Lennart Schneider, founder of Subscribe Now podcast & newsletter, and expert on digital subscription models, interviews Stefan Bader, CEO and Co-founder of Cello, to discuss how to build a referral program that ensures sustained growth.
-> Why visibility is the decisive factor
-> How to choose the right rewards
-> Why fairness wins
-> and how you can reduce the cost risk in customer acquisition

For years, companies have been struggling with the same challenge. Specifically, rising customer acquisition costs are making it increasingly difficult to win new subscribers at affordable prices.

There are many reasons for this – paid marketing is becoming increasingly expensive, SEO has less reach since the spread of LLMs, and social media algorithms play a significant role on who sees which content, and when.

However, there’s one growth lever that’s often overlooked, one that can help decrease dependence on external players… your own users. Satisfied, loyal fans are already recommending you, and if implemented correctly, this can become a valuable and inexpensive acquisition channel.

At least that’s what Stefan Badar, CEO and Co-founder of Cello, and guest on my Subscribe Now podcast shared, and he makes some great arguments. Cello, a company based in Munich, has built a referral software that’s now used by some of the world’s leading tech companies, including Miro, Typeform, and Riverside.

In this article, summarizing my conversation with Stefan, you’ll learn how to build a referral program that ensures sustained growth:

• Why visibility is the decisive factor
• How to choose the right rewards
• Why fairness wins
• …and how you can reduce the cost risk in customer acquisition

By the way: You can try out Cello directly. Using my referral link will save you €1,000 and I’ll receive a commission if you become a customer, a great opportunity to support my work.

1. Stop hiding referral programs

The biggest mistake for a referral program is hiding it in a sub-menu. Permanent visibility at the top of the app leads to the strongest user engagement.

The example above, from Neotaste, illustrates this very well. The recommendation program appears on the first screen when you open the app and above the map in the Discover tab.

Stefan gives five tips for optimal visibility:

1. If the recommendation icon is visible on the first level and not hidden in a submenu, the usage rate increases by 8x.
2. In addition to a gift symbol, the monetary value of the recommendation should also be displayed. A currency symbol increases performance by 3.3x.
3. A small animation also draws attention to the referral program – even if we’ve seen a screen many times before and are therefore blind to changes.
4. Moments of delight: Specifically look for moments when your user has had a positive experience, such as at the end of an article, or after giving a good rating in the NPS survey. These moments are the perfect time for a recommendation.
5. CRM integration: You should also regularly remind your users about the referral program via email or other push channels.

2. Cash beats most other rewards

A referral program is only as strong as the rewards it offers. There are many options: free months, discounts, raffles, vouchers, gifts, etc. But Stefan has seen that money works best for most customers.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Money is universally usable and therefore interesting for every user.
2. Money remains an incentive even after the tenth or twentieth recommendation, while free months eventually lose their appeal. Many users recommend a product not just once, but on average six to seven times. Money is therefore the perfect incentive for heavy recommenders.
3. Money is attractive even to non-subscribers. In freemium models, roughly 90% of users don’t have a subscription, but that doesn’t mean they won’t recommend the product. A successful referral program mobilizes all users, not just paying ones.
4. Money also works in the B2B sector: A free month may only benefit the employer who pays for the subscription, whilst a cash bonus goes directly to the employee making recommendations.
5. Money can be paid out over a longer period. And that brings us to the next point…

3. Rewards grow with lifetime value

Paid subscription advertising always carries a risk: Acquisition costs are incurred when a subscription is signed, but it’s only months later that you see whether a new customer has recouped those costs. That’s why a short payback period and a good ratio of Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) to Lifetime Value (LTV) are so crucial.

A referral program can reduce this risk: The bonus doesn’t have to be paid out as a fixed amount at the start, but is distributed monthly as long as the referred user remains a subscriber. In Miro’s example, as the referrer, I receive 10% of the ongoing subscription fees. When the referred subscription ends, my bonus also ends. This eliminates the risk of spending more on a customer than you earn from them.

These ongoing payouts have another advantage: they remind users every month on their bank statement that the referral program is worthwhile, thus motivating them to make further referrals.

