Holding on to 'vulnerable' subscribers

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 15, 1995

"Vulnerable" is a consumer packaged-goods term, but it is very appropriate for subscribers, according to Myles Megdal, founder and chairman of Marketing Information Technologies, who has had much experience in customer intelligence. "Vulnerable subscribers" are those with a low probability of renewing. Megdal explains that knowing who these vulnerable subscribers are would make retention efforts more targeted and effective. You can identify the demographics of this group, the optimal timing and frequency of your retention programs, how much you can afford to spend and how to position your retention effort. The process, he continues, is analogous to that of subscription acquisitions, except that you are looking at how historical expires differ from the universe of actives who have gone through many renewal cycles. You will observe a set of characteristics that differentiate the two groups. Go back to your active file and find all profiles that match the "vulnerables."

These are the individuals you should be most concerned about. "Where do you want to spend your retention dollars?" he asks. "It's obvious. You want to spend where it will do the most good, and that is with those people who look most like your historical expires" Many magazines use this type of modeling approach to vary the expenditures in retention efforts, according to Megdal. A highly vulnerable subscriber - most likely not to renew - may get more renewal efforts, and maybe more compelling offers. A more likely renewer may get only two or three efforts and a much softer offer, because you don't have to spend as much to retain that particular subscriber.