How to Boost Customer Subscription Retention with Social Engineering

Customer subscription retention is a key metric for any subscription business. It measures how well you can keep your customers engaged and loyal to your service over time. Subscription-based businesses rely on retaining their customers for a long time to generate recurring revenue and grow their brand. A high retention rate means higher customer lifetime value, lower acquisition costs, and more predictable revenue.

But how can you increase your subscription retention rate in a competitive and saturated market? Customers have many options and can easily switch to a competitor if they are not satisfied with the service or product they receive. Therefore, you need to implement effective strategies to reduce customer churn and increase customer loyalty.

One possible way you can achieve this is through ethically influencing your customer and their buying decision. To really understand how we can influence decisions and improve retention, we must first look at the six principles of ethical persuasion established by Robert Cialdini, who wrote “The Psychology of Persuasion”. The six key principles are:

• Reciprocity: People tend to return favours and feel obliged to repay debts.
• Commitment and Consistency: People like to act in ways that are consistent with their previous commitments and values.
• Social Proof: People tend to follow the behaviour of others, especially when they are uncertain or unsure.
• Authority: People tend to obey and trust those who have expertise, credibility, or power.
• Liking: People tend to cooperate and agree with those who they like or find likeminded.
• Scarcity: People tend to value things that are rare, exclusive, or limited.

Let's take a look at this and how you can apply these principles to your subscription business and boost your customer retention rate through Subscribie.

Reciprocity

One way to use reciprocity in your subscription business is to offer free trials, discounts, coupons, or gifts to your customers. This can entice them to sign up for your service or product and make them feel indebted to you. For example, Subscribie allows you to offer free trials to your customers. This allows them to test the service and see its benefits before committing to a paid plan.

Commitment and Consistency

One way to use commitment and consistency in your subscription business is to ask your customers to make small commitments or actions that align with your service or product. This can increase their engagement and loyalty and make them more likely to stick with their subscription. For example, Subscribie allows you to set a Cooling off period before collecting your first charge, leading from a small commitment to testing out your service and leading them to continue their subscription. Subscribie also lets you do ad-hoc charges which you can use to provide a cheap sign-up fee and split your charges.

Social Proof

One way to use social proof in your subscription business is to show your customers how other people are using or benefiting from your service or product. This can increase their trust and confidence in your service or product and make them more likely to subscribe or renew their subscription. For example, Subscribie allows you to create pages in your shop to showcase your testimonials, reviews, ratings, case studies, and success stories from your customers. This way your customers will feel that you have a sense of credibility and professionalism.

Authority

You can establish yourself as an authority in your field by providing valuable content, such as blog posts, podcasts, or ebooks. This will make your customers respect your expertise and trust your recommendations. Feel free to upload your content on your website because Subscribie allows you to upload files for your customers to download and view!

Liking

People are more likely to say yes to someone they like. Making your customers relate to you and your service is important for retention. You can build rapport and relationships with your customers by communicating with them and providing hassle-free service. With Subscribie, you can trust that it's a homegrown solution based in the UK and we are always there to give you and your customers a helping hand. Providing your customers with a fast yet simple and hassle-free service through Subscribie can help customers feel that this isnt a soulless corporate process and trust you.

Scarcity

You can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity by limiting the availability or quantity of your service or product. This will make your customers fear missing out and act quickly to subscribe to your service or product before it's too late. That's why Subscribie allows you to create Seasonal Subscription plans that expire after a limited time giving a sense of urgency, or you could use Subscribie’s private plan feature to give your customers a sense of exclusivity.

In addition to this, it's also important to regularly communicate with your customers and listen to their feedback. This can help you understand their needs, address their concerns, and improve your service or product to meet their expectations.

Subscribie offers various features to help you engage with your customers, such as adding replies to emails, adding live chat, exporting customer information and more. With all these Subscribie tools stay in touch with your customers, and improve your customer retention.

Remember, customer subscription retention is a continuous process, and you need to adapt and evolve your strategies to stay competitive and relevant in the market. By applying these principles and utilizing Subscribie's features, you can increase your subscription retention rate and improve the sustainable growth of your business.