4. Bonuses must be worthwhile for both sides.

Another key to success is fairness: When I recommend a product, I’m investing my social capital. If my friends are disappointed or feel exploited, the relationship and my social standing can suffer. So it’s essential that users feel comfortable with the recommendation.

Rewards should therefore not be one-sided. Opt for a balanced reward rather than a particularly high bonus for the referrer, something that also motivates the receiving party to click through the link and use your product. Ultimately, a large number of invitation links sent out are useless if the offers aren’t redeemed, and an attractive, exclusive discount increases the acceptance rate.

However, you should ensure that the discount is time-limited – ideally for the first three or six months. If you offer an indefinite discount, you risk negatively impacting your ARPU in the long run.

This article was originally published in German on the Subscribe Now website, translated and republished with permission.

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In this article, Davide Liverino, B2B marketing leader focused on subscription revenue growth, uncovers how Netflix has used the release dates of the latest Stranger Things episodes as a strategic lock-in for their subscription model.
-> The clever gap between the first and final episodes being released, ensuring subscribers pass a billing cycle whilst waiting
-> Strategic 'pulses' of releases to build buzz around the series, turning audiences into a free marketing army
-> Playing a defensive strategy by releasing these episodes during the "churn danger zone" over the holidays when consumers tend to cut finances

Finally, Davide shares how subscription leaders can put this to practice in their own model

Netflix’s Stranger Things schedule is a masterpiece of financial engineering. It looks like a holiday gift for fans. It is actually a calculated assault on the monthly billing cycle.

I’ve been analysing the release schedule for the final season of Stranger Things, and the dates (Nov 26, Dec 25, Dec 31) reveal a sophisticated “Subscription Bridge” strategy. By creating a 36-day window for a 30-day product, Netflix isn’t just releasing content; they are mathematically forcing a renewal event.

In this deep-dive article, I deconstruct:

• The “Subscription Bridge”: How a 6-day gap can double Lifetime Value (LTV).
• The “Pulse” Strategy: Why the binge model is dead, and what is replacing it.
• The Defensive Moat: Making use of engaging content releases during churn danger zones
• The B2B Application: How SaaS leaders can use “cliffhanger” mechanics to reduce churn during high-risk renewal periods.

This is a blueprint for anyone managing recurring revenue.

At first glance, the release schedule for the final season of Stranger Things looks like a celebration of fandom. A Thanksgiving premiere (November 26th), a Christmas special (December 25th), and a New Year’s Eve finale (December 31st). It dominates the Western holiday calendar, turning a TV show into a global cultural event.

But if you look past the nostalgia and the Demogorgons, you will see one of the most sophisticated pieces of financial engineering in the history of the streaming wars.

This schedule isn’t about artistic pacing. It is a calculated assault on the subscription model’s greatest weakness: the “transient” user who joins, binges, and cancels in 29 days.

The post Subscription Lock-In: Deconstructing Netflix’s “Stranger Things” Strategy appeared first on Audiencers.

This article was written by Lennart Schneider, founder of Subscribe Now podcast & newsletter, and expert on digital subscription models.

Everything is getting more and more expensive, including subscriptions. Those who don’t adjust their prices regularly will lose revenue in the long run due to inflation. But of course, with a price increase comes churn risk. So how do you balance the two: increase revenues and retention despite price increase?

To help answer this question, I spoke to pricing expert Florian Bauer in my Subscribe Now podcast where he explained to us when you should increase prices, how to communicate this gently and why you should always offer alternatives.

Here are his 7 biggest mistakes to avoid.

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Hi, I’m Suchit Patel, Account Strategist at Multidots, helping digital publishers optimize their subscription strategies and maximize long-term revenue through strategic technology solutions.

In this article, we explore why promotional pricing strategies might be undermining your subscription revenue goals, examining the psychology behind discount addiction and sharing actionable alternatives that protect long-term profitability.

Picture this: You’re at your quarterly board meeting, proudly presenting your subscriber acquisition numbers. The graphs look great—thousands of new subscribers poured in during your latest 50% off promotion. But then someone asks the dreaded question: “What’s our churn rate looking like?”

That’s when the smile starts to fade.

If you’re relying heavily on discount promotions to drive subscription growth, you might be winning the battle but losing the war. Here’s why your discount strategy could be undermining your long-term revenue goals, and what to do about it.

