Onboarding makes the difference for subscription publications

The Washington Post has discovered that personalized onboarding yields good results for subscriptions. Which isn't a big surprise. The fact that you bought something doesn't mean you'll use it. Think of all the idle exercise equipment in basements around the country.

It's one thing to convince somebody to buy. It's another thing to convince them to use. And it's yet another thing to make that a habit.

Sorry that the language sounds like drug addiction, but in some ways we're dealing with similar mental processes.

Here's what the Post has found.

1. The first two weeks are crucial.

2. In that two weeks, subscribers who have made fewer than 4 visits are 10 percentage points less likely to stay than those who have made 15 visits.

3. Using the app is strongly correlated with retention.

Here's what they do to encourage early use of their service.

They're prompted to select their areas of interest, which turn into e-newsletter recommendations.

Subscribers get a welcome email from authors -- I think the authors of the e-newsletters.

The email series progresses with messages based on the recipient's preferences.

In one example of an onboarding email, they say "Help us recommend content just for you," with a list of topics the user might be interested in. In reply to the recipient's choices, they recommend some e-newsletters.

There's more to it, and if you're interested you should read the entire article, which I'll link below.

The bottom line is that onboarding works. And sometimes it's very simple things.

I saw a statistic on LinkedIn that said if someone signs up for your e-newsletter, and you reply with a welcome letter within 15 minutes, that has a noticeable influence on retention.

A lot of these things aren't a matter of being brilliant, or writing excellent copy. Some of the ideas are rather simple and obvious. The difference is who executes more effectively. Operations matter.

Resources

Unlocking Customer Lifetime Value: The Power of Personalized Subscriber Onboarding at The Washington Post

https://theaudiencers.com/inspirations/unlocking-customer-lifetime-value-the-power-of-personalized-subscriber-onboarding-at-the-washington-post-anjali-iyer/

Washington Post drives revenue through its subscriber investments

https://www.inma.org/blogs/digital-subscriptions/post.cfm/washington-post-drives-revenue-through-its-subscriber-investments