Renewing your expiring subscribers and finding new people to subscribe to your publication is the key to growing your circulation and minimizing your attrition rate. But if you want to really increase the revenue and profitablity of your publication, maximizing the value of each order is important.
So how can we increase the size and value of each order? There are five main ways you can accomplish this. First, if you have multiple titles that are even remotely related you can try cross-selling your publications. Second, if you sell merchandise or back issues, you can try upselling those items at the time of purchase. Third, a slight variation on upselling, is to bundle various items with the subscription. Fourth, you can use Buy One Get One (BOGO) offers, to make it simple for your subscribers to purchase multiple subscriptions for themselves and a friend. And finally, if you sell gift subscriptions you can encourage people to buy multiple subscriptions at once for everyone on their gift list!
Now, let's dig further into each of these techniques.
Cross-selling
If you publish more than one title chances are those publications are at least somewhat related. And if a person is interested in one of your titles then there is a good chance they might be interested in others. If you then make it easy for them to add the second (or third) publication to their order you can greatly increase your average order size and improve the success of all your publications. Be sure to cross-sell your titles not only to new subscribers but also when your current subscribers are renewing.
Upselling
If you sell merchandise or back issues for your publication, upselling is another great way to increase your average order size when subscribers purchase or renew a subscription. Often people buying a subscription for the first time will be interested in back issues so they can get caught up on all of the great information they have been missing. Adding an upsell for a recent or popular issue works well. Additionally, renewing subscribers are now big fans of your product and your brand and may very well be interested in a hat, t-shirt, or coffee mug to show off their allegiance.
Bundling
Whether you sell multiple titles, merchandise, or back issues, bundling items together and reducing the overall cost is an enticing way to get people to buy more. You can sell two subscriptions together at a discount, or bundle a calendar with a subscription, or throw in a hat for 50% off. All of these bundling techniques increase the value of the pruchase for your subscriber and at the same time increase the size of the order for you.
Buy One Get One
People subscribing to your publication are not alone in their interests. Very often they have friends and family members that share those same interests. If you can make buying a second subscription really easy (and offer a discount) people will often jump at the opportunity to share their interest with someone else. A BOGO can be Buy One Get One FREE if your aim is to get the subscriber to complete the purchase or it can be Buy One Get One at a discount if you want to increase the average order size while offering the subscriber a great value.
Multiple Gifts
Finally, if you offer gift subscriptions, giving people a discount if they purchase multiple gifts can be an awesome way to encourge big purchases. People gifting subscriptions often have multiple friends or family members that would be interested and when they can save money giving multiple subscriptions it's a great way to check people off their list. In particular, during the holiday season, discounting multiple gifts is a great offer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many ways to increase the average size of your subscription orders. Don't be satisfied with just selling a subscription or renewing a subscriber. Use cross-selling, upselling, bundling, buy one get one, and multiple gift discounts to increase your order size and see increased revenue and profitability.