Five on Friday is back by popular demand! In this week’s edition, Ad Age explores how the subscription economy will change the price we pay as companies explore tiered and customized pricing, CFOs turn to services and subscriptions to grow revenue as subscriptions and recurring revenue become a larger part of their business, Marketing Profs looks at eight subscription models and five best practices, and we share 16 “must have” home page elements from Duct Tape Marketing.

How the Subscription Economy Will Change the Price We Pay

In this article for Ad Age, Blair McNea, co-founder and chief executive of RevGuard, explores how the subscription economy is changing how much customers pay for subscription products and services. Using data gathered about individual customers and examining their purchase habits and the company’s overall retention trends, subscription companies are tailoring their offers to attract and retain subscribers. In some cases, this means that the subscription company is offering roughly the same product or service to two different people in two different locations at two different prices. As long as pricing is not based on gender or ethnicity, it is legal, McNea says.

The writer suggests that this may be a better way for subscription companies to retain customers, as opposed to making it difficult for customers to cancel by forcing customers to call a customer service rep instead of being able to cancel online. Companies can use their customer data to retain customers by presenting a different offer or a new pricing structure when a customer tries to cancel. They can also test different offers and price points with A/B testing to see which is more successful. If done the right way, multiple offers and tiered pricing can translate into big bucks for subscription companies. Read more here.

CFOs Are More Focused on Professional Services and Subscriptions to Grow Revenue

In a new study by FinancialForce, CFOs are trying to boost revenue through the promotion of professional services, SaaS and subscription-based services, among others. Here are some of those survey results, per CPA Practice Advisor.

• More than 1/3 of 163 CFOs who responded said they subscription-based services have become “significantly important” to their companies over the last 5 years, and they expect that trend to continue over the next two years.
• 71 percent of CFOs say that more than half their revenue comes from services, and about 1/3 say that all of their revenue comes from services.
• Two-thirds of CFOs believe their teams need to be focused more on the customer and on producing recurring revenue.

Visit CPA Practice Advisor for more survey results.

Eight Subscription Models and Five Best-Practices for Subscription Programs

We love Marketing Profs and their great info. on just about everything marketing related. In this recent article, they tackle the topic of subscription models and how they’ve evolved beyond the traditional print newspaper or magazine subscription. Here are eight subscription models to consider for your company:

1. Knowledge Membership: Subscribers get unlimited access to specialized, expert information like Subscription Insider.
2. Buffet Content: Streaming video and audio services like Netflix and Spotify fall into the “buffet” category. There is a wide variety of content available, including exclusive content, and the content typically rotates regularly based on new deals and licensing restrictions.
3. Peace of Mind: This type of subscription offers the customer peace of mind, whether it is home safety monitoring or credit/identity theft monitoring.
4. Front of the Line: This type of subscription moves paying customers to the “front of the line” when needing support, while free customers have limited support options.
5. Consumables: Run out of printer ink, coffee, paper towel or dog food? No problem. Companies like Target and Amazon, as well as specialized companies like Dollar Shave Club, deliver consumer products to a subscriber’s door on a periodic basis. These vary somewhat from the subscription box which is next on the list.
6. Surprise Box: Also, known as the subscription box, subscribers receive a curated box of specialty items in a particular category like cosmetics, snacks, crafts, games or accessories. They are typically sent at monthly intervals like Birchbox and Rocksbox, but are also available in quarterly intervals like the Men’s Health box. This subscription type combines the element of surprise, specialized curation and value into one monthly package.
7. Network: Services like Uber and Lyft are sharing subscriptions where subscribers pay for access to a particular service rather than individual ownership.
8. Private club: These are typically high-end products and services that are limited in supply and at a luxury price point. Eleven James watches and Surf Air are two expamples.

Read the full article on Marketing Profs for a more detailed explanation of these eight subscription types and five best practices for creating a successful subscription program.

Duct Tape Marketing: 16 “Must Have” Homepage Elements

Duct Tape Marketing is another great resource for marketing advice. In this article, founder John Jantsch  outlines his top 16 “must haves” for any website’s home page. We’ll just cover the top five, but you can read the rest of the list and Jantsch’s reasoning here.

1. A promise. Show your customers you understand what they need and tell them how you can address those needs.
2. Sub promise. Jantsch describes this as the trust factor to give your company some legitimacy.
3. Call to action (CTA). A CTA guides a customer through their journey whether it is capturing an email address, contacting you, viewing a video demo or something else.
4. Contact info. Hopefully, everyone already knows this, but make your subscription company easy to contact. Some companies are really good at this, but others – like newspaper and magazine publishers – have not figured this out yet, and it is enough to turn a potential subscriber away. Don’t let that be you.
5. Visual branding. Make sure that your branding is not just visually appealing, but that it matches your brand personality, so that your potential customers get a sense of who you are and what you’re about.

Click here to read the other 11 “must have” home page elements, according to John Jantsch.

Revenue Data Signals: Join Us for This Free Webinar on March 1

Revenue signals go way beyond renewal and churn KPIs. To maximize potential revenue, you need to get under the hood of your product or service to understand “revenue signal” data in customer, product, billing and audience data to recover or create new revenue in your membership or subscription business.

During this free, one-hour online session, John Roney, leading expert on leveraging data to support decision-making for recurring revenue, will outline the seven data signals that every subscription and membership business should master to maximize potential revenue.

You will learn what to look at in your own data and analytics, how to get at this data, what learnings you can glean from each revenue signal, what actions your business should think about taking, and most importantly, the revenue impact of acting or not acting on each signal.

Get the knowledge you need to drive your subscription business success. Register for this free seminar today!

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!