Subscription Radio

William Hicks, co-founder and president of Magic Mind, knows the value of turning one-time customers into monthly subscribers. The more subscribers your company has, the better your retention rates will be. But getting customers to commit to a subscription requires strategic action. You have to prove to your customers that a subscription is worth the commitment. On this episode of Subscription Radio, Ben and William talk through strengthening your subscription model, how to get customers to agree to a subscription, and why you shouldn’t look for a silver bullet.

Show Topics

• Invest in positive changes
• Pay attention to your model
• Focus on subscription
• Give your customers a guarantee
• Listen to your customers’ needs
• Don’t underestimate operational complexity
• Demonstrate success
• Utilize your financing
• Give customers an out
• Don’t look for a silver bullet

Show Links

• Check out Magic Mind
• Connect with William Hicks on LinkedIn
• Check out Rodeo
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter

Matthew Holman, Head of Growth at QPilot, believes communication is the key to keeping subscribers long term. Most people don’t cancel their subscriptions because of the product itself. They cancel their subscriptions because they aren’t getting the right amount of product at the right time and in the right way. But if sellers listen to their customers’ needs and adjust their subscription packages accordingly, they’ll be able to keep their subscribers happy for longer. On this episode of Subscription Radio, Ben and Matthew discuss the importance of getting feedback from your customers, what you can learn from friction points, and how sellers can best meet the changing demands of their user base.

Show Topics

• Meet changing demands
• Know your limitations
• Monitor your delivery outcomes
• Regulate your subscriptions
• Communicate with the customer
• Listen to your customers
• Give reminders
• Take a step back
• Learn from friction points
• Find opportunities to upsell

Show Links

• Check out QPilot
• Connect with Matthew Holman on LinkedIn
• Check out Rodeo
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter

Taja Dockendorf, founder and creative director of Pulp + Wire, knows the ins and outs of creative marketing strategies. If you want your product to stand out in the online retail world, you have to give your customer not only a great product, but a great overall buying experience. Everything from advertising to the packaging to your loyalty rewards contribute to the customer’s experience with your product. On this episode of Subscription Radio, Taja and Ben talk through strategies to create loyal customers for life. Taja explains how to add value to the customer experience, grow your brand past the $5 million mark, and make the most of your metrics.

Show Topics

• Design with the customer experience in mind
• Add value with small surprises
• Keep people interested
• Utilize social media
• Trust the people you hire
• Don’t get too close to the process
• Look at the metrics
• Let people choose for themselves
• Know what your consumer is looking for
• Give people the rewards they want

Show Links

• Check out Pulp + Wire
• Connect with Taja Dockendorf on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Rodeo
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter

Patrick Johnson, CEO at Progress Labs, is a brand-building and ecommerce expert. Subscription services are a major part of ecommerce, but are often underutilized and poorly managed. The key to success is finding a balance between subscriptions that are consumer-centric, while still providing a brand with the dependable recurring revenue they need to survive.

On this episode of Subscription Radio, Patrick and Ben brainstorm how brands can walk that fine line. Patrick shares his insight on what makes a good subscription service, how to upsell with intuition, and what you can do to give your customers a better subscription experience.

Show Topics

• Make your subscription unique
• Upsell with intuition
• Let your competition inspire you
• Give your customers a better experience

Show Links

• Check out Progress Labs
• Connect with Patrick Johnson on LinkedIn
• Check out Rodeo
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Joel Van Horn on LinkedIn or Twitter

Scott Norton, co-founder of Sir Kensington’s and founder of N+1 Ventures, knows a thing or two about marketing consumables in an online world. The internet has changed everything about the way we shop: how we buy, where we’re most receptive to advertising, and who we get our information from. The food industry is no different. From social media posts to internet cookbooks, the internet has shaped the way people buy and consume food. If you want your CPG company to keep up with the trends, you have to change your marketing strategy. Scott joined us on Subscription Radio to discuss CPG marketing, the pitfalls of e-commerce, and how to create a community for your brand.

