explore the best practices digital publishers can use to optimise their subscription management strategies. But first, let's take a closer look at some interesting statistics that illustrate the importance of effective subscription management for digital publishers:

• Subscription fatigue is on the rise: According to a recent survey, 32% of subscribers have cancelled a subscription due to subscription fatigue, which is the feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions they have. Therefore, flexible subscription plans and personalised options can keep customers engaged and reduce churn.

• Subscription revenue is growing: Subscription revenue has increased by over 435% since 2011, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. This highlights the importance of a robust subscription management strategy to maximise revenue and ensure long-term growth.

• Subscription cancellations are costly: On average, acquiring a new customer costs six times more than retaining an existing one. Therefore, reducing subscription cancellations and improving retention rates can save significant resources and profitability.

• Data analytics can improve subscription management: Digital publishers who use data analytics to gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences can increase retention rates by up to 30%. By analysing data on customer engagement, publishers can make data-driven decisions to improve subscription plans and maximise revenue
  

In addition to these statistics, digital publishers can adopt the following strategies to manage their subscriptions effectively:

• Ensure a seamless user experience: Subscription management portals should be easy to navigate and visually appealing, providing customers a hassle-free experience. Ensuring the subscription process is simple and intuitive can reduce churn and improve customer satisfaction.
• Use automated subscription management tools: Automating subscription management processes such as billing, renewals, and cancellations can save significant time and resources. By using subscription management software, publishers can reduce the risk of human error and ensure timely payments.
• Offer personalised subscription plans: Offering personalised subscription plans can improve customer retention and reduce churn. Publishers can tailor subscription plans by analysing customer data to customers' preferences, interests, and behaviour.
• Use multiple payment options: Providing customers various payment options can increase subscription sign-ups and improve customer satisfaction. Offering payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers can increase accessibility and reduce friction in the subscription process.
• Monitor customer engagement: Digital publishers should monitor customer engagement closely to ensure subscribers get value from their subscriptions. By analysing metrics such as page views, time spent on the site, and content consumption, publishers can identify trends and adjust their subscription offerings accordingly. For example, if customers spend more time on a particular type of content, publishers can create more of that content to keep customers engaged.
• Utilise email marketing: Email marketing can be a powerful tool for managing digital subscriptions. Publishers can use email to remind customers of upcoming renewals, offer personalised recommendations based on their subscription history, and provide exclusive content or discounts. By staying in touch with customers through email, publishers can improve retention rates and reduce churn.
• Provide excellent customer service: Digital publishers should prioritise providing excellent customer service to their subscribers. This means responding promptly to customer inquiries, offering helpful resources such as a knowledge base or FAQ section, and resolving issues quickly and efficiently. By providing a positive customer experience, publishers can improve retention rates and reduce the risk of negative reviews or cancellations.
• Offer tiered subscription plans: Tiered subscription plans can be an effective way to manage digital subscriptions. Publishers can offer different access levels to content, with higher tiers providing additional benefits such as exclusive content, discounts, or personalised recommendations. Publishers can appeal to a broader range of customers by offering tiered plans and maximising revenue.
• Continuously optimise subscription offerings: Digital publishers should continuously optimise their offerings to ensure that they are meeting the changing needs of their customers. By conducting regular surveys or focus groups, publishers can gather feedback on their subscription plans and make adjustments as necessary. This can help to improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn, and increase revenue over time.

In conclusion, subscription management is critical for the success of digital publishers. To effectively manage their subscriptions, publishers must adopt various strategies, including creating compelling subscription offerings, optimising the subscription experience, monitoring customer engagement, providing excellent customer service, utilising email marketing, and continuously improving subscription offerings. By following these strategies, publishers can improve retention rates, reduce churn, and maximise revenue over the long term. Effective subscription management is about building a loyal customer base and providing value to subscribers, which requires a customer-centric approach and a willingness to adapt and improve continuously. With the right direction to subscription management, digital publishers can thrive in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape.

About Evolok

Evolok helps online publishers increase their revenues and drive audience engagement using Evolok’s end-to-end SaaS solution, which provides paywalls, subscription management, user segmentation and identity management.  Evolok delivers a selective ecosystem to drive user engagement and mobilization. Evolok helps its clients increase readership and revenue by engaging and personalizing content, protecting valuable content through paywalls, utilizing login and social data to incrementally know customers and finally targeting products and pricing to boost subscriptions.

If you need any help with your subscription journey or you are thinking of migrating your publishing business to the subscription business model contact us today.