5 Marketing Tips For Subscription Businesses
Subscription services are now an established facet of our daily lives, with many of today’s consumers demanding the kind of convenience, value, and personalized service offered by a subscription model — as a result, the subscription economy is expected to be worth a staggering $1.5 trillion by 2025.
But while launching and running a subscription business may undoubtedly be a lucrative venture, it won’t gain any traction if no one knows about it: fail to market your subscription service effectively, and you’ll have a hard time attracting subscribers or building awareness of your brand.
Marketing any company is a complex undertaking, of course, but a subscription business has some very particular nuances and distinctions that mean it requires a unique and tailored approach. When it comes to attracting subscribers rather than one-time customers, the same tried-and-tested marketing tactics may not suffice.
So, how can you effectively market a subscription business to potential subscribers? Whether your marketing spend simply isn’t working or you’re a fledgling subscription business with little idea of how to market your services, let’s explore 5 ways to enhance your subscription marketing strategy.
1. Give your customer something for free
Free trials are the perfect way to give your customers first-hand experience of your product without having to make an up-front financial commitment. Of course, the ultimate goal is to convert these users into loyal (and crucially, paying customers), and you can do this using either an ‘opt-in’ or an ‘opt-out’ model:
You might also consider implementing a “freemium” model — check out this guide to making freemium models work from Chameleon — whereby you offer your most basic plans (with a limited number of elementary features) for free, while charging a premium for more comprehensive or advanced features.
A platform such as Spotify is a good example — the music streaming giant offers a free plan, but there are limitations: you need to put up with ads, for one thing, while your ability to skip songs is also restricted. A premium plan, on the other hand, enables you to listen ad-free while skipping through as many tracks as you like.
Free trials and freemium models are effective means of increasing exposure of your product and building your user base — while collecting valuable customer data at the same time — but to drive revenue it’s essential to convert as many of these non-paying users as possible into committed, paid subscribers.
2. Actively encourage upsells and cross-sells
One of the primary advantages of a subscription model is that it drives predictable, steady revenue, which is great for stabilizing your cash flow and enables you to forecast and budget more effectively. That said, while this stable income is welcome, you could be missing out on opportunities to drive additional revenue if you’re not upselling or cross-selling to your existing customers.
The key to driving upsells and cross-sells is demonstrating the value the customer will get from upgrading their subscription or adding complementary products to their plan. Why will your customer be better off with an upgraded subscription? How will an add-on product make their subscription work harder? Of course, knowing when to attempt to upsell or cross-sell to a customer is also critical.
3. Remember that your content is king
While Bill Gates coined the phrase “content is king” almost 30 years ago, it rings just as true today as it did then — arguably even more so. High-quality, engaging — and relevant — content is particularly essential for a subscription business, since it’s fundamental to acquisition, retention and brand awareness.
To put it simply, the more valuable the content you provide, the better chance you’ll have of acquiring new subscribers, maintaining engagement among your existing audience, and differentiating your brand by standing out as a leader in its industry. Your content might include:
The quality of your content is the most crucial thing, of course — it should offer something of value to the reader, while also being optimized for search engines — but it’s equally important to post regularly to ensure relevance and keep up with industry trends (this also signals to search engines that your content is fresh and relevant).
And while AI content generation is becoming increasingly prevalent — Zyro’s AI content generation tool can create blog posts by responding to a series of prompts — it’s important not to lean too heavily on this. AI-generated content can only add so much value, since it’s only really capable of summarizing existing content and may be seen as too generic.
4. Build relationships with industry influencers
Social media is clearly a powerful tool for businesses — it’s now more valuable as a marketing channel than paid advertising — and partnering with social media influencers within your specific niche is a powerful way for subscription businesses to reach large audiences and boost awareness of their brand.
Influencers typically have large, well-established audiences across social media platforms, and partnering with them can quickly expand a brand’s reach and visibility to a larger and more diverse demographic. They’ve also cultivated trust with their followers over time — when they endorse a product or service, their audience is likely to trust their judgment.