Show Topics

• Build on ritual and celebration
• Help customers estimate their usage
• Create your own community
• Don’t fall prey to marketing FOMO
• Make membership special

Show Links

• Check out N+1 Ventures
• Connect with Scott Norton on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Rodeo
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Joel Van Horn on LinkedIn or Twitter

High-growth DTC brands encounter roadblocks and questions on a regular basis. That’s because technology is often moving quickly, but different platforms and DTC support systems don’t always talk to one another. Patrick Johnson is an engineer with a background working for Red Antler and the CEO of Progress Labs. His work has attracted clients like Huas, Soma Water, Andie Swim, and many more. He’s found that the key to navigating the DTC landscape lies in educating clients on their options, so that they can make choices that will empower their brand in both the short term and the long haul.

Show Topics

• Differentiate on more than price
• The caveats of going headless
• The role of pre-optimization
• Engineers should educate and guide brands
• Care about more than conversions

Show Links

• Connect with Patrick Johnson on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out 1-Click Pony
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Joel Van Horn on LinkedIn or Twitter

Are you feeling subscription fatigue? With the subscription world getting more competitive, it takes more for brands to stand out. Rather than focusing on making a quick buck, brands need to recognize the need to promote long-term loyalty. That starts with simple things, like not pissing off your customers by shipping without warning, and ends with innovative tactics like data-based reminders and gifting programs. Dean Bakes, Chief of Staff for co-op commerce, has a long history of promoting customer acquisition and tech efficiencies for early-stage brands. He joined us on Subscription Radio to share his thoughts on transparency, customization, scaling, and more.

Show Topics

• Focus on reducing friction
• Customer loyalty and subscriptions go hand-in-hand
• Make smart decisions as you scale
• Bright ideas for subscription innovation

Show Links

• Check out co-op commerce
• Connect with Dean Bakes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out 1-Click Pony
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Joel Van Horn on LinkedIn or Twitter

What happens when a subscription aficionado becomes a DTC investor? Alex Malamatinas is the founder and managing partner at Melitas Ventures, a VC fund that partners with innovative early-stage food and beverage companies like OLIPOP, Verb Energy, and MUD\WTR to take them to the next level. Alex joined us on Subscription Radio to share why customer experience is so important, and the different ways that the brands backed by Melitas are standing out to customers and investors alike.

Show Topics

• Customer experience is key
• Leverage the potential of SMS
• Look at owned tech as IP
• Introduce subscription flexibility
• Seek out new platforms to acquire customers

Show Links

• Check out Melitas Ventures
• Connect with Alex Malamatinas on LinkedIn
• Check out 1-Click Pony
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter

Sometimes a scotch-taped-together tech solution is just what you need to jumpstart your subscription services. But if you grow fast enough, the tape won’t hold up. Dan Freed experienced this firsthand as he grew Formula, an incredible company specializing in personalized nootropics. In this episode, Dan shared how he’s reengineering Formula’s operations to provide the very best customer experience possible, and learning from the customer and competitors every step of the way.

Show Topics

• The formula for a great tech stack
• Getting out of “technical debt”
• You can’t improve what you can’t measure
• Beat competitors with a superior experience
• Why bootstrapping guarantees a quality product

Show Links

• Check out Formula
• Connect with Dan Freed on LinkedIn
• Check out 1-Click Pony
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter

David Silverman is the VP of Brand + Digital at Brewbike, a mission-driven coffee company that exists to empower young people through entrepreneurial experience. Pre-pandemic, that was accomplished by giving students the keys to their own coffee business on college campus. That all changed in March 2020, when campuses closed and revenue went to zero overnight. Brewbike quickly created a Shopify store and launched a DTC model that remains a thriving sector of their business over one year later. David joined us to share the steps Brewbike took to embrace DTC, the core pillars of a successful subscription service, and what’s next as Brewbike expand to an additional six campuses this fall.

Show Topics

• Using Shopify as a base will take you far
• Applying online subscriptions to in-person sales
• Leverage conversational communication
• Make subscribers feel special
• Focus on subscription customization
• Communicate with subscribers at the right time

Show Links

• Check out Brewbike
• Connect with David Silverman on LinkedIn
• Check out 1-Click Pony
• Connect with Ben Fisher on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Joel Van Horn on LinkedIn or Twitter