The post The hidden cost of discount addiction: why 50% off promotions are killing your subscription revenue appeared first on Audiencers.

Warning, not to be read when hungry!

Article originally published in German on pv digest, a German language trade publication on the reader revenue side of journalism by Markus Schöberl.

A digital subscription to the New York Times currently costs long-term subscribers in the USA $27.08 per month; subscribers from Germany pay €13 per month from the second year onwards. The NZZ sells its digital subscription in Germany for €18.90 per month. Swiss citizens pay 32CHF for this. Membership of the Danish digital-only start-up Zetland costs 139 Danish kroner per month, while the Spanish digital-only start-up El Diario charges €8 – the same as the German Krautreportern, and similar to De Correspondent in the Netherlands, costing €9.85. Bildplus costs €7.99 and the Swedish Aftonbladet Plus costs 149 Swedish kronor. The Times Basic costs £15, whilst for the web and app content at Gazeta Wyborczca you pay 36.90zł per month.

In order to be able to compare the pricing of these and other media, we need a common basis. We often convert prices into euros or US dollars for this purpose, but even after conversion into the same currency, the prices are only comparable to a limited extent. Why? Because Americans, Germans, Swiss, Danes, Spaniards, Dutch, British and Poles live in countries with different income and price levels. An amount equivalent to $10 may seem low in one country and high in another.

To overcome this, The Economist came up with a pragmatic solution for comparing prices in different currencies: the Big Mac Index. As the name suggests, the idea is to use McDonalds’ Big Mac to compare prices, given that the same product, of the same quality, is sold in a wide variety of countries around the world.

Twice a year, The Economist calculates the Big Mac Index, publishing data to determine which currencies are over- or undervalued compared to the US dollar as the lead currency. 

Using the same logic, I looked at the prices of well-known international paid content offers. 

The Big Mac Index applied to publishing: The methodology

I converted the prices for monthly subscriptions into the number of Big Macs that could be bought in the respective country for the same amount (in local currency). For all non-EU countries except Switzerland, I used the Big Mac prices shown by The Economist in the latest update of its index.

This enables the comparison of subscription prices in local ‘Big Mac equivalents’

As The Economist Index is a currency valuation tool, it uses a single burger price for all countries in the eurozone: specifically, €5.67 for a Big Mac. It’s not entirely clear how they arrived at this – presumably averaged – price, but in order to compare prices between different EU countries for this analysis, I have researched current individual Big Mac prices for each EU country and for Switzerland. It turns out that between Paris (€7.70) and Vienna (€5.60), the Big Mac is very much underpriced.

For Switzerland, we see the current price at 8.20CHF – the Economist calculated at 7.20CHF in January. 

For all other countries, we’ve used The Economist prices.

Prices for digital subscriptions in burger units: the results

Prices of various basic digital subscriptions in local Big Mac equivalents (in D = Germany)

The cheapest paid content offer in this selection is the Bild newspaper. At a regular €7.99, the monthly subscription is only marginally more expensive than the Big Mac in Berlin (€7.09). The basic subscription to Gazeta Wyborcza, which is barely more expensive in US dollars, costs Poles significantly less in reality – the equivalent of 1.7 Big Macs. 

If we compare Switzerland and Sweden, we can see how useful the Big Mac Index can be – although a subscription to Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) in Switzerland costs the equivalent of almost $36 and a subscription to Dagens Nyheter in Sweden only $23, the monetary value in both countries is equivalent to around 4 Big Macs. 

The most expensive subscription – both in US$ and in local purchase price parity – is that of the Wall Street Journal.

Going deeper into the Big Mac Index comparison: Basic vs premium subscription offers

Many media differentiate between at least two digital subscriptions. A basic version, which only offers web access and perhaps an app, and a premium version, which also provides access to the e-paper or multimedia formats.

At FAZ in Germany, a basic subscription (FAZ+) converted into Big Macs above costs around $27 (€25.78) per month. However, if you also want to use the e-paper or the multimedia edition app, the subscription costs a good $50 (€47.90). 

NZZ charges the Swiss almost twice as much for its most complete subscription, which includes the e-paper, as it does for the classic subscription, namely 61 instead of 32 francs per month. This means that the NZZ is selling the most expensive subscription in our sample. However, The Wall Street Journal is significantly more expensive in local Big Mac parities.

