This is pitiful. The largest growth sector of the subscription economy knows the least about how to connect with new members and stop subscriber churn.

I’m so dedicated to helping you stop your members from quitting that I go to great lengths to bring you the strategies and tactics that’ll reduce your subscriber churn rate and grow your membership. This includes subscribing to more than four dozen subscription boxes to see what insights I could bring to you from the fastest growing sector of the subscription economy.

There are more than 150 percent more subscription box offerings than there were just a year ago. And boxes are becoming ever more popular. There are boxes for candy lovers, dog lovers, chocolate lovers, camping lovers, cosmetics lovers, lovers of children and even loving couples. I must admit, the Choco Rush monthly box of single source dark chocolate makes me very happy when it arrives.

I’m preparing a comprehensive guide for subscription box retention in the next couple of months, but for now, let me share something with you that I saw that’s both brilliant and rare within the subscription world.

The example here is from Datebox. While there are plenty of subscription boxes with adult themes, Datebox is focused on giving you and your date a special experience. Datebox will give you a closer relationship to the person who is most special in your life.

The rare thing that Datebox includes that I rarely see in subscription boxes, or anywhere else, is specific “how-to” instructions of what to do with the contents in your box. When you read the package insert with your Datebox, you have a mental picture of what your date night will be like. If you are female you imagine a closer connection. If you are male then you imagine … do I really need to tell you what the male imagines? Anyway …

How can you add a story with instructions to choreograph how your subscriber member uses your subscription? For SAAS companies are there additional use cases you can deliver? For publications are there any specific actions your reader should take as a result of the information you provide? Even if you are delivering food or candy, can you add a ritual around the consumption? For instance, can you encourage your subscribers to share with a group of friends, saying a certain cheer or reflecting on certain memories or goals as they consume your product?

These are the secrets for transforming a subscription business from a series of one night-stand transactions into a long lasting, vibrant tribe relationship.

About Robert Skrob

The problem with subscription membership programs is that members quit, I fix that problem. For more than 20-years I have specialized in direct response marketing for member recruitment, retention and ascension in diverse subscription members environments including non-profit associations, for-profit publishers/coaching, subscriptions and SAAS companies. For an evaluation of your current churn rate and how I can improve it, contact me here. I discover there are often two or three quick wins you can implement within a week to lower churn immediately, let’s talk about your quick wins.