Max Moné is co-founder and CEO at Poool, the dynamic journey builder to boost subscription conversion, engagement, and loyalty.

This is the fifth in a 6-part series where I share what I learned from studying 100 subscription business models across 15+ industries. 
> Episode one: 100 subscription business, 15 industries, 1 moodboard
> Episode two: What’s free, what’s paid, and why it’s really an engagement trade-offf
> Episode three: Why the best subscription businesses don’t try to sell on day 1
> Episode four: The subscription pricing page we've all built at least once

The cycle doesn’t stop when someone becomes a subscriber

In episode 1, we introduced the idea that the best subscription businesses don’t follow a linear journey (attract → convert → retain) but an infinite cycle of micro-conversions, where each step has one goal and unlocks the next. In episodes 3 and 4, we looked at what happens before the first paid conversion: how these businesses use registration, onboarding, and pricing to guide the user step by step.

This episode covers what happens after someone becomes a subscriber.

And what we observed is that the journey really doesn’t change in nature once the user has paid. After someone subscribes, the next micro-conversion might be signing up for a newsletter. Then downloading the app. Then discovering podcasts or games or a specific section of the product. Then, when the subscriber is ready (and when you know enough about their usage), you can propose an upsell or bundle.

Acquiring a subscriber isn’t the end of the funnel. It’s just one more step in the infinite cycle we described in episode 1. And what most people call “retention” is really just the continuation of the same sequence of micro-conversions, except now you have data about the user and can be much smarter about what you propose next.

The problem is that most of this work needs to happen fast.

Why you have about 100 days (and probably less)

INMA data shows that a quarter of subscribers cancel in the first month, and half are gone by the fourth month. And a Nieman Lab study on The Wall Street Journal’s data showed that the probability of adopting a new habit drops dramatically after about 100 days.

Half of your new subscribers are gone within 4 months, and after about 100 days the window to build a new habit narrows significantly. If you don’t manage to execute enough micro-conversions during those first few months (newsletter signup, app download, feature discovery, habit formation), the probability of keeping that subscriber drops, regardless of how good your anti-churn campaigns are later on.

(I know this isn’t the most cheerful insight we’ve had in this series, but it’s what the data consistently shows.)

What this looks like in practice: L’Équipe after the Olympics

This is where the theory gets concrete. L’Équipe (a Poool client), speaking at The Audiencers’ Festival in 2025, shared how they built 12 post-subscription projects after the Paris 2024 Olympics, which had generated a huge spike in new subscribers, subscribers they needed to keep. I won’t go through all 12 (the full article is worth reading), but the ones that stood out to me are the following.

Their data analysis revealed something I found really striking: what a subscriber does after paying has more impact on M+1 churn than what they did before subscribing. When Fabien Mulot showed this at The Audiencers’ Festival, it was one of those moments where you think “of course, that makes total sense” and at the same time you realize that most of the industry’s energy is still focused on acquiring subscribers, not on what happens once they’ve subscribed.

Based on this insight, they focused their onboarding on one specific goal: getting new subscribers to read at least two paid articles within the first three days. Their data showed that each paid article read during those first 72 hours reduces the following month’s churn by about 5 points, so two articles in three days already makes a meaningful difference on the curve.

The onboarding sequence they built follows the same micro-conversion logic we’ve been describing throughout this series:

• first, welcome the subscriber and showcase what their subscription unlocks;
• then encourage them to personalize their experience (alerts, newsletters, favorite topics);
• then immediately serve them paid content tailored to their interests. Each step has one job.

The cumulative impact is significant.

• Simply being exposed to this onboarding journey reduces churn by 7 points at M+1.
• Completing the onboarding journey while also activating an action (turning on alerts, signing up for a newsletter) reduces churn by 20 points at M+3
• The more micro-conversions a subscriber completes in those early weeks, the less likely they are to leave.

Beyond onboarding, L’Équipe continued the logic with a newsletter strategy (a monthly preview of upcoming content, plus journalist-led newsletters across four sports verticals where subscribers can ask questions directly to editorial teams), and a new “Games” vertical to expand consumption into other formats. Each of these is another micro-conversion in the sequence, another reason for the subscriber to come back tomorrow.

El País and FT Strategies confirm the pattern at a broader scale

L’Équipe’s data is specific to sports media, but the pattern holds across other publishers.