Prices of various all-inclusive digital subscriptions in local Big Mac equivalents

Many digital-only start-ups have opted for a price that corresponds to the value of around one and a half Big Macs in their respective countries. This applies to De Correspondent from the Netherlands, El Diario from Spain, Mediapart from France and the two German media outlets Krautreporter and Perspective Daily. Converted into dollars, the most expensive of these offers (Mediapart at $12.63 per month) is around 50% more expensive than the two cheapest (El Diario and Krautreporter, at $8.42 per month each).

The most expensive in this group are Republik.ch ($24.44) and Zetland ($19.55). The Conversion into burger units turns the order in the price of the media upside down (2.7 vs. 3.6 Big Macs).

Prices of various digital-only paid content start-ups in local Big Mac equivalents

How have prices changed since 2021? 

I already presented this analysis in the July 2021 issue. This gives me a basis for comparing the development of prices. Since then, MacDonald’s burger has become 33% more expensive on average in EU countries – 29% in Germany, 37% in Austria and 14% in Switzerland. In the USA, on the other hand, the Big Mac price remained almost stable during the period under review, while the overall inflation amounted to 16%.

Prices 2025 vs. 2021

Comparison of % development of Big Mac prices and inflation

How did the prices of the media I looked at develop in the period from mid-2021 to early 2025?

A quarter of all the media brands studied here have not increased their subscription prices since my last analysis. The average price increase is 31%, or by 49% if I only consider the media with price increases.

But the mean values conceal a wide spread. While we see a significant reduction in prices for Aftenposten’s basic product, a minimal reduction for Perspective Daily, and unchanged prices for Bild and Die Republik, for example, the basic digital subscription of Dagens Nyheter has doubled in price and the basic offer of the Wall Street Journal is even four times more expensive.

If you place the change in Big Mac equivalents alongside the monetary price increases, it becomes clear that there can be considerable differences between price and value. For example, I recorded a price increase of 42% for the Dutch De Correspondent. But in local Big Mac units, the offer has become 11% cheaper. Overall prices in Big Mac units have risen less sharply than prices in the respective national currency.

In conclusion, the Big Mac index makes for an interesting method to compare prices across currencies and countries and could be a useful way of developing a reasonable price for a subscription in a given context. For instance, as mentioned, many digital-only start-ups have opted for a price that corresponds to the value of around one and a half Big Macs in their respective countries.

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How can you set a price that reflects the value of your product AND is acceptable to your readers? This was the topic of a brilliant panel at the World News Media Congress 2025 organized by WAN-IFRA in Krakow. Three experts shared their very concrete strategies for increasing revenue while maintaining subscriber satisfaction: Flavia Barbosa Ferreira (Head of Retention at Le Monde), Mariah Craddick (Executive Director, Product at The Atlantic), and Danuta Bregula (Director of Paid Products at Axel Springer Poland).

Le Monde: increase price but with ‘finesse’

With 665,000 paying subscribers, Le Monde is the leading French-language daily. Half of its revenue comes from subscriptions (35% digital, 15% print), making pricing optimization a direct lever for profitability.

Flavia Barbosa Ferreira is Director of Retention at Le Monde. Last year, her team conducted a series of experiments to increase prices without harming profitability or reader trust.

The situation before 2020

At the start of the project, Le Monde’s digital subscription offer was €1 for the first month, then €9.90/month for the first year.

This offer made it possible to acquire a significant number of subscribers…

…but failed to retain them in the long term as the price rose to €13 per month in the second year, then to €17.90 in the third.

A new set of offers (after 2020)

Thanks to the development of an internal fraud detection system called “Capping” — which blocks users who are simultaneously trying to access to articles from multiple devices using the same account, i.e. account sharing — Le Monde was able to confidently promote multi-account subscriptions (B2C and B2B)….

This has led to an increase in “duo” and “family” subscriptions, which are sold at higher prices.

Next step: price increase

The Le Monde team conducted an A/B test of a price increase on 10,000 subscribers, who were divided into two groups: +$1/month and +$2/month. An informational email was sent in December for an increase to be applied in January.

