Persuading prospects to try your offer—even free of cost and obligation—is hard. Convincing them to pay later—after the initial impulse has passed—is even more difficult. Here’s how to cross that chasm and convert new readers into loyal subscribers.
by Richard Riccelli
About trials…
Make a trial feel like a subscription. Four and six issue free trials have a better chance of becoming a habit than one-and-done offers.
Let the trial last long enough that the prospect will feel its end as a loss.
During the trial follow up with urgent “the end is nigh” promotions.
This strategy adds expense, so price the added cost into the offer.
This example wraps current issues of The Week with a promotion mailed to lists of highly-qualified prospects.
It demonstrates how a free offer can become a subscription sales funnel. The techniques behind its success are illustrated below.
Anatomy of a control in 5 clicks
— Medium is the message
— Offer celebrates recipient
— Response confirms framing
— Gift reinforces brand image
— Value prop demonstrated in hand
About “free”…
Free offers, which force distribution and reduce or eliminate barriers to response, are powerful and popular with marketers.
Customers, however, are skeptical. Hidden terms have eroded the power of free offers—undermining the value of products and brands.
The solution is framing. Position a free trial as privilege for a qualified few instead of a general giveaway.
Exclusivity (“It’s free for those who qualify”) and identity (“Who gets The Week free?”) extends the brand image of the magazine to the self image of the prime prospect while avoiding the damaged image of free offers.
Decade of testing revealed…
— Green masthead out-pulls red
— 6 issue trial more efficient than 4
— Gift upon payment—unnecessary
— Half-year term > full-year offer
— Per issue pricing = better conversion
About incentives…
A gift is the most common way to motivate payment of a subscription.
Featuring the gift in acquisition promotions—and continuing to promote it during invoicing—is the most-effective method.
Premiums for payment should pay for themselves in higher conversion rates.
Commodity gifts that are inherently desirable—tote bags, personal tech and such—increase conversions, but do little to build your brand.
Gifts that reflect your editorial mission—special reports, books, guides and such—add value to subscriptions, but are less of an incentive.
Response to gifts vary widely. Test.
About pricing…
At bottom, conversions are about the cost of the subscription. Frame your price and adjust your offer so you can start readers off low.
GQ featured an affordable $1.50 issue rate—less than $20 a year.
New York offered a 78% discount and $127 total savings rate while highlighting home delivery as an included benefit.
The Economist truncated its one-year term to 30 weeks to keep its rate at $65 for Canadian readers.
Forbes expressed its 75% savings rate as 3 free issues for every 1 purchased —comparing the cost of a one-year subscription to a one-time lunch.
BusinessWeek targeted the financial instincts of its prime prospects with eye-catching savings of over $200.
The goal of an opening price is to convert trials into orders. However it’s also a reference point—a price anchor for renewals later on.
Dramatically low rates—used to acquire subscribers at a loss—can have equally dramatic effects on how difficult it becomes to renew subscribers at profitable—but relatively steep—step-up prices.
About onboarding…
The lag between an order and arrival of the first print issue is deadly. Immediately acknowledge orders.
Include an invoice and begin new subscriber promotions that increase anticipation and set expectations.
Welcome new readers with a preview from the editor. Provide a subscriber service guide. Answer FAQs.
Offer an incentive for readers who register and pay online. An extra issue added to the term, or a gift delivered immediately by email, are simple and effective rewards.
About onboarding online…
It’s hard to overstate the value of obtaining an email address during acquisition.
However requiring new customers to provide their online contact info with their order can reduce response so significantly it may not be worth the ask.
If you have gained an email address, fill the gap between the arrival of the order and the delivery of the first print issue by sending an electronic copy of the current issue.
Offer new subscribers the chance to double their savings with a “renewal at birth”—an offer which works best when enthusiasm is high.
Fight free-to-paid price shock with installment payment plans—and use continuous service with auto-renew as the default subscription term.
About guarantees…
Guarantees are important and make a decided difference in conversions.
The more generous a guarantee, the greater the conversion and the lower the cancellation rate.
“All your money back” guarantees (Charisma) create more satisfied, trusting and loyal customers than typical “We’ll refund the unused portion of your subscription” guarantees (Forbes).
Guarantees that also make the promise of a magazine vivid and tangible are particularly effective.
Think Golf Digest and a guarantee to cut four strokes off your handicap. Or a Money Magazine guarantee to improve your investment returns by five percent.
