Building Loyalty Through Subscriptions

We tracked $941,765 in subscription revenue back to articles we wrote for one DTC brand. I keep coming back to this number because of what's behind it. The client paid us $102,983 over 16 months and got a 12.23x return, but the interesting part isn't the multiple. It's where the money came from. 74.8% of everything those articles generated is SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE! → 11,124 orders matched to articles FlyRank created → 3,408 of those customers started a subscription → 4,817 recurring orders followed with zero additional marketing touch → Their blog-traffic AOV sits at $113.25 against $97.92 sitewide And we see almost the exact same split with our other clients. One does 79% subscription revenue from blog content, another 74%. Different products, different sizes, same behavior. My theory: someone who found you by reading a long answer to their specific problem already did the homework. They're not testing your product, they've decided. So they don't just buy once, they subscribe. Compare that to paid traffic, where you pay for the click, hope for the conversion, and start over tomorrow. Most brands running subscriptions on Recharge obsess over churn, offers, and flows once the subscriber exists. Fair enough, that's where the leverage is post-signup. But almost nobody looks at which acquisition channel produces subscribers who stick. From what we're measuring, organic content is quietly the best subscriber recruiter these brands have. Content isn't a blog for us. It's acquisition infrastructure that keeps signing people up long after publishing. If you run a subscription brand and want to see what this looks like for your catalog, head to flyrank.ai and drop your email. We'll put together a customized content plan for your business.

We spend so much time on conversions that we lose sight of their sinister cousin: anticonversions. Churning out all of your existing customers is the most common cause of death in modern tech companies. Companies don’t invest in reactivation, have a poor off-boarding experience, and lose customers forever. There’s three stats I want to highlight to emphasize the importance of this lever: 1. 40% re-subscribe rate: fully 40% of Netflix’s new subscribers are subscribers who canceled within the past 12 months. 2. 18s to catch them before churn: that’s about how long it’s estimated (on average) that you have to recapture your user in your cancelation flow - or they’re lost. 3. 5x cheaper to reach out to: canceled customers are much cheaper to reach via paid advertising, outbound, or other channels. In today's 5K word deep dive, I share the guidance I would give to my own teams working on anticonversions: 1. Dissecting 6 of the best cancelation flows out there today 2. Why people cancel: when to optimize flows vs core 3. Encyclopedia of top 20 anticonversion tests 4. Ideal testing framework + metrics 5. Anticonversion’s 8 key principles 6. Top 7 big mistakes made 7. Cancelation prototype This is the post to forward to your PM friend working on this. Or your product leader so you start.

Nobody gets fired for putting Meta on the media plan… …but you might be made redundant if that’s the only lever you’re pulling. Just ask Siblings, the DTC candle brand. News shared yesterday that their CAC jumped from $25 to $60 between 2022 and 2025 — and that single increase pushed them into the red; if they didn't change their strategy, they would go bust, so they cut 56% of their Meta spend. (Modern Retail) They tried everything: - Testing creative - Optimising landing pages - Refining audiences But the costs kept climbing — while conversions flatlined. And this seems to be the norm for many brands at the moment. Why? - Meta’s ecosystem is changing fast: - Signal loss from iOS changes - Auction saturation from every brand competing in the same pond - And Meta’s heavy AI investment is diverting focus — leaving ad tools less stable, more unpredictable, and harder to optimise And let’s be honest — this isn’t a blip. It’s the new normal and only set to get worse. So what’s the move? Diversify your acquisition strategy. Siblings looked at community and partnership, launching a partnership with Nordstrom and offering candle-making classes. But while this was great, it lacked the scale of Social. So what are the other options? Well it’s time to stop treating email as “retention-only” channel. Email can be a top-of-funnel growth engine when powered by fresh, opted-in data. Email is often lumped into affiliates as an acquisition tool, but it's a channel in its own right that puts your brand front and centre in a consumer's most personal feed. What can it do as an acquisition tool: ✅ Mirror your most effective CRM emails to a completely new audience (no wasting spend on targeting your current customer) ✅ Build first-party audiences for actual ownership ✅ Upload those audiences back into Meta and Google for omnichannel retargeting with higher match rates and stronger ROAS This isn’t about abandoning Meta — it’s about using it smarter. Siblings learned the hard way. Don’t wait until your CAC makes the business model collapse. Explore new channels today. https://lnkd.in/eEM9qXW5