The results were analyzed the following March:

“Following this test, we observed slightly better retention with the €1 per month increase compared to the €2 increase. Out of caution, and given that this was the first price adjustment under the new pricing structure, we chose to start with the €1 monthly increase, which was considered less risky—while still generating a significant increase in revenue. For certain cohorts with lower initial prices, we opted for increases greater than $1, based on the findings of this initial test.”

What Le Monde took away from it

Their ARPU has been growing steadily since 2020, and the presentation of subscription offers has been optimized for greater clarity and conversion.

Rather than starting with price, Le Monde begins by improving the offering, perceived value, user experience, and fraud prevention. Only then do they adjust the price. This is a deliberate “price-last” approach.

The Atlantic: make the value tangible for subscribers

With prices set at $79.99/year (digital), $89.99/year (print + digital), and $120/year (premium ad-free), The Atlantic is below its competitors in terms of price, but above average in terms of retention and growth: +15% subscribers YoY, and a retention rate of over 70%.

Mariah Craddick divides subscriber benefits into three categories:

• Essentials: unlimited access, newsletters, mobile app, narrated articles, digital issues.
• Utilities: article saving, sharing, reading mode, app customization.
• Bonuses: subscriber-only podcasts, games, live events, merchandise.

They measure value through:

• the percentage of new subscribers who performed a key action within the first seven days.
• the proportion of subscribers with “engaged” or “core” status.
• a retention rate that is four points higher among those who completed on-site onboarding.
• Articles narrated via 11 Labs, the article sharing feature, and the premium mobile experience (particularly on iPad) are key differentiators.

One of the secrets of their success? On-site onboarding.

Subscribers who complete the onboarding process on The Atlantic website retain 4 points more than those who do not!

Onet Premium: the most daring bundle in Europe

In Poland, Ringier Axel Springer launched Onet Premium, a bundled subscription giving access to more than 15 major brands (Onet, Poland’s leading news site, Newsweek, Forbes, Politico, Business Insider, National Geographic, and others). Together, these brands reach 22 million Polish users every month.

The offer includes:

• exclusive items from several brands.
• 150 episodes of exclusive podcasts per month.
• 30,000 audio articles per month.
• an average listening time of 67 minutes and 10 hours per month per user in the audio app.
• cross-promotional newsletters, subscriber events, and editorial formats shared between brands.

To achieve this, they created a unified identity driven by editorial consistency and cross-brand storytelling, proving the value of the bundle through its impact beyond each individual brand and building a community around the power of critical thinking.

As a result, between 2019 and 2024, they achieved rapid growth:

• +91% average annual revenue growth;

• -32% churn rate;
• +15% share of highly engaged subscribers;
• +58% revenue growth between 2023 and 2024.

Key takeaway: To prove the value of the bundle and move from a “price-first” to a “price-last” model, the value proposition must be consistent, clear, accessible, and obvious to the user.

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Founded in 2013, Contexte, a 100% digital, French-language publication, has established itself as a benchmark for understanding French and European public policy. From Paris and Brussels, its journalists dissect the legislative backstage, regulatory decisions and games of influence that shape our laws.

In early 2025, the team revised their subscription offer, aiming to provide more clarity and more value. Sacha Cayre, CMO at Contexte since May 2024, takes us behind the scenes

"Stop seeing it as a simple pricing issue! You need to build a real value proposition, based on real usage, and above all, tell a clear story. Because if you simply announce a price and features, nobody will really buy the idea behind it!"

Marion Wyss: Hello Sacha! You’ve just announced that you’ve launched a new subscription offer at Contexte. When did you start work on this and why?

Sacha Cayre: The work began before I arrived, in October 2023. The initial situation was that we had a single offer, with a highly personalized price scale based on the type and size of an organization. This ranged from NGOs with no employees to Total Energy or the European Parliament, with price differences of 1 to 50.

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Finding the right price for a subscription product requires a two-pronged approach: understanding the criteria that make it a “good price” (for readers and for you), and presenting it in the best possible way to your audience.

At Paris 2024 edition of The Audiencers’ Festival, Lou Grasser, Chief Digital Operation Officer at Le Monde, presented their pricing strategy and the numerous tests they’ve run to perfectly balance the two essentials above.

