I don’t need much. Just a Recharge login.
Here’s what I’d do in the first 30 days to fix your retention and make your subscription actually drive LTV:
Before we begin, please kindly note that this is not theory. Because everything I’m telling you is already applied and WORKING. For big subscription darlings that have already built routine:
☕️: Chamberlain Coffee (I used to work with them/ am an investor!).
🌙: Oats Overnight (I study them).
😭: Cymbiotika (I’ve spent 4-figures on their products FML).
🧖♀️: Curology (I used to work with them!)
💚: Tiege Hanley (My husband uses their retinol stick)
💙: Blueland (I am die-hard about their detergent).
These subscription behemoths do 3 things really, really well. They also all use Recharge. If I ran your subscription brand, we’d start by:
PRIORITY #1:
Fix Order 2 or Die Trying
Churn hits hardest after order #1 – because most brands treat Box 2 like a repeat, not a relationship builder. Most brands also force the subscription by discounting the first-purchase. I stand by that that 1st order discount is a good thing, but when that drive-to-subscribe is based on monetary savings alone, all hell can break loose on that all-important 2nd order.
So, smart marketers use Recharge + Klaviyo to evolve the experience BEFORE the next charge.
What to do!!!
Start by syncing subscription data (flavor, frequency, last order) into Klaviyo. Then trigger a “Switch It Up?” email 5 days before the 1st renewal. Include 1-click swaps using Recharge’s quick actions. Oats Overnight does this all too well. Subscribers feel in control, and they’re not stuck because you are INVITING CHANGE. Change comes in all forms – be that a swap (what we’re trying to force here), or a cancellation (that often happens from boredom or the dread of the next time $ is taken from your customer). Quick Actions make it all feel new again. Because it’s fun to receive something you’ve never tried in the mail – like going from Cookies & Cream to Glazed Donut Blueberry.
Another example!!
Blueland takes it further with education. They send usage tips tied to timing: “Most refill at 18 days. Here’s how to stretch it.” They are inviting you to learn how to use LESS of their product. It’s counter-intuitive, which feels honest. Feels helpful. Feels like a deal, no?
Blueland is big on optionality. They make skipping, pausing, or swapping frictionless, and they’ve dialed their Recharge cancellation reasons and flows specifically to each product line and each answer has a unique save opportunity. Because setting this up correctly takes a lot less time and money than getting net-new customers.
Order 2 is about survival. And, cancellation prevention.
PRIORITY #2:
Talk to Your Subscriber. Singular.
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Your subscribers are your best customers. But what if you talked to each subscriber 1 at a time? What if your personalization was actually specific to each subscriber’s specific journey and actions and you really walked that walk?
You’d be like Blueland!
They do this well and I’m a subscriber and I’m really, really deep into my subscription and I’ve paused, I’ve skipped, I’ve tripled my order some months, and it’s because they’ve set this all up correctly in Recharge. It’s hard to cancel when you literally feel like everything is timed perfectly and you’re never over-stocked.
What to do!!
Blueland used Recharge + Klaviyo to power insider messaging that only their subscribers are privy to. Recharge + Klaviyo send the right triggers to me, Blueland’s customer, every single time because there is just so much data Blueland has on me.
It’s not just me that is hooked by this personalization. Blueland’s transactional messages have a whopping 79% open rate. These messages are well-timed, and clearly subscription-related (very important in your subject line and pre-text). We’re talking a 14% CTR.
And, on cancellation emails (where clear instructions are tailored and there are specific reactivation options), 70% of customers open and 1.1% click-thru.
With Recharge’s Charge Failed flow, $2.41 is recovered per recipient. Without that flow, each of them would have otherwise passively churned out.
A lot of good happens when you slow down and set up PROPERLY. Recharge makes sure that you do. 1 subscriber at a time.
Another example!!
Oats Overnight takes personalization further.
Dynamic product bundles based on behavior.
VIP perks triggered by tenure.
Flows that evolve based on flavor preferences.
They use Recharge to auto-tag subscribers by behavior or tenure. Then trigger Klaviyo flows that say, “You’ve earned this”. Putting the customer in control is a really good thing, and Recharge powers that experience. Because we know that insiders don’t churn. Nor do people who have options.
Nor does anyone who’s tried that damn cookies & cream flavor.
PRIORITY #3:
TEST YOUR OFFERS
Subscription is not a checkbox. And, these are not good enough as your strategy:
- 10% off
- Auto-ship every 30 days
- “Cancel anytime”
^ Those are billing features.
The brands doing it right? They productize the subscription. This is the most important thing you can do, and something I’d do for you if we were working on your brand.
Because we cannot just set and forget the most important lever in our business – the subscription funnel.
Don’t push subscription orders. Instead, build email flows that teach the product, optimize refill timing, and make reordering feel thoughtful. Make reordering feel like a steal.
My favorite beauty brand offers 15% off your 1st order, 20% off every order thereafter. I like that offer.
Oats Overnight offers $15 off your 1st order, $2 off every order thereafter + a free flavor in every box + free shipping + a money back guarantee. That’s an even more thoughtful offer. And, they use Recharge to build the workflows that support it.
Cymbiotika offers a tiered subscription offer, based on # of units you’re subscribed to. Ergo, subscribe to 2 get 15% off, subscribe to 3 get 20% off, subscribe to 4 get 25% off, subscribe to 5 get 25% off. And, they use Recharge to build the workflows that support it.
Curology offers your 1st month FREE – just pay shipping as their subscription offer. And, they use Recharge to build the workflows that support it.
Each of these offers is built from the P&L up and when you don’t default to the standard, and when you continue to optimize with the right technology, your brand will build routine because your customers will rely on your products. Because you made it easy for them to.
Plus, as you know, there’s nothing better than waking up to recurring revenue.
YOUR PRIORITIES
AND WHY THIS MATTERS
Subscription is the highest-leverage place an operator can spend their time. There’s nothing more exciting to me, as a marketer, than building something that sustains itself.
What I’ve outlined above are the fundamentals. You can do this – so long as you have the conviction to build a subscription business and not a business that has subscriptions.
Commit to reducing churn before it happens.
Force yourself to make your cancellation experience pleasant – because they always come back if you work it right. Be like Tiege Hanley and reduce churn by 44%.
Reward longevity, and spend more time retaining as you do acquiring.
We are building businesses that compound!! We are using the best software available.
And, we’re just getting started. Forever evolving. Like Recharge. I’ve used their tech since 2017. It’s completely changed. Now think to your subscription program. Has it completely changed and reinvented itself over and over again in the pursuit of excellence? If not, let’s work on it.
Yours,
Ari
