My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Learn how the company grew from a 1-man show to a big operation

Table of Contents

How It All Began
How My Subscription Addiction Grew
Content
Subscription Box Directory
Discussion Forum
Swaps
Editorial Content
Editorial Strategy
Audience Engagement
Business Model – Revenue Streams
Marketing
Trends
Advice
Insider Take

How It All Began

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

In the summer of 2012, My Subscription Addiction founder Liz Cadman knew she had a problem. She had gotten hooked on Birchbox’s beauty box subscription the year before, and she wanted to try more boxes like it, but she didn’t know which ones would be a good value or what she could expect each month. Liz searched online but couldn’t find reviews of other subscription boxes; she wanted more information to decide how to spend her money.

Since that information wasn’t readily available, Liz began documenting and taking photos of the boxes she was receiving and posting that information on a blog, so others could make informed decisions too. That’s how it all began.  

“When we first started, we wanted to solve the problem of finding the best boxes,” Liz told Subscription Insider.

That was four years ago, and since those early days, My Subscription Addiction has grown beyond all expectations. What started out as a one-woman, part-time operation has expanded to a 16-member team with husband Eric, a developer, on board helping with technology and a team of 14 reviewers and others who help with content and partnerships.

How My Subscription Addiction Grew

We can break down My Subscription Addiction’s amazing success and incredible popularity to two key factors:

  1. Content
  2. Audience and Engagement

Liz first started the site to fill a need of her own and realized that other subscribers had the same need for information that was not currently available. She gradually built a dedicated audience of subscription box subscribers who craved the information Liz was providing and who wanted to share their own experiences. Lastly, Liz, Eric and eventually her entire team engaged with their audience. They offered valuable insight and resources that people wanted, but they also listened to and sought input from their readers. These factors created a winning combination, driving My Subscription Addiction’s growth.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

Content

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

0)]Initially, Liz provided her own reviews and photos of the subscription boxes she subscribed to or that companies sent to her to review. As interest in My Subscription Addiction grew, Liz and Eric adapted the website and expanded their editorial content to better meet the needs of their audience.

“It’s no longer just a review place. It is a place to share spoilers, reviews, news, coupons, etc. We have a full range of content,” Liz said. “We are crafting better content, adding better photos, showing how to use products and getting the audience involved. Our goal is to be able to cover as many boxes as possible.”

Subscription box directory

The first improvement was adding a comprehensive directory of subscription boxes to the site, so users can search for subscription boxes in a variety of categories including women, men, beauty, food, moms, babies, kids, drinks, fitness, eco-friendly, craft, pets, artisan, geek, book, adult, boxes under $10 and more. When they first created the directory, they listed about 200 boxes.

Here’s how the directory works. A reader goes to the Subscription Box List on the My Subscription Addiction Site, and chooses from one of the categories listed. Once they click on that category and subcategories, a visual catalog of available boxes – including special offers – pops up. From there, the reader can complete a variety of tasks, including:

  • Click “have it” to indicate it is a box they already subscribe to.
  • Click “want it” to add it to their wish list.
  • See the monthly price and special offers.
  • Read reviews and other posts about that box.
  • Read spoilers showing what a particular month’s box contains.
  • Subscribe to the box directly from the subscription box company’s website.
  • Sign up for email alerts related to that box.

For example, we chose Food from the Directory and then selected Healthy. The directory listed 24 subscription boxes in this category. Here’s a sample:

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

From there, we selected Graze and clicked on Learn More which revealed the subscription box’s four-star rating, a deal alert and 24 subscriber reviews, including both positive and negative, with the most recent review appearing first.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

In addition to providing a list of active subscription box services, My Subscription Addiction also tracks those that have gone out of business. Liz estimated that 16 percent of the companies on the directory no longer exist.

Discussion forum

A year ago, My Subscription Addiction added another layer of engagement with a discussion forum where registered users can discuss things that aren’t related to a specific post. It is a good place for beginners to start and to feel welcome, Liz said. The forum has become popular with readers. In the last 30 days, for example, there were 322 comments on the discussion forum alone. This doesn’t include the comments made on individual posts.