The post Defining subscription pricing at Le Monde appeared first on Audiencers.

Discover why monthly subscribers may offer greater flexibility, pricing power, and growth potential. Refine your strategy by understanding the nuances of acquisition, retention, and revenue trends to maximize subscriber value.

The post Annual vs. Monthly Subscriptions, what drives more value? appeared first on Audiencers.

Maddyness is the go-to magazine for entrepreneurs and innovators. Founded in France and now with a UK edition, Maddyness aims to open a window on the future of companies, and society as a whole, by giving a taste of what our lives will be like tomorrow.

Having first developed a loyal, engaged community of readers, Maddyness recently launched their premium offer, Maddy+, including a one-time-payment lifetime offer, aimed at their most dedicated readers. We spoke to Rose-Marie Chamieh, Head of Product and E-commerce, and Louis Carle, CEO, to find out how they developed this offer, how it’s performed and what they’d recommend to others looking to do something similar.

How did you come up with this idea, why and why now?

Louis: Since our latest round of funding from Marc Ménasé, we’ve made a strategic shift at Maddyness, strengthened our team and developed our advertising network model. We’ve welcomed Rose-Marie as Head of Product, worked on developing our community and reinforced our editorial line through a new, subscription-based revenue model (Maddy+, managed by Rose-Marie). 

With all of this, we designed a “Founders” offer, a unique proposition giving our most loyal readers lifetime access to Maddy+ via a one-off payment of €1,490. This lifetime subscription simplifies cash management and creates an exclusive ‘club’ and sense of belonging.

Rose-Marie: In just a few years, Maddyness has become the must-read media for entrepreneurs. Our independence allows us to engage convincingly with the issues that matter to our audience, made up of new business decision-makers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs and political figures. 

With Maddy+, we aim to inform, educate and unite the players in the industry around the challenges facing our society, offering exclusive content, scoops and quality networking opportunities. The idea of the “Founders” subscription came from our desire to meet the expectations of our most loyal readers by offering them a long-term proposition at an ultra-competitive price.

Inspired by others on the market

Rose-Marie: Our project drew on a wealth of national and international inspiration. Internationally, media such as The New York Times, Wired and the Financial Times via Sifted inspired us with their ability to offer in-depth analysis and exclusive investigations. We’ve also been influenced by SaaS solutions that offer lifetime subscriptions, which led us to offer our “Founders” subscription at €1,490 for lifetime access to Maddy+. This fits in perfectly with our DNA, aligning the experience of our very SaaS-focused team with goals of scalability and unique experience.

Louis: The idea was to create something unique, very close to the values and culture of our readers. We also wanted to limit the number of lifetime subscriptions available to avoid dealing with a mass of lifetime subscribers, which could have resulted in a big influx of immediate cash but more uncertainty over the long term. This limitation not only creates a sense of exclusivity and scarcity, but is also essential to maintaining a privileged relationship with our community.

How did this project work in terms of tech? And were there any legal requirements that you had to abide by?

Rose-Marie: Technically, we created a “fully custom setup” with Poool’s dynamic paywall solution, with bright walls highlighting the benefits of premium, leading to the subscription landing page. We collaborated with our dev and the Poool team to minimize the impact of our walls on SEO. 

We used dedicated messaging for the Founders offer and a one-shot payment system by card, Apple Pay or PayPal. Legally, we worked with our lawyers and Kramer Levin to come up with the best terms and conditions.

Louis: In fact, we worked very closely with Kramer Levin, which involved a great deal of legal engineering, as well as with Studio Meta for the new version of the site, to create a consortium of recognized experts around this offer. The idea was to create a strong, trust-based relationship with our readers, integrating them into an exclusive community and insisting on a sense of belonging.

What’s the value proposition for this special offer?

Rose-Marie:  We’ve built our value proposition around the needs of our target audience, startup founders, who are loyal readers of Maddyness. We offer them a long-term solution at an ultra-competitive price: pay once for a lifetime offer. This solution simplifies cash management and lets you network with a growing community while enjoying the latest exclusive content and features.