Moreover, influencer content typically generates higher engagement than branded posts, with followers more likely to comment, like, and share posts, which can increase brand awareness and ultimately drive more traffic to your site. Especially for small subscription businesses or startups, influencer marketing can be very cost-effective, too.
5. Provide an seamless ‘omnichannel’ experience
In an increasingly interconnected world, it’s never been more important to meet your potential customers across a variety of channels. Nowadays, we interact with brands in a number of different ways — via websites, apps, social media posts, live chat widgets, and possibly even physical stores — and it’s important to create a consistent, joined-up experience between all platforms (this is what we mean by omnichannel marketing).
Omnichannel marketing is particularly important for a subscription business because it helps to drive convenience — one of the reasons consumers are drawn to subscriptions is precisely this; the convenience of repeat deliveries or automated recurring payments is attractive because it requires less ‘personal admin’ from the customer’s point of view.
An omnichannel approach is more convenient because it enables customers to purchase or interact through their preferred channel, while also allowing them to move from one channel to another without friction. However, it’s also important for generating brand awareness, since connecting your channels visually and functionally ensures consistency across all channels, enhancing recognition and trust.
Additionally, this interconnected marketing strategy allows you to gather data from various touchpoints. This wealth of information can lead to more personalized and targeted marketing campaigns, which can improve engagement, drive conversion rates, and ultimately help to foster brand loyalty and customer retention.
In conclusion, marketing a subscription-based business requires a unique and considered approach, but by leveraging the right tactics you can boost your subscriber base and drive ample recurring revenue. Remember to lean on free trials and freemium models, encourage upselling and cross-selling, focus on creating engaging content, build relationships with influencers, and create a seamless omnichannel experience.
But while launching and running a subscription business may undoubtedly be a lucrative venture, it won’t gain any traction if no one knows about it: fail to market your subscription service effectively, and you’ll have a hard time attracting subscribers or building awareness of your brand.
Marketing any company is a complex undertaking, of course, but a subscription business has some very particular nuances and distinctions that mean it requires a unique and tailored approach. When it comes to attracting subscribers rather than one-time customers, the same tried-and-tested marketing tactics may not suffice.
So, how can you effectively market a subscription business to potential subscribers? Whether your marketing spend simply isn’t working or you’re a fledgling subscription business with little idea of how to market your services, let’s explore 5 ways to enhance your subscription marketing strategy.
1. Give your customer something for free
Free trials are the perfect way to give your customers first-hand experience of your product without having to make an up-front financial commitment. Of course, the ultimate goal is to convert these users into loyal (and crucially, paying customers), and you can do this using either an ‘opt-in’ or an ‘opt-out’ model:
- An opt-in model puts the customer in control, as they have the choice of whether to upgrade to a paid plan at the end of their free trial period.
- An opt-out model means the customer will automatically be moved onto a paid plan after their trial period unless they decide to opt out.
You might also consider implementing a “freemium” model — check out this guide to making freemium models work from Chameleon — whereby you offer your most basic plans (with a limited number of elementary features) for free, while charging a premium for more comprehensive or advanced features.
A platform such as Spotify is a good example — the music streaming giant offers a free plan, but there are limitations: you need to put up with ads, for one thing, while your ability to skip songs is also restricted. A premium plan, on the other hand, enables you to listen ad-free while skipping through as many tracks as you like.
Free trials and freemium models are effective means of increasing exposure of your product and building your user base — while collecting valuable customer data at the same time — but to drive revenue it’s essential to convert as many of these non-paying users as possible into committed, paid subscribers.
2. Actively encourage upsells and cross-sells
One of the primary advantages of a subscription model is that it drives predictable, steady revenue, which is great for stabilizing your cash flow and enables you to forecast and budget more effectively. That said, while this stable income is welcome, you could be missing out on opportunities to drive additional revenue if you’re not upselling or cross-selling to your existing customers.
- Upselling is the act of encouraging your subscribers to spend more by upgrading to a more premium version of your product or service — for example, if they’re currently using a basic subscription plan, you could encourage them to ‘level up’ to a premium plan by promoting all the additional features they’d gain access to.