El País shared at a 2024 INMA conference that subscribers who use editorial newsletters churn 24% less, app users churn 15% less, premium newsletter users churn 29% less, and loyalty scheme users churn 30% less. Each one of these is a micro-conversion that happened after subscribing, and each one reduces churn by 15 to 30%.

FT Strategies ran some very complementary work, analyzing the impact of each product feature on engagement vs. the percentage of subscribers who actually use it. The features with the highest impact (multimedia, interactive content, games) are also the ones that fewer than 30% of subscribers use. The gap between impact and adoption is where the biggest opportunity sits.

What happens when you get the micro-conversions right: lock-in effects

When the micro-conversion sequence works well over time, you eventually reach a point where leaving becomes genuinely hard for the subscriber. This is thanks to long-term engagement and relationship-building.

But of course, there are other strategies to keep your subscribers retained, ones that can be used in conjunction with the micro-conversions detailed above. When combined, they’re powerful for developing loyalty.

During our benchmark, we saw three main types of lock-in across the 100 businesses:

• Personalization – we talked about Spotify in episode 4, but the principle applies to any product that gets smarter with use, adapting the product to the user
• Multi-accounts – Netflix profiles, Blinkist’s partner account where you sometimes keep the service for the other person
• Bundling with external services – Canal+ with Netflix, Amazon Prime combining shopping, streaming and delivery, Walmart+ bundling grocery delivery with Paramount+

(You can read more about lock-in effects here)

Funnily enough, each of these is really the result of many successful micro-conversions accumulated over months and years. The lock-in is earned, not imposed.

Anti-churn: necessary, but it’s the safety net

And then there’s anti-churn, which is what happens when the micro-conversion sequence hasn’t worked well enough and the subscriber is about to leave.

L’Équipe has been methodical about this too. Their cancellation form (which handles two-thirds of all unsubscriptions) was redesigned through A/B tests: they added an intermediate screen summarizing the benefits the subscriber would lose (+2% retention), and tested personalizing the message with the subscriber’s first name and a specific discount percentage (+1.2 points on conversion). Small changes, but measurable impact at scale (source).

Unidad Editorial took a different approach by building a churn propensity model that predicts which subscribers are about to cancel, triggering personalized actions before they reach the cancellation page. Result: a 25% reduction in churn in three months.

These are well-executed tactics. But in the broader picture, they’re the safety net.

The real strategy is everything that happens before the subscriber even thinks about leaving: the onboarding, the feature discovery, the newsletter signup, the app download, the habit formation. All of those micro-conversions that, together, make the product too valuable to walk away from.

What you can take away from this (and test tomorrow)

Map the post-subscription micro-conversions you want your subscribers to make. Newsletter signup, app download, podcast discovery, games, alerts configuration, etc. based on their value. Then ask yourself: do you have a sequence designed for this, or are you hoping it happens on its own?

Focus on the first 3 days and the first 30 days. L’Équipe’s data shows that each paid article read in the first 72 hours reduces the following month’s churn by 5 points, and a completed onboarding with an action reduces churn by 20 points at M+3.

Check the gap between feature impact and feature adoption. FT Strategies’ framework is a useful lens: if your most impactful features are also the least used, that’s your biggest opportunity. And El País data shows that each additional touchpoint is worth 15 to 30% less churn.

Treat anti-churn as a safety net, not as a strategy. If the majority of your effort goes into save campaigns for subscribers who are already about to leave, you’re fighting the battle at the wrong end of the timeline.

And if all of this sounds like a lot to orchestrate (because it is): that’s exactly the kind of problem we’re solving with Poool and Darwin CX. From onboarding sequences to engagement actions to anti-churn triggers, across web, app, and print. Orchestrating micro-conversions at every step of the subscriber journey is what we do. If that resonates, or if you’re currently looking at your subscription platform options, let’s talk.

Next week, episode 6, the last one: toilet paper, Japanese snack boxes, razor blades, wine, and genealogy. The most surprising subscription models we came across, and what they confirmed about engagement (because at this point in the series, I think you already know what the answer is going to be).

The post The first 100 days: why most of what we call retention is really just micro-conversions (again): episode 5 appeared first on Audiencers.

In the saturated world of digital subscriptions, simply acquiring a user is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in the “sticky” phase: ensuring subscribers actually use the myriad of benefits they’ve paid for.