The discussion forum contains more than 100 pages of user-generated topics in various categories (reference, free stuff, book club, swaps, etc.). Some posts like ‘Rachel Zoe Box of Style Fall 2016 Review + Coupon” have tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments, while others like “Julep nail polish” only have a few hundred views. The verdict: My Subscription Addiction readers are engaged.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

To help manage the discussion forum, Liz has a moderator. Liz and the team aren’t always able to answer readers’ questions right away, but the community helps answer questions too. Sometimes subscription box companies will want to participate in a discussion to answer a question or address a subscriber’s concern. Liz asks that they contact My Subscription Addiction first. Then, once Liz and her team have confirmed who the contact represents, they allow the company to create a free account and to address the question in the forum.

Swaps

The next addition to the site was the swapping platform, built by Eric. Using the Swaps feature, registered users can post subscription box items they have but don’t want and can swap them with other registered users. Popular items swapped include everything from make-up and beauty product samples to jewelry and kitchen items.

Each swap includes a photo of the item, quantity of the item are available, and which box the item came from. Users then click on the product image for additional information, including more listings, access to reviews, a subscription link and “list it” so readers can post their own items for swapping.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

Once a reader decides which products she wants to swap, she initiates a discussion with another user and they negotiate what they will swap and how. To help highlight popular items, My Subscription Addiction produces a monthly round-up of the top 20 items.

Editorial content

In addition to the improved functionality of the site, as My Subscription Addiction site grew, Liz put a big focus on editorial content like subscription box reviews and news. While Liz and Eric both review subscription boxes for the site, they have a team of 14 reviewers, each with their own areas of interest or specialty like children, pets, vinyl albums, or DIY and craft projects.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

1)]The reviewers are a mix of men and women across the country of various ages and in different life stages. If a reader reaches out saying she’s interested in writing reviews, Liz asks for a sample review to see if doing reviews for My Subscription Addiction is a good fit.

A typical review includes a lot of photos, showing the box prior to opening, the unboxing experience and what each item looks like. The photos are taken by the reviewer, rather than provided by subscription box companies, because My Subscription Addiction wants to provide a true representation of a particular subscription box’s experience, not a professional company photo.

Along with the photos, the reviewer includes details of each item as well, sharing their opinion on the month’s selection for a given box, explaining how the items might be used and whether or not they think they will use all the items in the box.

Also, because their readers are value conscious, the reviewer tries to list the retail value of the items in each box. This isn’t always possible, however, because some products are made exclusively for subscription boxes. They then compare the cost of the items to the cost of the subscription. Is it a good deal? Reviews also include a comment section where readers can share their thoughts.

“We give readers all the important details, so they can make their own choices,” said Liz. “They get a really good perspective when they combine the review with the comments.”

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

As an example, earlier this month, Liz reviewed the POPSUGAR Must Have Mini Box. The review included 12 photos of the products inside the box, including a photo of her wearing the necklace and trying the mascara that were part of the month’s selection, along with her thoughts on the box, the value and more. Liz also explained that the box was provided to her for review. As of September 9, the post had received 50 comments and had been shared 21 times. [Note: we’ve cropped and resized Liz’s photo to the right for space purposes.]

So how do Liz, Eric and other reviewers get all these boxes to review? Sometimes they pay for them, and sometimes companies provide them free of charge for reviewing purposes, but My Subscription Addiction has a strict policy on how reviews are handled. First, when companies provide a box free of charge, Liz explains that in the review. Second, she tells companies that she provides honest reviews, and she won’t accept compensation for a positive review. Third, when a company sends her a subscription box for review, she tells them she wants the same box a subscriber would get – no extras. That way readers will get a clear idea of what to expect.

Liz also subscribes to a number of boxes, including Birchbox, GlossyBox, BarkBox, Stitch Fix, Birchbox for Men, and Nerd Block. Overall, Liz says they pay for about half the boxes they receive and the other half are provided by subscription box companies.

“I subscribe to a ton of boxes – I love trying out new subscriptions, and I also see it as part of the cost of running this blog, so we definitely spend a lot on subscription boxes each month,” Liz said. “On the flipside, I can’t remember the last time I spent money on make-up, clothing, cleaning supplies, bath and body products, or tea! We pretty much live on boxes.”

Translation: “A ton of boxes” means Liz has more than 100 monthly subscriptions! Her favorites are beauty boxes including POPSUGAR Must Have and FabFitFun.

In addition to the reviews, from the My Subscription Addiction home page, readers can access spoilers, deals, the most popular posts, and news. Subscription box news includes a variety of entries including monthly favorites, subscription box launches, limited edition products, promotional offers, reminders and more.

