Last updated: July 12, 2023
Earning a consumer’s dollar has arguably never been more challenging. With more brands moving online combined with the uncertainty of the global economy, consumers are financially conscious and stressed. So when it comes to launching and or growing a subscription business, you must stand out from the clutter and really grab a consumer’s attention if you are going to have success building a lasting subscription program.
In this post, we are going to suggest three ways in which you can stand out from the crowd and market your subscription offering. Ready to start adding subscribers and growing your LTV? Read on!
Create an exclusive offer or special edition gift-with-purchase that customers can only get if they are subscribers
We live in a society where consumers like to get access to something exclusive and special. Whether that is a special edition product or access to an exclusive sale, consumers get excited about gaining access to something unique. So when you are marketing your subscription program, think about offering something exclusive to your subscribers. This can take shape in the following forms:
- Creating a special product, exclusively for your subscribers. Say that you are a coffee brand, you could create a special edition mug or an entirely new blend that you only offer to subscribers. Perhaps you offer them the free mug or a sample of the new blend when they become subscribers. Or you market the item(s) in such a way that you will send them the exclusive gift after they received their second subscription shipment. Loyal customers will want access to these items and if they are not subscribers already, the special edition product may be enough to get them to become subscribers.
- Give subscribers exclusive access to a sale. Similar to the above example, marketing that subscribers get access to special pre-sales (say for the holidays and other flashpoints throughout the year) may be enough to get more non-subscribing customers to become subscribers.
You may be thinking, these sound like great ideas…but how and where do I market these potential offerings to my customers and prospects? Marketing this information about subscribers getting access to exclusive offers can live on the product pages for the products that you offer a subscription to. Additionally, you can include this information in your “Welcome Series” messages to new email subscribers and any other pertinent email messages.
Work with influencers to craft content around your subscription program
Providing a complimentary subscription to micro-influencers and asking them to craft a narrative and short content stories around your subscription program is a powerful way to not only spread awareness about your subscription program, but also raise awareness of your brand. Seek out influencers that fit your brand and lifestyle and seed them product(s) in exchange for them talking about your subscription program.
Based on a recent study, influencer marketing generates 11 times more ROI than other marketing channels and 40% of consumers have purchased a product after seeing an influencer use it. Influencer marketing allows your brand to be showcased in an engaging fashion that leads to consumers being exposed to your brand in a more natural way than traditional advertising through google ad words or digital display ads.
Similarly, oftentimes the content that micro-influencers create is powerful enough that it can be shared on your website and product pages. Having this type of content can not only help to raise awareness of your brand and subscription program, but it can also help convert visitors on your site if the content is placed correctly on your site (for example, on your product pages).
Create and market content around why they should be a subscriber and create a distribution strategy around the content
Consumers need to be convinced that they should become a subscriber. As such, you need to develop a clear and concise value proposition around your subscription program to sell the value of it to your prospects. Once you have that value prop, you need to create content around that value proposition.
An idea could be that you could create a case-study around the benefits of your subscription program. Perhaps you could reach out to some of your most loyal subscribers and ask them to be featured in a case-study where they talk about the benefits that they have seen from being a subscriber to your program. Leveraging customer testimonials is a powerful marketing strategy, as 88% of consumers say reviews influence their online purchasing decisions.
Once you have your case-study (or infographic) written, post it on your site and drive visitors to it via social media, your email newsletter and perhaps have any micro-influencers that you are working with drive traffic to the content. While having the content live on your website is great, you will really want to think about how to drive more eyeballs to it since naturally, the more people that read the article, the more likely they will be to potentially become a subscriber.
Some of the best ways to take your subscription business to the next level is to take your marketing of your subscription business more seriously and think about how to creatively showcase your subscription offering. By implementing any (or all) of the tactics outlined above you will be putting your business in a strong position to grow your subscription business. However, don’t feel limited by these ideas, build on them to stand out from the crowd even more.
If you are interested in learning more about how Upscribe can build, grow and scale your subscription business, schedule time with our team to talk about how Upscribe can level-up your subscription and retention business.
