Triple Your Magazine Renewal Rates with Auto Renew
October 1, 2019 / Bob Vitek
What if you could triple your publication's renewal rate by making one simple change to your renewal process? Well, you can! At SimpleCirc we analyzed subscriber renewal rates and found that those with automatic renewal turned on renewed at 2.9 times the rate of others.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, not a lot of publishers use auto renew for their magazines and newspapers. Why is that? Some are afraid that potential subscribers will abandon their subscription purchase when they see that it will automatically renew. However, we’ve seen that just having the right messaging about canceling auto renewal will minimize abandoned carts and those who do make a purchase are very likely to renew.
We have also had publishers worry that it will be a hassle keeping credit cards updated for purchases year after year. In fact, most credit card processors now offer features that will automatically update expiration dates and even card numbers when they change.
So how does auto renew work? When a subscriber makes a purchase using a credit card that card information is kept with the processor (think Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, etc.) to be used when the subscription expires. Shortly before expiration the subscriber gets an email notification letting them know their subscription is about to renew for another term. The subscriber then has time to cancel their subscription if they no longer want it. A few days later their credit card is charged, and their subscription continues uninterrupted. They keep getting the magazine or newspaper they love, and you just saved a ton of time, effort, and money trying to renew them.
But what if the charge fails? If the charge fails, the subscriber gets an email asking them to update their card number. They click a link, put in the new info, and their subscription is renewed.
Improving your publication’s renewal rate by 300% is hard to argue with!
If you have any further questions about how automatic renewals work or would like to learn more about SimpleCirc please contact us at info@simplecirc.com.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, not a lot of publishers use auto renew for their magazines and newspapers. Why is that? Some are afraid that potential subscribers will abandon their subscription purchase when they see that it will automatically renew. However, we’ve seen that just having the right messaging about canceling auto renewal will minimize abandoned carts and those who do make a purchase are very likely to renew.
We have also had publishers worry that it will be a hassle keeping credit cards updated for purchases year after year. In fact, most credit card processors now offer features that will automatically update expiration dates and even card numbers when they change.
So how does auto renew work? When a subscriber makes a purchase using a credit card that card information is kept with the processor (think Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, etc.) to be used when the subscription expires. Shortly before expiration the subscriber gets an email notification letting them know their subscription is about to renew for another term. The subscriber then has time to cancel their subscription if they no longer want it. A few days later their credit card is charged, and their subscription continues uninterrupted. They keep getting the magazine or newspaper they love, and you just saved a ton of time, effort, and money trying to renew them.
But what if the charge fails? If the charge fails, the subscriber gets an email asking them to update their card number. They click a link, put in the new info, and their subscription is renewed.
Improving your publication’s renewal rate by 300% is hard to argue with!
If you have any further questions about how automatic renewals work or would like to learn more about SimpleCirc please contact us at info@simplecirc.com.