How To Boost Retention For Subscription-Based Consumer Products Using Email Marketing
Subscription marketing is a fast-growing business model for consumer goods. It provides convenience for consumers to replenish essential goods and most of the time, at a good deal.
According to Forbes, the global subscription e-commerce market size is expected to reach $904.2 billion by 2026 from $120.04 billion in 2022.
Despite the projected growth and market interest, brands that offer subscriptions face one common problem - CHURN.
The more people cancel their subscriptions, the more difficult it is for brands to recover acquisition costs and scale revenue. Thus retention is highly critical in the sustainability and profitability of subscription models.
A 2021 survey by McKinsey shows that failure to show good value for the price and create great experiences are the top reasons why customers cancel their subscriptions.
If you have a subscription model or if you’re considering launching one, you might think that as long as pricing is justified by the product quality and as long as a wonderful experience is consistently delivered, retention should be easy, right?
Correct. But to be able to meet those two factors, you need to know your customers well enough and have an engaged relationship with them.
Enter email marketing.
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to get feedback, provide information, and know the preferences of your customers.
And there are a lot of email marketing strategies that you can incorporate into your subscription model beyond sending an occasional blast campaign that invites your audience to try out a subscription.
Here are a few ideas…
Intentionally inviting repeat customers to join subscriptions
Many email service providers can easily create a segment of customers who already purchased from you more than once.
This group already shows interest and considers your products as effective solutions to their pain points. Compared to one-time buyers, they’re easier to invite or upsell into your subscription program especially when presented with perks they don’t usually get with regular purchases.
Mitigating buyer’s remorse
“OMG! Did I really have to buy that?”
“Should I have spent my money on something else instead?”
“Did I make the right decision or should I have looked into other options?”:
Those sentiments are often associated with buyer’s remorse. It is defined as the feeling of regret, guilt, or anxiety after making a purchase. If it can happen to small purchases, how much more to long-term subscriptions?
Creating an automation that gives new subscribers peace of mind that they made the right decision while getting them excited about what’s to come is a great way to build customer experience.
Some email ideas you can build into this post-purchase automation are:
A welcome email sharing what they should expect from their subscription
Appreciate your customers for subscribing
Product information
Reviews and other social proof
When they should expect shipment
Getting direct feedback
Emails are not meant to be one-way conversations. With the right strategy, it’s not that difficult to get direct feedback from customers using email.
Truth is, with a little creativity, you can even make feedback loops fun and rewarding.
Turn it into a game, or a quiz, or simply send a text-only email asking them about their experience and what else you can do to improve. This shows them that you care about them beyond selling and you put effort into delivering quality which boosts brand loyalty.
Additionally, the information you get from their answers will allow you to create a personalized experience for them.
Personalized product recommendations
This is specifically helpful if customers have the option to customize the items they receive. Usually, for subscriptions like this, customers have a deadline on when they can send their choices.
You can send an email reminding them of the deadline plus send personalized product recommendations based on their previous preferences OR you can also promote your latest products!
Reactivate subscriptions
Not all who canceled their subscription are a lost cause.
Emailing them to ask the reason why they canceled and creating an automation that nurtures them back might lead to reactivation. This is a path that you shouldn’t tread lightly, though.
You have to empathize and avoid being sucked into the tempting discount ladder vortex. Not everyone is always after a “good deal” and it may cost you down the line.
Reminders on upcoming deliveries
Customers sometimes forget they have an upcoming subscription delivery especially if it’s not a monthly thing.
Sending an email reminder about this will give them a heads-up that they will be charged for an order and it prevents customer service issues as well. At the same time, this email can also be used to build hype on the products they’ll be receiving.
Conclusion
Incorporating email marketing into your subscription model increases engagement and retention.
If done strategically, it can reduce churn rates which will help you maximize your subscription customers’ lifetime value. The key is to reinforce value while creating a personalized experience that puts your customers' needs and preferences front and center.
Having a trusted partner that can help you stay on top of email marketing for your subscription program will help ease the anxiety of churn and the job that comes with mitigating it.
At Strategy Maven, we see to it that all your email marketing efforts will contribute to your bottom line whether it’s from subscription marketing or other channels. Book a call with us to find out how we can help you!
