Understanding the Subscription Trend: Should You Be Offering them for Your Business?
Email Subscription Options
Subscriptions have been around for a long time, but today they are being used in new and innovative ways for businesses.
Consider Netflix, one of the more popular subscription services. They provide tremendous value when you consider you are getting access to billions of dollars of entertainment for about the price of one movie ticket each month.
Apple is making billions by providing monthly services. According to MacRumors:
“Apple's services category, which includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, and more, saw another quarter of incredible growth according to Apple's earnings results for the third fiscal quarter of 2021 (second calendar quarter). Services brought in $17.5 billion during the quarter, up 33 percent from $13.2 billion in the year-ago quarter and up from $16.9 billion last quarter. “
I started offering my services on a subscription model because I thought it was the best fit for my clients. They are able to get started without a large upfront payment for a website and have me available to keep their site up to date on a monthly basis. I did more research after I made the decision, and found that subscriptions are the wave of the future for most businesses.
It is not really a matter of IF you should offer subscriptions, but HOW.
The hesitancy is felt in giving up a big payday upfront in hopes of getting paid in the long term. That is a legitimate risk you take when you offer subscriptions. However, research has shown that businesses that take the leap are rewarded over time. You can see the details in this report from Zuora.
The key to keeping subscribers is to continue to offer value over time. So make sure you use your services as a way to get to know your clients and customers better and continue to provide them with what they need.