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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Tightening regulations might be making it easier for subscribers to cancel, but this doesn’t mean you can’t build a cancellation journey that helps to change their mind, highlighting loss aversion, provide alternative subscription options and gaining feedback.

These publishers are already doing it, and you too can do the same!

Click on the images to enlarge and swipe through the benchmarks.

In need of some best practices to accompany these examples? Check out this article.

The post Subscriber cancellation journey benchmarks appeared first on Audiencers.

Engage and retain subscribers from the moment they click pay with an on-site onboarding journey, inspired by some of the leading publishers in the business.

Click on the image to enlarge and swipe through the examples.

In need of some best practices to accompany these benchmarks? Check this article out.

The post Subscriber onboarding journey benchmarks appeared first on Audiencers.

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.

On my recent trip to New York, Condé Nast shared how they’ve developed a multi-layered membership ecosystem designed to drive loyalty, connection and higher lifetime value. Of course, I was hooked. So I followed up with Director of Global Consumer Revenue, Holly Johnson, to find out more about this shift from a volume-based model towards deep engagement and loyalty. 

Catch up quickly:
- Condé Nast is one of the world's most renowned media companies covering a wide variety of genres, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED, GQ, Architectural Digest (AD), and more
- To build belonging amongst their most loyal audiences, the team have created a "Membership" tier that sits above subscription
- The value exchange here is two-way: Members are active participants contributing data, feedback, and engagement. They expect to belong to a community.
- This strategy is paying off: a member has an LTV (Lifetime Value) up to 50 times higher than a subscriber, amongst other benefits listed below

A holistic, inter-connected ecosystem

Condé Nast views its portfolio of brands not just as publications, but as Intellectual Properties (IPs). The fundamental strategic question guiding all development is: “Where does this brand have permission to play?”

The team aims to leverage the brand’s authority across the entire consumer lifecycle, tapping into different value exchanges (and thus revenue streams) to build an inter-connected eco-system. A consumer may start as a commerce customer, then event attendee, subscriber and eventually a member. This breadth not only builds a consumer’s affinity to the brand, but also ensures sustainability and flexibility in a challenging market. 

The post When is a subscriber more than a subscriber? How Condé Nast is evolving its audience strategy with membership appeared first on Audiencers.

For a long time in the media industry, the end goal has been publication. The product is the destination. We worked backward from a deadline.

Our relationship with our audiences was driven by a constant search for growth. More readers, more subscriptions, more impressions. We see them as a mass, not as individuals. It’s a fundamentally one-way communication with a focus on form over function.

But today we work in a world where we’re no longer competing against each other but against the external force that is AI. And AI is a master of the print mindset. 

If our only value is publication and growth, we will lose. 

The way to survive isn’t to out-compete AI at its own game. The way to survive is to lean into what AI cannot do:

Build real, purposeful human relationships.

In this new structure, the goal is impact, the focus is on long-term impact and we measure value over volume, seeking to build belonging through meaningful interactions.

The post Where publishers should be heading in 2026: the HERO framework appeared first on Audiencers.

At the recent ACE Subscription Summit in London, Louise Ioannou, Publisher of National Geographic Kids, and I took to the stage to share our hot take – that new cancellation laws aren’t a threat, they’re an opportunity. In fact, simple unsubscription is a necessary foundation for building trust, improving CX, and ultimately turning your pool of ex-subscribers into your biggest future growth opportunity.

Hot Take: New cancellation laws aren’t a threat; they’re an opportunity.

For years, the cancellation journey for many subscription publishers has been characterized by “dark patterns”—hidden buttons, forced phone calls, and confusing interfaces. The goal was simple: frustrate the user just enough to keep them paying for another month.

However, as the Audiencers’ community knows, this approach is short-sighted and actively damages the long-term relationship with the customer. Now, with tightening regulations like France’s “3-click rule” and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act, publishers are being forced to simplify. But what if this regulatory push is exactly what the subscription industry needs to unlock its next phase of sustainable growth?

National Geographic Kids and its commitment to radical transparency is a great example in practice, showing that making it easy to leave is the most effective way to encourage a subscriber to come back.

The post Easy cancellation is the new retention strategy: How Nat Geo Kids uses transparency to win beyond save rates appeared first on Audiencers.

Ali Mahmood is a Digital News Strategist, helping publishers navigate the evolving digital landscape to build sustainable, audience-first revenue strategies—even in the most challenging environments.

This article was written off the back of a conversation from The Audiencers' Whatsapp group about how to prevent password sharing and account misuse within organisations. 

Many news and media publishers reach a point where subscription growth stalls even when all the basics seem right – a strong product, smooth onboarding, effective newsletters funneling readers in. Often an unseen culprit behind this plateau is revenue leakage: people accessing paid content without paying (or without paying correctly). This leakage tends to hide in the data – for example, odd spikes in “active users per account,” lots of free-trial users who never convert to paid, or unexplained churn. If left unaddressed, it quietly undermines growth, cutting into revenue and even skewing audience metrics. It can also create fairness issues that erode trust between your newsroom and paying subscribers.

Why revenue leakage happens (and why it hurts)

The post How to stop subscription revenue leaks: technical and strategic solutions 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.

The post Subscription price increase: the 7 biggest mistakes to avoid appeared first on Audiencers.

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.