Subscription-based models are catching the world by storm. From OTT platforms like Netflix to established news websites like The New York Times, all businesses are transitioning to subscription-based models. The popularity of subscription-based models exponentially increased during the pandemic as customers quickly moved to subscription-based businesses for essential items and premium content. Due to restricted access to local stores, many customers switched to subscription-based products and services. An example of a successful premium-tier subscription is CooksIllustrated.com. Cook’s Illustrated allows its subscribers to get premium access to innovative, creative, and healthy recipes. The model capitalizes on the change in consumer behavior during the pandemic. Consumers now prefer home-cooked, healthy and creative meals. Cook’s Illustrated enters this space by placing itself as the niche creator of premium meals that bring friends and family together. The model is highly customer-centric as it gives customers the opportunity to choose to pay if they like the product. It allows consumers to cancel the invoice if they do not like the product without any financial deductions. In this short piece, we will discuss how businesses can build a successful premium-tier content subscription.
Incentivize Engaged Customers to Pay
Once a user has signed up for your services, it doesn’t mean your job is done. The recurring nature of subscription-based models gives the power to customers to cancel anytime if they are not satisfied with the product or service. As such, businesses should always take proactive steps to engage their customers consistently. Offer your subscribers exclusive offers and deals to make them feel like a part of an exclusive/elite community. If customers are loyal to your business, they expect something in return too. Reward them with freebies and gifts to maintain and increase their loyalty. Highly engaged customers are more likely to upgrade to your premium-tier content when you add another pricing tier.
Premium Content Should be Kept Simple and Familiar
Premium content does not mean something drastically different from your brand’s content style. It should still be in line with your brand identity and style. This is especially important if you have different formats of content, as it can become more challenging to describe what you are offering. If customers don’t understand, they won’t buy. Don’t sell something completely different or new, as customers will not resonate with it. Add a layer of value without changing the core foundation of your product/services.
Make it Easy for Subscribers to Pay for Premium Content
Keep your pricing model easy and simple to understand for customers. Offer suitable and convenient payment options. Customers use subscription-based products and services for the convenience of instant renewal and delivery. As such, make sure to offer several payment options to your customers. This is why recurring direct debit payments are so popular. Customers can set up Direct Debit Payments, and every month the subscription fee is directly charged from the customer’s bank account. Besides offering multiple payment options, you should display your pricing right at the front and center so that customers are not confused about the price. Do not confuse the customer by hiding the pricing. Complete transparency goes a long way in building customer loyalty and more long-lasting, trustworthy relationships. Some businesses try to hide their cancel subscription button by complicating the process, requiring a phone call, or retaining some/all of the customer data. This may keep the customer on board a bit longer, but in the long run, this strategy is catastrophic. Customers share their horror stories with their friends and family and share them on social media, which drastically impacts the company’s reputation.
The most successful subscription-based companies, like Netflix, are giving more and more freedom to their customers to cancel anytime. They have completely eliminated the annual subscription as they are too binding. Additionally, they automatically cancel subscriptions if the account has not that has been used in 12 months or more. Some companies are also offering a “Pause” button that allows customers to take a break from their subscriptions while retaining all of their data.
Keep your pricing reasonable
Overall, users believe that digital delivery should cost less and that they should be spending less overall compared to print. However, you have to factor in the instant convenience and searchability of the content, especially for specific kinds of information. Pack as much value into your content compared to the price as possible. Most subscription-based businesses offer some kind of “freemium” to allow their customers to understand the value of their products/services before committing to pay. Offering such “freemium” increase the value of your products/services in the eyes of your customers.
Subscription-based models are becoming the way for many businesses to grow in this digital-forward economy. Businesses should note that they need to focus on meeting customer demands, needs, and expectations in such uncertain and unpredictable times. As experts in the programmatic advertising market, Publir offers a one-of-a-kind unified platform specifically built to maximize earnings for digital content creators. We provide complete solutions for Ad Optimization, Subscriptions, Crowdfunding, QuickShop, and AdBlock Recovery.