The classy way to ask for money
The classy way to ask for money
Season 8, Issue 5: Renewals! "Please sir, may I have some more"
📬 In this issue:
Analysing 2 SaaS and 1 non-SaaS renewal experiences
A checklist of what to do for your own renewal programs
How are you, Mehketeer?
I can’t believe we’re almost halfway through the season, life really comes at you fast sometimes. Lately I’ve been reminding myself to stop and smell the roses, and seek out things I find enjoyable. Genuinely, I hope you take a moment for yourself today.
Onto the topic.
So I started working for myself in March/April 2023, and signed up for a bunch of stuff in April, and then this year rolled around and boy oh boy did those subscription renewals start rolling in fast. My birthday also happens to be in April, and my friend gifted me a year’s membership to the Art Gallery of NSW, so that subscription came up at the same time, and I’ve been sitting on a nest of all those comms like a chicken trying to hatch an egg ever since.
So here’s a breakdown of the overall experience of subscription renewels with AGNSW, Rounded, and Docusign!
For your convenience: I’ve got copies of all of the emails in this Google Drive folder, with links to the individual emails under their respective sections.
1. 🎨 AGNSW
AGNSW sent a total of two reminders that my membership was going to lapse, starting one month out, and one “rejoin” campaign email.
Email 1
Subject line: Your Art Gallery membership is due for renewal
The content of the email is pretty good according to best practice:
A polite reminder your membership is expiring
A reminder of what the membership gives you access to
An upsell pitch (in case you’ve really enjoyed your membership)
A CTA to renew, followed by a one-off discount if you opt in to auto renew and a separate multi-year discount
A “thanks for your support” style sign off
Email 2 (20 days later)
Subject line: Your Art Gallery membership is about to expire
What’s been added in
There’s more urgency in this one, and it opens with a reminder that you don’t just get stuff for signing up to a membership, it’s part of a bigger “contribution” to art, society, and culture at large.
They must update this one regularly, because it also includes currently showing exhibitions as well as upcoming exhibitions. This is great — if you know you’re going to want to go to one of the upcoming exhibitions it could push you to get a new membership as it includes one free exhibition (and you already know what you’re going to use it on.)
The rest of the email is a CTA to renew and some copy that’s the same as the first one.
What’s been taken out
It’s interesting to see the “we value you” sign off from the first email is moved to the top, and the upsell has disappeared.
Email 3 (a little bit over 2 months after subscription lapsed)
Subject line: It's a great time to rejoin
This campaign focuses on timeliness and how there’s currently a lot going on. The Archibald prize (for those not in the know) is the most prestigeous portraiture prize in Australia, and it’s paired up with other art prizes the Sulman (kind of anything goes), the Wynne (landscapes and sculptures), and the Young Archie (portraits by kids!)
This is the biggest annual event and it gets even non-arty types into the gallery every year, so it is a good time to be sending a campaign.
The email also drives home “you are no longer enjoying all the benefits of membership”, reiterates what’s coming up and what’s included in membership, and includes a seasonal discount (although I can’t spot what the discount actually is, there’s just a stray promo code?)
2. ✍️ Docusign
Subject line: Important Docusign Subscription Renewal Notification
In comparison to the three emails from AGNSW, Docusign keeps it short and sweet, this is the whole email:
Important to note that I do have auto-renew turned on, and the email acknowledges this.
To be clear before I critique this, I do think this is a good email. It’s cheerful, clear, and concise. However, if I was the marketer in charge of reviewing this, here’s where some extra pizazz could be added:
The * before the price could be polished up by including the correct currency sign
A reminder of the value you get is never a wasted effort, and potentially a sneaky upsell attempt (noting Docusign probably has a difficult upsell proposition for small accounts like mine)
Similarly but different, a round up of recent product updates and releases (this is definitely a must if the price is increasing at renewal)
If there’s been an investment in content, I’d be promoting it here
The CTA feels a little wasted, as “Go to Docusign” is a bit aimless, and the more pointed “adjust your settings” is linked from the body copy — this button is where I’d redivert the space in the email to content, promoting your community, an event, asking for a review, completing part of your missing profile, or downloading the app version of the product
3. ⭕ Rounded
Rounded, an accounting software specifically for sole traders (that’s me!), has what I would call a “has so much potential” renewal campaign. It spans emails (three total) and in-app messaging (two total).
