{"id":11086,"date":"2021-09-06T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T12:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/piano.io\/?p=11086"},"modified":"2022-07-25T15:33:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:33:46","slug":"lessons-from-the-pandemic-era-subscription-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.tinypass.com\/gb\/resources\/lessons-from-the-pandemic-era-subscription-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons Learned from the Pandemic-Era Subscription Boom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Patrick Appel, Director of Research<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TThe COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for massive subscription growth, in part because consumers sought quality journalism to get accurate information about the virus. It also accelerated content consumption trends that were already happening. Let\u2019s explore the main highlights across digital engagement, retention and conversion during a year of increased appetite for news content. We\u2019ll also unpack how publishers can use this data to prepare for future shifts in consumer demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paid trials convert to full price more often than free trials<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to our Subscription Performance Benchmark Report<\/a>, approximately 17% of new monthly subscribers in January 2020 signed up using a free trial as the pandemic spread around the world. By December 2020, only 5% of new subscribers signed up on a free trial. This indicates that publishers became more confident with their pricing and smarter about promotional strategies as the pandemic raged on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free trials can attract a lot of new users upfront. However, they make less financial sense when there\u2019s high demand for content. At the same time, there\u2019s much lower lifetime value gained from users who subscribe on a free trial offer. On average, you\u2019ll lose over a third of free trial subscribers to churn before those users are required to make their first payment. It generally makes more fiscal sense to use paid trials in acquisition campaigns since you earn a little money upfront and retain a higher volume of users over the long term compared to free trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onboarding post-pandemic subscribers is crucial for retention <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As many new users subscribed to online publications for the latest news about the pandemic, the strategic focus for media publishers had to shift from acquisition to customer engagement and retention. Convincing people to subscribe is only half the battle; encouraging them to continue subscribing is the other half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If new subscribers don\u2019t engage with your website early and often, they\u2019re far more likely to cancel the subscription at the first given opportunity. There\u2019s also the risk that they could become \u201csleepers,\u201d which are subscribers who haven\u2019t visited your site in the past 30 days. According to our benchmark research, an average of 40% of subscribers on media sites are sleepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To minimise the number of sleeping subscribers on your site, you need to act fast. Over half of your annual subscribers and nearly two-thirds of monthly subscribers will cancel in the first year if they become inactive. Your mission as a publisher is to incentivise those subscribers so they remain engaged. That\u2019s why onboarding programs are so helpful to minimise churn and boost customer lifetime value. Use programs like guided tutorials and onsite benefits promotion to showcase all of the capabilities a new subscriber can access using their account. These programs not only drive user engagement, but they\u2019ll also create habitual patterns that keep subscribers engaged on your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 retention bump endured thanks to annual subscriptions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Given the volume of new subscriptions early in the pandemic, many publishers expected lower retention rates and higher churn as the year went on. However, those fears never materialised. We found that users who became subscribers between March and July of 2020 retained at much higher rates than those who became subscribers prior to the declaration of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to maintain higher retention rates during the second wave of the pandemic, many media publishers made a concerted effort to increase annual subscription rates across their websites. Annual subscriptions retain much better than their monthly counterparts, and they subsequently carry much higher lifetime value for brands and publishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Q4 2020, many publishers used special promotions and smart pricing strategies to increase demand for annual subscriptions. Publishers used special events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday to create short-term offers for annual subscriptions that, in many cases, more than tripled conversion volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons learned<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a prominent and dynamic world event. Publishers should use this time to assess how user behaviour impacted their subscription models in 2020 to make more strategic business decisions for 2021 and 2022. It is critical to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n