Successful 5-year renewal effort
THE WEEK tested and repeated (with contextual changes) this 5-year / $250 renewal. As traditional print magazines become increasingly unattractive to readers in general, it’s natural to seek long-term commitments from current subscribers. And the marketing math makes it enticing:
A typical 1-year renewal would need to garner five times the response to be revenue equal. And that’s doesn’t factor the present value of money now versus income later – especially if inflation outpaces both price elasticity and renewal rates.
However, look before you leap. This kind of long-term / fixed-price effort may trigger unexpected effects and create unintended outcomes.
* Would these eager subscribers have reliably renewed anyway over the five years?
* Does this effort cherry pick your most lucrative subscribers at a lower-than-necessary discount?
* Are you starving subscription cash flow in the out years?
If you are satisfied with the answers, have some fun with the creative. Make your letter as bold as the offer is audacious. Cast the price and term as stars of the narrative. Involve the subscriber in the drama. Connect the appeal to current events in a personal way. And inject more personality than the usual actuarial / transactional “it’s time to renew” effort typically displays.
Show some cheek like THE WEEK…
Frankly our experts in marketing don’t agree with me. They say my idea is doomed. But I think they’re afraid it will work all too well!
Long term renewals usually work - but three years is the maximum I have seen.
The interesting thing about this is that it looks like the strategy, concept and copy was created by a professional subscriptions consultant / copywriter. I say ‘interesting’ because in the UK, that is rarely the case.
Peter
Peter Hobday | Respond to this comment
Peter,
Most often I’ve found that when multiple-year renewal offers work, they work best — and sometimes only — for first or earliest efforts in a series. After that, the job is simply to get a simple renewal and usually a single year at the lowest price is the only option that gets results.
Most publishers and subscription managers also recognize that a renewal is what the legendary Dick Benson described “as a referendum on the editorial” … and there’s little even brilliant copy and strategy can do to shape the decision of an established reader who has formed a hard opinion about the value of the magazine or newspaper.
While tight budgets may dictate they do it themselves, smart publishers know a first-year renewal is usually a make or break / profit or loss moment for a title. So I naturally think it is wise to invest in professional creative — especially when they choose me to do it!
As for THE WEEK, while I can take credit for writing this renewal effort, the idea came from my clients, Sara O’Connor and Steven Kotok at THE WEEK in New York. And the idea of a five-year renewal may have come down to them directly from Mr. Dennis.
Richard Riccelli | Respond to this comment