Recent research from The Times revealed a common pain point: subscribers often didn’t know the full extent of their benefits. “I didn’t know I had X, Y, and Z in my subscription,” was a recurring theme in surveys. To solve this, the marketing team launched the “Customer Rail”, a dedicated, highly visible module on the homepage designed to surface high-value actions (HVAs) that drive long-term retention.

I spoke with Em McLaughlin to hear about how The Times developed their Customer rail strategy, and how your newsroom can implement something similar.

1. Define your “High-Value Actions” (HVAs)

Before building a rail, you must identify which behaviors actually correlate with lower churn. For The Times, these aren’t just clicks; they’re “habit markers.” 

Key HVAs identified at The Times include:

• Newsletter Sign-ups: Direct lines of communication straight into a subscribers’ inbox
• App Downloads: Shifting users to a more controlled, immersive environment.
• Bonus Accounts: Sharing a subscription (which The Times found improves retention by 6 percentage points).
• Puzzles: High-frequency, low-friction interactions that build a daily habit.
• Times+ Rewards: Redeeming exclusive discounts or entering competitions (like a high-performing Coldplay ticket giveaway last summer).

The Lesson: Work with your data team to identify which 3–5 actions separate your most loyal subscribers from those likely to churn.

2. Claim “marketing-owned” real estate

The homepage of a news site is traditionally editorial territory. However, a “Customer Rail” requires a permanent, non-negotiable space where the marketing team has autonomy.

At The Times, the rail sits directly under “Editor’s Picks.” It consists of two blocks that are updated every Tuesday and Friday. This frequency ensures that frequent visitors aren’t seeing stale promotions, which leads to “banner blindness.”

Of course, the messaging and actions are continuously tested to find the variants that connect most with subscribers. For instance: 

“Discover Bonus Accounts: Give the people you love the gift of The Times” didn’t work as well as simple “Bonus Accounts: Share your Times subscription with your family” 

By amending the feature to showcase who someone can share it with (their family) they saw a 100% uplift in CTR.

Having the control over these messages and being able to adjust based on performance, provides Em and the team with endless lessons to continuously improve. 

3. Establish a cross-functional “gatekeeper” system

To keep the content fresh and relevant, The Times established a bi-monthly stakeholder meeting. This group includes representatives from:

• Retention/Marketing: To drive the primary KPIs.
• Editorial: To ensure the brand voice is maintained.
• Product Verticals: Puzzle editors, newsletter leads, and the Times+ rewards team.

The goal is to map out upcoming launches (e.g., a new puzzle like “Word Hunt”) and rotate them against evergreen benefits (e.g., app downloads) based on past performance data.

4. Move towards deep personalization

The “North Star” for any customer rail is completion of the action, but The Times is currently moving towards a Next Best Action (NBA) model, one that hides tiles for actions a user has already taken.

• Current Restriction: All logged-in UK subscribers see the same rail.
• The Goal: If a user has already downloaded the app, they shouldn’t see an “App Download” tile. Instead, they might see a prompt to enter a competition or play a puzzle they haven’t tried yet.

The Lesson: Even without a complex algorithm, start with simple segmentation. If your tech allows it, exclude users from promotions for products they already use. 

(hint: Poool is a great tech solution for this kind of targeting throughout the funnel!) 

5. Measure quality, not just clicks

The Times uses an automated report to track click-through rates (CTR) but goes a step further by working with the analytics team quarterly to measure conversions.

“A high CTR is good, but did they actually redeem the offer, play the puzzle… i.e. complete the desired action?” asks Em McLaughlin. This data helps guide the copy. For instance, testing revealed that high-intensity calls to action like “Redeem Now” often outperform softer phrases like “See what’s on offer.”

Case Study: The Times Benchmarks

Since launching in June 2025, The Times has tested over 120 different tiles. Some of their key findings include:

• For their loyalty program (Times+), 35% of people who took an action from the rail were first-time redeemers.
• They found that 29% of users who engaged with a puzzle from the rail returned to play on two or more subsequent days.
• Data showed that female subscribers and those aged 56+ have the strongest CTR on the rail, allowing them to skew content toward culture, fashion, and newsletters that appeal to these demographics.

Ready to try it?

The customer rail is a fairly simple starting place to prove the power of pushing high value actions across the subscriber experience, using the homepage as a tool for service discovery. 

The post How to use a “Customer Rail” to drive retention and habit formation, just like The Times appeared first on Audiencers.

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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)

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