The Funding Trap: How Startups Lose Sight of CACs & What to Do Instead ? Many founders run digital marketing frugally before raising funds—keeping Customer Acquisition Costs (CACs) low and focusing on survival. Then, once funding lands, everything changes. Growth at all costs becomes the mantra, and performance marketing is the go-to strategy for scale. The Initial Growth Surge At first, things look great: ✅ Revenue grows ✅ CACs remain stable ✅ Paid channels seem to be working But there's a hidden risk—performance marketing has a ceiling. Where It Starts to Go Wrong ? Paid ads (Google, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) work well until they don’t. Once the most profitable audience is saturated, CACs start creeping up ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) declines More money is needed to acquire the same customer This is where the real challenge begins. The Scaling Dilemma As CACs rise, the pressure from investors increases. More capital is pumped into performance marketing to meet aggressive growth targets. What happens next? ⚠️ CACs reach unsustainable levels ⚠️ Burn rate increases ⚠️ Business model becomes fragile Without marketing, growth stalls. But with rising CACs, the business becomes unviable. Shifting Focus: The Smarter Way to Scale Instead of treating paid marketing as an infinite growth lever, funded startups need to balance acquisition channels and product quality. Here’s what smart scaling looks like: 1️⃣ Build Strong Organic & Owned Channels SEO & Content Marketing → Reduce reliance on paid ads over time Community-driven growth → Slack, Discord, WhatsApp groups for engagement Email & CRM-driven retention → Leverage personalized marketing 2️⃣ Leverage Product-Led Growth (PLG) Referrals & viral loops → Turn existing users into acquisition channels Free-to-paid upgrade mechanisms → Convert users with strong value proposition Strong onboarding & retention flows → Reduce churn & improve LTV 3️⃣ Diversify Paid Spend Smartly Instead of relying solely on Meta & Google, explore: Native ads (Taboola, Outbrain) & Niche Platforms → Lower CAC in specific markets Programmatic & Retargeting → Efficient spend distribution Influencer & Partner Marketing → Build trust & authority outside ad platforms 4️⃣ Keep an Eye on CAC:LTV Ratio If CACs keep rising but Lifetime Value (LTV) isn’t improving, rethink the approach Sustainable businesses don’t just acquire users—they retain & monetize them effectively Final Thought for Founders Raising funds should fuel product improvement & brand-building, not just performance marketing. The real game? Keeping CACs sustainable while focusing on long-term, scalable growth. #digitalmarketing #marketing #startups

Just helped a subscription client hit all-time low cancellations from email. Here's what actually moved the needle: 1. Cancellation flow triggered the moment someone hits the cancel page, not after. Most brands wait too late. 2. We segmented by purchase count. A customer on their 2nd order needs a different save message than someone on their 12th. 3. Pause option front and center. Not buried. Not small text. The first CTA. People don't always want to quit, they want breathing room. 4. Social proof in the save email. Not generic. Specific: '94% of customers who paused came back within 60 days.' 5. We killed the discount-first approach. Leading with value, then offering a discount only if they still wanted to cancel. Most brands treat the cancellation flow as an afterthought. It's one of the highest ROI emails you can build.

Having a diverse range of client acquisition channels is a must for any GTM team. If you're too reliant on one channel, you're taking a significant risk. I spoke to a company recently that relied on cold email for 95% of their new business. Their cold email infrastructure was built on legacy systems, sending 10k emails a day from their primary domain. 🤯 After Google and Outlook spam updates this year, their conversion rate plummeted and the pipeline was decimated. Having multiple channels would have at least eased the pain here. Here are some of my favorite client acquisition channels and the tools that help unlock them: 1️⃣ Cold Email: ▶ Smartlead, Instantly.ai, Clay, Apollo.io 2️⃣ Cold Calling: ▶ Salesfinity, RocketPhone.ai, upcell, Kaspr 3️⃣ Warm Intro: ▶ Commsor 🦕, Hifive 🙌, Crossbeam 4️⃣ LinkedIn Content: ▶ Kleo, Taplio, AuthoredUp, aiCarousels, PhantomBuster 5️⃣ LinkedIn Cold DMs: ▶ HeyReach, La Growth Machine, Expandi.io Diversification is key to a robust, scalable and resilient GTM strategy in 2024. #salestech StackOptimise

Growing a newsletter isn't about luck. It's about turning the right channels into a growth engine. A recent client of ours already had a strong newsletter. The challenge wasn't starting from zero. It was taking what worked and making it grow. We focused on LinkedIn as the main acquisition channel: ➝ Created posts that linked naturally to the newsletter ➝ Built lead magnets that solved real problems ➝ Optimized the LinkedIn feature section to make subscribing effortless. The results in just 4 weeks: ➝ +7.3% subscriber growth (878 active readers) ➝ 64% open rate (vs. 20–25% industry average) ➝ 3.6% click-through rate (above average) Most new subs came organically.  Through LinkedIn posts, referrals, and profile features. What we learned: Healthy newsletter growth = size + engagement + the right acquisition source. When people subscribe willingly through value-driven channels, you don't just get numbers. You build an audience that wants to hear from you. Quick health check for your newsletter: -Look at your last 3 sends. -Are your open + click rates climbing as your list grows?  -Do you know where those subscribers are coming from? If you can't answer both, you might be growing a list instead of building an audience.