Louis: We found that our most loyal readers have been reading Maddyness for ten years! For them, the calculation is simple: I’m going to keep reading for at least ten years, so if it becomes profitable after three years, it’s worth paying for a lifetime membership. We worked hand-in-hand with key entrepreneurs and C-Levels in France to refine this offer, testing and perfecting it with our beta testers and ambassadors.

Rose-Marie: Naturally, we previewed this offer to our most loyal partners, who gave us very positive feedback. These one-to-one tests enabled us to confirm the relevance of the offer and its suitability for the market.

What qualitative feedback have you collected so far?

Rose-Marie: Initial feedback has been very positive. The simple, efficient two-step process and comprehensive landing page with a clear value proposition is very appealing. 84% of subscribers say they are very satisfied with Maddy+. Maddyness is a trusted, specialized media, so subscription intent is very high.

Louis: In fact, the feedback has been incredible. Subscribers are happy to have this solution and to build a lasting relationship from the outset. They become engaged and recognize our driving role in analyzing and deciphering tomorrow’s economy. I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the first Maddy+ subscription sold was the “founders” offer, purchased by the chairman of a CAC 40 company. A powerful display of the potential of this subscription strategy.

And quantitative?

Rose-Marie: Since our launch, we’ve noticed that our conversion funnel often breaks records! The traffic on premium content exceeds 20%, the wall visibility rate 82%, click rate 2.33%, and conversion rate over 7%. 

We’ve set up questionnaires/surveys to gather user feedback and an e-mail address for direct access to our team. We didn’t expect to exceed our conversion targets – it solidifies our positioning as an industry-leading media, committed to its work.

Louis: We’re going to exceed our subscription targets this year, and are proud to have such an engaged community. Our satisfaction measurement tools, such as NPS, show very positive results: 84% of subscribers appreciate our daily newsletter, with an average open rate of 67%.

What have you learnt through launching this lifetime offer?

Rose-Marie:

• The single payment for the “Founders” offer is quite a considerable amount, so support from our team here is essential
• As the offer isn’t aimed at all readers, communication needs to be very targeted
• We’ve also realized the importance of visibility of our premium offers and paywall. It’s not enough to just increase the number of paid articles, but also strengthen communication on our other channels

Louis:

• We’ve become aware of the importance and strength of our community – their loyalty and commitment to our work, it’s really powerful to our subscription model
• We’ve also understood the importance of setting up a retention strategy right from the launch. These foundations from day 1 mean we don’t miss out on any retention opportunities

What would you have done differently if you were to do it again?

Rose-Marie:

• Focus more on the traditional offers, or target messaging: The Founders offer was a great idea, but it’s not for our average audience. When we refocused messages on a less expensive offer, conversion rate increased by over 30%
• We could also have communicated better about automatic renewal from the outset

Louis:

• Communicated about the lifetime offer from the launch
• We could have also created a solely event-based offer from the outset, making the Founders more than just a subs offer, but a fully-fledged event

What advice would you give others looking to do the same thing?

Louis: Engaging your community is essential. You need to create a real contract of trust with your readers, showing that you understand their needs and expectations. 

Strong positioning is essential; don’t discount your offer with low rates, as this can devalue perception of your brand and your content. In the BtoB media sector, it’s crucial to maintain a premium offering to ensure the quality and exclusivity of the information you provide.

We’re at a crucial stage in our industry, where we need to regain ownership of our relationship with subscribers. People are now used to paying for content, thanks in particular to streaming platforms, but they expect a unique experience and strong added value. It’s not enough to ask readers to pay for what they used to get for free! 

Investing in satisfaction measurement tools, such as questionnaires and NPS, is also vital to understanding and responding to your audience’s needs. 

Finally, limiting the number of passes available can create a sense of exclusivity and rarity, essential to maintaining a privileged relationship with your community. Create event-based and exclusive offers that resonate with your audience’s values and culture to reinforce this bond of trust over the long term.

Rose-Marie: Knowing your audience and their frequency of visits is essential to creating a subscription offer that works. 

In addition, it’s essential to talk to your ambassadors pre-launch and gather their first impressions. Working out your value proposition with your readers is the best way to meet their expectations.

I’d also recommend gathering as much data as possible on your conversion funnel and audience. 

Finally, staying focused on user pain points will enable you to constantly evolve your product in the right direction, both in terms of value proposition and user experience. 

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