Sometimes the home page includes a featured subscription box for the month. They might be selected by the My Subscription Addiction team or are popular subscription boxes with readers, and other times the featured boxes are part of a sponsorship package.

Editorial strategy

With so much content to publish, Liz tries to schedule reviews and blog posts throughout the month. However, because of the nature of subscription boxes, they don’t always arrive on time, so she has to build a lot of flexibility into her publishing schedule. Sometimes, though, companies will send her subscription boxes early, so they can get a jump start on the month.

More time is always better, Liz says. This gives Liz and her team time to do thorough reviews and provide quality images, rather than rushing through a review for a box that might be urgent like Play! by Sephora, FabFitFun and POPSUGAR Must Have. A box is considered urgent if it is one that is very popular with readers.

“The sooner we get the review out, the sooner they can talk about it, or in some cases, we have the exclusive first review, so our readers are seeing what’s in the box first on My Subscription Addiction,” explained Liz.

From an editing perspective, Liz sees all of the reviews before they are posted. If she sees potential edits or clarifications, she goes back to the writer for minor corrections or updates. She publishes all of the posts herself using Word Press.

For now, My Subscription Addiction is focused solely on subscription boxes and one-off boxes like limited editions and mystery boxes. My Subscription Addiction has about 750 new posts per month, including subscription box news and reviews.

Audience Engagement

My Subscription Addiction has grown to an audience of 250,000 registered users and 900,000 unique monthly visitors, who comment on the discussion forum, participate in swaps, write reviews and post comments on editorial posts like subscription box reviews and news. Approximately 90 percent of the audience is female. The average My Subscription Addiction user subscribes to seven boxes and has 12 more on her wish list.

“A wonderful community has developed on MSA over the years,” said Liz. “Readers compare boxes, share tips, talk about their lives, and, in general, share their excitement for subscription boxes.”

In addition to sharing information on the discussion forum, Liz said readers sometimes discuss personal topics, and they are very supportive of each other. They also talk about “fun stuff” like what items will be included in an upcoming box or how to use products in the boxes. For example, the July POPSUGAR subscription box included a skinny scarf, but it didn’t include different ways to wear it, so ideas were shared on My Subscription Addiction.

The audience also includes the subscription box companies who strive to build a better box.

“Curators are really trying to create an experience,” Liz said. “We start the discussion and get people excited. In general, we see how much time, effort and thought goes into the boxes. We want to put them in the best light and not sell them short.”

The swapping platform is also a key element to audience engagement. Created to provide a safer place than other online marketplaces, the swaps encourage readers to interact with each other, to discuss products, and negotiate mutually beneficial swaps.

Besides interaction on the My Subscription Addiction site, Liz and the subscription box community use social media to engage with each other. Though they have a number of social media accounts, Liz said the most popular are Facebook (68,000+ followers), Instagram (47,400+ followers) and Twitter (105,000+ followers). Facebook is great for friends who want to tag friends in posts, while Instagram has been helpful for people discovering My Subscription Addiction and subscription boxes.

Business Model – Revenue Streams

Readers can use and register on My Subscription Addiction for free. My Subscription Addiction generates revenue from other sources including advertising through Google Ad Sense, affiliate marketing and sponsorships. As a privately-held company, Liz would not disclose total revenue received or name sponsors.

Marketing

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

My Subscription Addiction primarily uses social media (see above) and email marketing to promote the site. Distributed through Mail Chimp, the email marketing newsletter is sent out daily, seven days a week. It includes all the posts from the last 24 hours. Also, by clicking a box under a particular post, registered users can ask to be alerted when there is news, a spoiler or other information available about a specific subscription box. In addition to these tools, My Subscription Addiction has experimented with Gmail ads and Facebook sponsored posts.

“We are refining our audiences,” Liz said. “If you are searching for subscription boxes, we are trying to help people find us.”

Social influence and social sharing are also big components of the company’s marketing strategy, particularly when readers post comments or share their own photos and tag My Subscription Addiction. On Instagram, most posts get several hundred likes and some have gotten more than five dozen comments. For example, the post of the August Sephora box received 486 likes and 60 comments from followers, some who loved the box and others who were not satisfied.

