If you’re a regular reader of Stay AI content, you’ve probably noticed us mentioning “subscription value props” or “subscription benefits”.
Let’s unpack that, and talk about how to pick the right subscription loyalty program benefits for your brand. We’ll also share 15 unique subscription retention strategies to help maintain your subscriber loyalty.
What are subscription benefits/subscription value props?
The subscription industry is evolving – and the brands seeing the most success with their subscription loyalty programs are going above and beyond to build subscriber loyalty. While subscribe and save might already feel like a juicy benefit, it’s pretty standardized. Customers are beginning to see additional subscription program benefits popping up, including deals on shipping, unique rewards, and special access to things like content or IRL events.
For example, take a peek at Surely’s Wine Club subscription page:
In addition to offering their subscribers an ongoing discount, they tease additional subscription benefits: virtual wine tastings, merch, and early access to new products.
Why does subscriber retention matter?
Subscriber retention is a key driver of profitability and growth for many businesses. Retaining customers not only ensures a consistent revenue stream but also significantly reduces customer acquisition costs.
Retention is more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. Loyal subscribers also tend to spend more over time, increasing their lifetime value (CLV). Additionally, a high retention rate builds brand advocates, leading to organic referrals and a stronger overall customer base.
How to determine the right subscription benefits
As much as we’d love to give you the magical answer, the real answer lies in knowing your customers’ preferences, down to a T. To dig into this, we recommend:
- Conducting customer interviews with your VIPs, and asking about what new subscription benefits would be exciting for them
Sending out a survey asking subscribers to vote on your benefit ideas
Crowd-sourcing new benefit ideas through a customer community or via email
Scoping out what your competitors are offering
If you need some inspiration on sweet subscription benefits, we pulled together a roundup of 15 of our favorites here.
15 Top-performing subscription benefits
We pulled together a list of the best subscription benefits we could find, straight from the top revenue-generating subscription brands on Stay AI.
And a few more honorable mentions…
- Subscriber-only bundles
Monthly or quarterly subscriber raffles/giveaways
Exclusive swag or merch unavailable elsewhere
TLDR: Better benefits = better customer loyalty.
Looking to boost your subscription retention rate, or provide a top-tier subscriber experience? Stay Ai’s out-of-the-box tools are designed to boost your subscription revenue while delighting your VIP customers.
1. Free shipping, always
In the era of Amazon Prime, customers are always sniffing for free shipping. Offer subscribers life-long free shipping with each order as one of your subscription perks.
2. Free gift on X order
Who doesn’t love free stuff? Send your subscribers a free gift on their 2nd order, or on a cadence – like every 5th or 10th order. Freebies don’t have to be spendy – things like shaker cups, tote bags, and hats are often hits. Great for loyalty, and crushing churn!
3. Special occasion gifts
Send your most valuable customers a freebie on their birthday, order anniversary, your brand’s birthday, or during the holidays as a thank-you surprise. Gifts can include merch, tester products, or digital certificates. Brand featured: Beekeeper’s Naturals
4. Samples and testers
Give your subscribers a first glance at upcoming products with free samples or testers. This is a great strategy for health & wellness or beauty & personal care brands – and it makes the upsell easier, too!
5. Personalized consultation
We love this benefit from Feals! Upon subscribing, customers are gifted a free 1:1 consultation with a CBD specialist to help personalize their regimen. They also provide future product recommendations, leading to an AOV boost. Brand featured: Feals
6. Early access privileges
Give your subscribers the first chance to purchase limited-edition SKUs or access product drops. SNOW Oral Care sends their subscribers early access emails, encouraging them to try new releases before anyone else.
7. Happiness guarantee
Allow subscribers to return or replace ordered items for free by offering a happiness guarantee. Offer to swap for a different product or send a hassle-free store credit as reimbursement.
8. Earn rewards
Reward your customers for each order placed – even if it’s an auto-ship subscription. Rewards can come in the form of product credit, points to cash in for a free gift, or $ off an upcoming order.
9. Exclusive event invites
Invite your subscribers to exclusive IRL or virtual events to make their experience even more special. Kaskadia Wine, for example, hosts virtual wine tastings just for their wine club subscribers.
10. Members-only community
Allow your subscribers to join a members-only community hosted on the platform they love the most. We’ve seen brands use tools like Discord and Facebook Groups to keep customers engaged and excited.
11. Exclusive add-on discounts
Offer exclusive discounts for add-on or one-time-purchase items to just your subscribers. These discounts can be shared with old-school discount codes, or be implemented through your product carousel/portal banner.
12. Subscriber-only sale events
You know what’s better than a sale? A super secret, exclusive, special sale. Let subscribers know you’ll be running special sales for just your VIP customers, and host unique promotional deals for just this cohort.
13. Priority CS support
There’s nothing better than getting a problem solved within minutes. Offer subscribers skip-the-line CX queue access, so they can get the help they need within record timing. Subscriber tagging in your CX platform makes this easy.
14. Product pipeline influence
Give subscribers the opportunity to vote on upcoming flavors, product formats, or even new additions to the product line in general. You can conduct polls through your virtual community, email, or SMS.
15. VIP content
This is a fun (and free!) one for brands. Share for-your-eyes-only content with your VIPs. Examples: makeup tutorials for beauty brands, recipes for food & bev brands, or workouts for health & wellness brands.
