Subscription Lifecycle Management – Part 1/2

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Summary:

A subscription has a start and an end date. The Lifecycle includes all events between these dates. 📅

During the different phases of the Lifecycle, some actions are necessary. Lifecycle management consists of dealing with these different actions smartly. 🤓

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In detail:

The life of a subscription starts with acquisition and continues with use. If renewed, it enters a new phase of use until the next renewal. If not renewed, the subscription ends. 🔄

In order to increase your chances of monetizing and keeping your subscribers, it’s interesting to implement specific actions during each of these phases.

1. The different Lifecycle phases

There are 5 phases in the Lifecycle of a subscription:

1. Acquisition: this is the initial purchase that includes the classic phases of awareness, consideration, conversion and (the basis of future) loyalty 🛒
2. Onboarding: this is the phase of discovery and the startup of the different services and benefits 🎉
3. Usage: this is the phase during which the subscriber appreciates the interest and the value provided by the subscription 🔍
4. Monetization: at the same time as the usage phase, this is the opportunity to optimize your booking by selling up-sells and cross-sells 💰
5. Renewal: this is the phase between receiving the communication about the up-coming automatic renewal and the confirmation of it. 🔄

Each phase corresponds to specific days elapsed or remaining in the subscription.

2. The different tasks and strategies of each phase.

In each phase, we take actions to reinforce customer value. The goal is to satisfy the subscriber and encourage renewal. 👍

Concretely, we must keep the focus on the primary goal of each phase. We must avoid distractions. 🚀

Let’s take some examples of phases and associated tasks:

In the Acquisition phase:

Goal: close the sale 🛍️

Examples of actions:

• Sell the product that best suits the needs 🎯
• Offer the most popular payment methods 💳
• Avoid multiple commercial proposals (upsells and cross-sells) ❌
  

In the Usage phase:

Goal: Encourage the use of all features and increase the perceived value 🌟

Examples of actions:

• Help the subscriber discover the features/benefits not yet used/activated 🕵️‍♂️
• Keep payment information up to date 💳
• Monetize traffic 📈
• Avoid subscription cancellation ❌

In the second part of this article, we’ll cover planning and share concrete Lifecycle management tips. 📋