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  • The Hidden Ceiling Killing Your Subscription Growth

    The Hidden Ceiling Killing Your Subscription Growth
    2026/06/09
    Your subscription program isn't shrinking, but it isn't growing either. You're acquiring exactly as many subscribers as you're losing each month. That's the growth ceiling, and it's one of the most dangerous places a subscription brand can be.

    In this episode, I break down why subscription programs hit this equilibrium point and which lever to pull first to break through it (hint: it's probably not churn).

    What we cover:
    - The three pillars of every subscription program: subscriber count, AOV, and renewals
    - How to spot the growth ceiling using simple acquisition and churn math
    - Why equilibrium is a tipping point that can quickly turn into decline
    - The counterintuitive reason brands with great retention hit ceilings most often
    - Why brands under 10,000 subscribers should focus on acquisition, not churn
    - How offer testing (BOGOs, gift with purchase, bulk options) breaks the ceiling
    - The trade-off between subscriber opt-in rate and retention, and how to find your sweet spot

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    12 分
  • Your BFCM Subscription Playbook Starts in the Summer - Here's What to Do Now

    Your BFCM Subscription Playbook Starts in the Summer - Here's What to Do Now
    2026/06/02
    Black Friday is months away - and that's exactly why you should be working on your subscription strategy right now. In this episode, I walk through the three things subscription brands should be doing this summer to set themselves up for their biggest sales period of the year.

    What we cover:
    • Why blanket discounts box you into a corner during BFCM
    • How to mine your subscription data for high-LTV product combos
    • Using customer conversations to uncover what's working (and what isn't)
    • How to build an offer testing flywheel before the fall rush
    • What to look for in first and second month LTV when evaluating test offers
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    14 分
  • Why Most Subscription Brands Are Afraid of SMS (And What They're Missing)

    Why Most Subscription Brands Are Afraid of SMS (And What They're Missing)
    2026/05/26
    Most subscription brands avoid SMS because they're afraid it'll remind people to cancel. That fear is costing them long-term LTV. In this episode, I break down why SMS is one of the most underused tools in the subscriber journey, and how to use it the right way. What we cover:
    • Why fear of SMS is really just loss aversion in disguise
    • How SMS drives product adoption in the critical first month
    • Using text to give subscribers control: skip, swap, pause
    • Why SMS recipients show higher LTV even with an initial churn bump
    • Tools worth testing: Attentive, Klaviyo, Blueream, Recharge Concierge, and Skio
    • What to remove from your SMS flows (and where to send people instead)
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    12 分
  • The Ad Buying Math Most Subscription Brands Get Wrong

    The Ad Buying Math Most Subscription Brands Get Wrong
    2026/05/19
    Most subscription brands are setting a ROAS target and calling it a strategy. Trevor Crump, co-founder of Bestie Media, breaks down why that's leaving serious growth on the table - and what to do instead. What we cover:
    • Why ROAS constraints strangle your Meta spend before you ever hit your ceiling
    • How to calculate what a subscriber is actually worth - and use that to make buying decisions
    • Lead vs. lag metrics: what ad buyers track vs. what actually moves the business
    • The cash flow math founders miss when modeling customer acquisition
    • Why discount-based offers produce lower-value customers (and what to do instead)
    • How creative has become one of the most important targeting tools on Meta
    Guest: Trevor Crump, Co-Founder & CEO of Bestie Media
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorcrump/
    Website: [https://www.bestiemedia.co/
    Podcast: The Unstoppable Marketer

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    44 分
  • How Grüns Built an Exit: LTV, Product, and Retail Done Right

    How Grüns Built an Exit: LTV, Product, and Retail Done Right
    2026/05/12
    Grüns just got acquired by Unilever - and there are real lessons here for every subscription brand paying attention. In this episode, I break down the three things Grüns did exceptionally well that set them up for an exit like this. What we cover:
    • How Grüns used a 3:1 LTV to CAC ratio to grow profitably at every stage
    • Why product obsession is still the most underrated retention strategy
    • How retail expansion and multi-channel brand building created the opportunity Unilever actually bought
    Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly doses just like this one: https://newsletter.thesubscriptiondoc.com
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    11 分
  • Stop Obsessing Over Email: The Real Levers for Subscription Retention

    Stop Obsessing Over Email: The Real Levers for Subscription Retention
    2026/05/05
    Josh Tay has spent years in retention at Common Thread Co., No Limit Email, and now as VP of Strategy at Chronos Agency — and his take on email might surprise you. What we cover:
    • Why email is a secondary channel, not the starting point for subscription growth
    • The three real levers that move the needle: front-end offers, retention, and upsells
    • How to think about causation vs. correlation when brands see churn spikes from email
    • Why LTV is really about acquisition capacity, not profit for profit's sake
    • How siloed growth and retention teams hurt subscription performance
    • The membership models non-consumable brands (jewelry, apparel) are using right now
    • Welcome kits and starter kit offers that actually drive commitment
    Guest: Josh Tay
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-tay/

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    33 分
  • How AI Search Actually Works, and What Subscription Brands Need to Do Now

    How AI Search Actually Works, and What Subscription Brands Need to Do Now
    2026/04/21
    AI is changing how customers find products — and most subscription brands aren't ready for it. In this episode, I break down how AI search actually works and what simple steps you can take right now to make sure your brand shows up. What we cover:
    • Why AI search is different from traditional personalization (and why that matters)
    • How AI uses context to surface products — and what that means for your website
    • Why conflicting information across your site can cost you the sale
    • The subscribe and save explainer page every brand needs to build (or audit)
    • How to make shipping and delivery info visible to AI, not just humans
    • Why product use cases — including who your product is NOT for — are a competitive advantage
    • The difference between HTML and JavaScript for AI crawlability
    • URL structure tips inspired by Chewy and PetSmart
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    18 分
  • Why Your Dunning Strategy Is Sending Customers to the Wrong Door

    Why Your Dunning Strategy Is Sending Customers to the Wrong Door
    2026/04/14
    Most subscription brands are losing revenue to failed payments - not because customers don't want to pay, but because they're being sent to the wrong place to fix it. In this episode, I break down how payment processing actually works, what your processor health score means, and how to build a dunning strategy that actually recovers payments.

    What we cover:
    • How tokenization and payment processing work in subscription commerce
    • Why your processor health score matters (and what hurts it)
    • The math on why a 1% improvement in processing success is massive at scale
    • In-app vs. third-party tools for payment recovery (Fly Code, Redux, Butter Payments)
    • Why segmenting by payment method — credit card, Shop Pay, PayPal — is the key to better dunning
    • How to stop sending PayPal subscribers to the wrong update link
    Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly doses just like this one: https://newsletter.thesubscriptiondoc.com
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    17 分