Thrive to Success with Personalised Video Ads in the Subscription Market
Subscription services have existed for a long time. Yet, the more modern form of subscription business, an extension of e-commerce, is a relatively new phenomenon, which can be partly explained by consumers changing buying behaviours and preferences. There is a growing interest towards new ways to access products and services, with streaming media a great example of success with the likes of Netflix and Spotify that have been popular for some time. Consumers are also turning to subscription boxes containing all kinds of consumer goods to make their everyday life easier. The most common subscription boxes are filled with product replenishments, such as those from Amazon Subscribe or Dollar Shave Club, or curation type of items, like the latest fashion and beauty products from Stitch Fix or Birchbox.
Young, Affluent Urbanities Leading the Growth of Subscription Lifestyle
According to a survey by McKinsey of more than 5,000 US consumers, the subscription e-commerce industry has more than doubled each year over the past few years. The industry has become very diverse. New startups are constantly popping up providing pretty much anything: apparel, beauty products, meal kits, pet food, vitamins, and the list goes on. Similarly, all major retailers and brands, such as P&G and Sephora, have created their own subscription boxes. Furthermore, the survey found e-commerce subscribers tend to be young – between 25 and 44 years old – and affluent urbanities who are looking for convenience and efficiency to save precious time and money in the midst of a busy life. Women are more likely than men to sign up for subscriptions but men are more likely to have three or more active subscriptions, indicating men to be more keen to automate their shopping, especially when it comes to replenishments like shaving products. The most important reasons to continue the subscription are tangible benefits, such as lower costs, convenience or personalised experiences.
Acquire and Retain Discerning Subscribers with Personalised Experiences
To acquire subscription customers you need to know your audience, what are their likes, dislikes, preferences, and use this to surprise and delight them. Personalised experiences are the key to acquiring and retaining customers, so marketers must talk to each customer on an individual level but be able to do this at scale. Marketers are turning to creative automation platforms like Spirable to help achieve this.
Consumers have high expectations for subscription boxes and they are quick to cancel services if they don’t deliver superior and personalised experience. The churn rate – the proportion of subscribers who leave a supplier – is high: nearly 40% of online subscribers cancel their subscription, creating a lot of uncertainty for businesses. To overcome this, subscription businesses are building stronger relationships with their customers through personalised video at key points along the customer journey. From personalised welcome videos that use 1st party data such as name, product preference and city (to name a few), to in-the-moment personalised social advertising; these touch points provide useful and compelling content that encourages loyalty.
Competition is fierce so marketing needs to be as effective as possible – generating the highest conversions at the lowest cost. Video advertising plays a big part here, with engagement rates at least 5X that of static images. Personalisation takes this to a whole new level, maximising ROI through it’s hyper-relevant and engaging nature.
Spirable’s AI-powered creative platform helps subscription organisations to leverage their existing creative assets in a cost effective way by automatically generating thousands of videos in minutes through simple creative templates, dynamically linked to key data feeds. Videos are optimised in-flight to tell the most engaging story at the right time to keep up with today’s discerning subscription consumer.
Contact us to find more about our powerful Spirable video platform and how it can help you to create highly engaging, personalised video marketing campaigns!