- Cross-selling is slightly different, and focuses on selling additional or supplementary items to customers alongside their current subscriptions — the ecommerce subscription software by Chargebee, for example, creates cross-selling opportunities by enabling businesses to offer add-on recommendations and product bundles.
The key to driving upsells and cross-sells is demonstrating the value the customer will get from upgrading their subscription or adding complementary products to their plan. Why will your customer be better off with an upgraded subscription? How will an add-on product make their subscription work harder? Of course, knowing when to attempt to upsell or cross-sell to a customer is also critical.
3. Remember that your content is king
While Bill Gates coined the phrase “content is king” almost 30 years ago, it rings just as true today as it did then — arguably even more so. High-quality, engaging — and relevant — content is particularly essential for a subscription business, since it’s fundamental to acquisition, retention and brand awareness.
To put it simply, the more valuable the content you provide, the better chance you’ll have of acquiring new subscribers, maintaining engagement among your existing audience, and differentiating your brand by standing out as a leader in its industry. Your content might include:
- Educational content such as how-to guides, tutorials, webinars, e-books, and courses.
- User-Generated Content (UGC) such as testimonials and reviews, which can act as social proof and foster a sense of community.
- Exclusive or premium content that’s only available to subscribers or premium-tier customers.
- Blog posts and thought-leadership articles covering topics relevant to your audience and industry.
- Video content such as product demonstrations, behind-the-scenes videos, or interviews with industry leaders.
- Interactive content, which might include quizzes, surveys, interactive infographics, or even interactive videos.
The quality of your content is the most crucial thing, of course — it should offer something of value to the reader, while also being optimized for search engines — but it’s equally important to post regularly to ensure relevance and keep up with industry trends (this also signals to search engines that your content is fresh and relevant).
And while AI content generation is becoming increasingly prevalent — Zyro’s AI content generation tool can create blog posts by responding to a series of prompts — it’s important not to lean too heavily on this. AI-generated content can only add so much value, since it’s only really capable of summarizing existing content and may be seen as too generic.
4. Build relationships with industry influencers
Social media is clearly a powerful tool for businesses — it’s now more valuable as a marketing channel than paid advertising — and partnering with social media influencers within your specific niche is a powerful way for subscription businesses to reach large audiences and boost awareness of their brand.
Influencers typically have large, well-established audiences across social media platforms, and partnering with them can quickly expand a brand’s reach and visibility to a larger and more diverse demographic. They’ve also cultivated trust with their followers over time — when they endorse a product or service, their audience is likely to trust their judgment.
Moreover, influencer content typically generates higher engagement than branded posts, with followers more likely to comment, like, and share posts, which can increase brand awareness and ultimately drive more traffic to your site. Especially for small subscription businesses or startups, influencer marketing can be very cost-effective, too.
5. Provide an seamless ‘omnichannel’ experience
In an increasingly interconnected world, it’s never been more important to meet your potential customers across a variety of channels. Nowadays, we interact with brands in a number of different ways — via websites, apps, social media posts, live chat widgets, and possibly even physical stores — and it’s important to create a consistent, joined-up experience between all platforms (this is what we mean by omnichannel marketing).
Omnichannel marketing is particularly important for a subscription business because it helps to drive convenience — one of the reasons consumers are drawn to subscriptions is precisely this; the convenience of repeat deliveries or automated recurring payments is attractive because it requires less ‘personal admin’ from the customer’s point of view.
An omnichannel approach is more convenient because it enables customers to purchase or interact through their preferred channel, while also allowing them to move from one channel to another without friction. However, it’s also important for generating brand awareness, since connecting your channels visually and functionally ensures consistency across all channels, enhancing recognition and trust.
Additionally, this interconnected marketing strategy allows you to gather data from various touchpoints. This wealth of information can lead to more personalized and targeted marketing campaigns, which can improve engagement, drive conversion rates, and ultimately help to foster brand loyalty and customer retention.
In conclusion, marketing a subscription-based business requires a unique and considered approach, but by leveraging the right tactics you can boost your subscriber base and drive ample recurring revenue. Remember to lean on free trials and freemium models, encourage upselling and cross-selling, focus on creating engaging content, build relationships with influencers, and create a seamless omnichannel experience.