Given that I use this for time tracking my clients, I do log into it and keep the tab open all day, every week day, and those in-app messages are guaranteed to reach me.
Email 1 and in-app message 1
Subject line: Rounded subscription renewal reminder - Apr 4 2024
This email is super straight forward, and is identical to the in-app message. The multi-channel distribution of this goes a long way in terms of building good will. People hate to be surprised by bills (especially if you pay annually like I do) and sending the reminder via multiple channels ensures I see it.
Interesting note: This is the only email that gets sent from a human name (Michelle from Rounded), the following two just come from “Rounded”.
Link to full email, and link to in-app message
Email 2
Subject line: Rounded subscription renewal
Another super quick one, sent three days before the renewal. This one could use some work, but let’s look at email 3 and in-app message 2 before I get to the critique.
Email 3
Subject line: Rounded subscription renewal reminder - Apr 4 2024
An almost identical email to the first one, this includes an offer to switch to monthly billing instead of annual. It’s also sent one day before the auto renew date.
In-app message 2
Voila, this is the best message in this campaign!
Why is the best message getting sent after the renewal?
As someone who just crossed the one year anniversary of freelancing (which is data they could collect at sign up, I can’t remember if they do) — this is literally a summary of how much business I did and was a real “whoa” moment for me.
If I was on the fence about renewing, this information would have definitely informed (if not outright influenced) the decision.
Now for the critique
None of these renewal campaigns are particularly 5/5, perfect, no room for improvement. I mean, putting aside that two of them did lead to a successful renewal, there’s always room for improvement!
I actually think — from a campaign perspective — the AGNSW one has the least room for improvement.
Positives: It touched on timing, value, inclusions, FOMO, an upsell, and an emotional appeal. On top of that, it uses original photography and imagery of the art, so there’s a product representation here.
Could be better: No mention of usage. I will say they give you a membership card and a QR code, but the staff never actually swipe or scan it, they just visually check you have it. Introducing some processes here could also lead to a Spotify Wrap style end of year campaign or some data to pull into the email.
A summary of how many times I’ve visited, which exhibitions I went to, and how much I saved at the gift shop with the member discount would be pretty convincing, or at least give me a highlight reel of my time there.
As for Docusign, I have to assume that I got the “autorenewal” email, and not the “your account is up for possible renewal” campaign, so I’d really like to have a look at that.
Aside from the currency sign, what they could have done better is include a second email 24 hours before the date as a good will building communication, and again the product usage. How many contracts have I sent and received?
I also really have only set up the bare minimum of my account, so a highlight of the features could be something that converts me into a power user. At the moment I’d say I’m neutral on Docusign (in terms of NPS) so there’s opportunity to turn me into a promoter that’s going under the radar.
But! I think they’ve nailed the short and sweet delivery of the message.
The biggest potential and greatest “you almost had it” was with Rounded. The employee name on the first message, the dual channel delivery, and the heads up were all spot on. The messaging was clear, and repeated.
What I can’t figure out is why they didn’t continue with the personalised message (as in coming from a person) and why they didn’t lead with the product usage stats up front. There is a strange back and forth between “from me to you, thank you” and “automated reminder”. I’m guessing this comes from building those two streams separately and not retrospectively looking at what was already there. Rounded does also have features and content they could have highlighted.
Here’s a reminder to check your entire journey every time you update it!
Everyone loves a checklist!
Things to include in your renewal campaigns:
The date and price of the renewal
Clear messaging, don’t over complicate it
A reminder of the value they’ve gotten thus far and what they will lose
Which may include a round up of new features that released in the past 12 months
Which could be expressed through product usage stats (if you can get it)
A highlight of your best features or capabilities
An urgency driver
Which could be “coming soon” features - this will need to be updated regularly
It could be a limited time offer (I’d save this for right before or right after the account lapses, don’t give too much away)
It could actually be that if they let it lapse, the price will go up (i.e. price lock-in)
An emotional message, see this old Mehdeeka for more on B2B emotions to appeal to:
A good CTA
Which could be an upsell!
Could be content!
Could be asking for a review!
Where a meal keen
That’s an anagram out of “Mehdeeka” and “renewal”. And that’s how I’m signing off. Hope you found this issue helpful, if you did give it a share (and you might even get rewarded with a book!)
Off to touch some grass,
Kayla