Here's something subscription brands don't talk about: The moment of cancellation isn't when you lose them. It's when you had your last chance to keep them and blew it. Most cancellation flows are designed to make it hard to leave. Long forms. "Are you sure?" popups. Discount offers. But the customer who wants to leave has already decided. Making it hard just annoys them. The better approach: Make the cancellation itself a data collection event. But not with a survey. Surveys are homework. Instead, build the cancellation flow around "if/then" logic. They click cancel. You show: "If money is tight right now, we can pause your subscription for 30 days. No charges. Nothing ships. It just pauses" "If you have too much product, we can skip your next shipment and check in next month" "If you're not using it enough, here's a guide we made on getting the most out of what you have" You're not asking why. You're offering solutions to the most common reasons before they have to articulate them. The psychology: People cancel because they see no other option. Show them an option that isn't "stay" or "go", and many will take it.

To grow SaaS MRR, you need more signups 📊 Here are 6 top channels to fill your sales pipeline—with pros, cons, and mistakes to avoid: 1. 𝗦𝗘𝗢 • Pros: Scalable, passive, and high-converting; brings organic signups (30k+ visits/month at Breakcold). • Mistake: Targeting broad, competitive keywords. Start with long-tail keywords tied to user pain points. • Cons: Takes 2–6 months to see first results. 2. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 • Pros: Fast, cheap ($100–$600/mo); even unopened emails drive signups. Breakcold started this way with 10–20k emails/month. • Mistake: Poor targeting due to unclear ICP. • Cons: Harder to reach inbox; requires email deliverability know-how. 3. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗗𝗠𝘀 • Pros: Best B2B signup driver; great for conversations and conversions. • Mistake: Automating too soon—learn to sell manually first. • Cons: Requires accepted connection requests to message. 4. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 • Pros: High ACV leads; 3–4x better demo booking than email. • Mistake: Using cheap data = wasted time. Invest in tools like BetterContact. • Cons: Time-intensive; best for high-ticket SaaS. 5. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻/𝗫 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 • Pros: Builds brand, boosts outbound replies, low competition due to fear of posting. • Mistake: Overthinking content—authentic stories perform best. • Cons: Growth takes time; not a quick win but effective long-term. 6. 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 • Pros: Low churn, passive growth via loyal customers. Example: Some Breakcold users earn $500/mo in referral rewards. • Cons: Risk of shady affiliates using brand name on ads, but manageable. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 • Diversify channels, avoid rookie mistakes, and tailor your strategy to your SaaS price point and audience maturity. ----- What's your favorite acquisition channel?

These are the 3 growth channels newsletters doing $10M-$100M revenue use to scale: 1. SEO If you already have high website traffic, your biggest growth unlock isn’t more traffic—it’s better conversion. Example: Red Ventures, the owner of The Points Guy (~2M organic website visits), turns passive readers into engaged email subscribers. Here’s how: • Pop-ups & in-line sign-up forms If you read an article on TPG's blog, you’ll get multiple nudges to subscribe. But they don’t just say, "Join our newsletter." They offer value: “Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts." • Strategic CTAs in high-traffic content Their credit card reviews and travel hacking guides get ~100K views monthly. They ensure that every article subtly pushes newsletter sign-ups. • Exclusive perks for subscribers (early access to deals, detailed points strategies, and travel insights) Other media companies crushing this: • People Magazine — Uses celebrity news articles to drive thousands of sign-ups. • Allrecipes — Turns cooking-related search traffic into newsletter subscribers with in-line forms. 2. Social content (LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram) If you don't have massive organic traffic, start with social content. The best newsletters built their first 100K subscribers through organic social content: • My buddy Rowan grew The Rundown to 300K+ subscribers without spending a dollar on ads by consistently sharing breaking AI news, summaries, and tutorials, with a newsletter link at the end of every viral thread. • Mason Doerr leveraged TikTok & Instagram to build an 80K+ email list, turning it into a $5M/year copywriting education business. • The Hustle grabbed its first 150K followers by writing viral Reddit posts. Reddit Post Goes Viral → Links to The Hustle’s Article → Website Converts Readers into Email Subscribers. 3. Paid social Once you’ve proven organic growth, Meta ads become your scaling engine. Example: Here's how 1440 does $20M+ in revenue using Meta ads: • Hyper-specific ad copy: Instead of generic ads like "Get daily news in 5 min," they use emotionally charged angles: "Americans are cutting ties with Zuckerberg’s news feed filtering." "Get the news, without the spin." • They also test hundreds of ad variations. Every ad starts with a small budget. If it converts cheaply, they scale it. If not, they kill it fast.