Trends

The subscription box industry has grown alongside My Subscription Addiction. In fact, Liz estimates there are more than 3,000 subscription boxes now, so she and her team have seen a lot of trends. One recent product trend Liz has seen is the growth of lifestyle boxes which contain a variety of different products. For example, POPSUGAR might include a book, a food item, candle, a necklace and a beauty item. Basically, any product could possibly be a subscription product including everything from laundry detergent and tampons to make-up and marijuana. Another major trend is that big companies like Sephora, Adidas, Disney, Target and Walmart are getting into the subscription box industry with their own branded offerings.

“I think it is a really healthy indicator in the industry that these companies are now seeing the value and leveraging the pre-existing audiences that are either huge brand advocates and have very little hesitation to sign up for whatever box the company wants to provide to their customers,” said Liz.

“I have a theory about subscription boxes. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this rise in subscription boxes is coming at the same time as a rise in ecommerce shopping. In general, consumers are spending less time in brick-and-mortar stores so discoverability of new products is lower,” Liz said. “Subscription boxes are, in a way, replacing that discovery that exists at brick-and-mortar stores and doing it in an even better way.”

Why better? Because subscribers can try out new products in the privacy of their own home. They also get the advantage of having a curator pick out their very favorite products, so to an extent, they are pre-screened. Liz anticipates this trend will continue, especially as more subscribers test the subscription box model.

“Once a person subscribes and becomes familiar with the model, it is easier to get her to convert to subscribe to other boxes because she understands how subscriptions work, she’s excited about them and she sees the value,” Liz explained. “She’s going to be more willing to take on subscriptions in different areas of her life whether it’s a subscription for her groceries or her laundry detergent.” 

In addition to these trends, Liz is seeing an expansion beyond the typical categories like beauty boxes, women’s lifestyle, fashion and jewelry. Newer categories are emerging like healthy meal services such as Blue Apron. While services like Blue Apron and Adidas have a higher price point, they are providing a great value to subscribers.

“It is very exciting for me to see that all these different types of boxes are finding their niche,” Liz said.

My Subscription Addiction: The Search for the Best Subscription Boxes

Source: My Subscription Addiction

A growing trend is for publications like Men’s Health, Allure and Teen Vogue to offer different variations on the subscription box, including exclusive products and collaborating with others. The Men’s Health Box, for example, is a quarterly subscription box that includes a mix of fitness, food, tech and grooming products, curated by men’s Health editors. The cost is $89.99 per box, plus $5 for shipping.

“More publications are branching off to do their own boxes,” Liz explained. “It is an interesting way for the publishing industry to extend their brand.

Sometimes unique categories launch with one or two subscription box companies and then, as other companies join in, the market becomes oversaturated. For example, a couple of years ago the monthly period subscription box was popular but many of those don’t exist anymore. Book subscriptions are going through something similar right now, said Liz.

“They are still in that growth stage,” Liz said. “By early next year, they will level out a bit more.”

Advice

Having seen more than her fair share of subscription boxes in the last four years, Liz offers advice for subscription companies.

Packaging: Subscription box companies should be mindful of where they are putting shipping labels. It is often on top of the box, covering the logo and branding. This makes it hard to get a good photo, and it detracts from the first impression of a box. The unveiling of the monthly box is an experience, so every aspect of the box – including the shipping label – needs to be representative of the brand.

Transparency: Transparency is also an area subscription companies can improve upon. With any monthly box, sometimes things go wrong, but most subscribers are understanding. Liz advises subscription box companies to proactively email customers to let them know if a box is going to be late. Don’t make customers ask “where is my box?” Reaching out and letting people know up front can save a lot of potential customer care time and can maintain or improve customer satisfaction.

Value: The value of a particular subscription is important, because subscribers don’t want to pay more than the value of the items received. While a monthly box might have an amazing retail value, if a subscriber isn’t using any of the items in the selection, the value to her is zero. Most companies and curators do a good job of this, but another option is to provide exclusive products that can’t be purchased or obtained elsewhere.

 

Insider Take:

We love the whole concept of My Subscription Addiction. It came about as many good ideas do – it arose from an unmet need. As an avid fan of subscription boxes, Liz started out small, tested the market and grew and adapted her business as the subscription box industry expanded. She also found a way for her hard work to pay for itself while maintaining strong business ethics.

It is exciting to see as the subscription box industry evolves and new players enter the market. You can be sure that, when they do, My Subscription Addiction will be among the first to know, and they’ll share their insights with readers and other subscribers.

 

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