Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 at 8:00 am
We’re happy to announce that our Spring 2011 Webinar Series kicks off on Thursday, April 21. This season we’re covering hot issues, such as, how to sell digital content and avoid the 30% land grab that Apple and Facebook are taking from the pocketbooks of gaming and other digital content companies; ways to increase the lifetime of your subscribers; and optimizing your pricing and decide whether now is the right time to change pricing. In addition to our CEO, digital innovator Gene Hoffman, we have two other insightful guest speakers that will share their strategies and best practices as digital industry insiders. This Webinar Series cover the following topics:
Selling Online Content Without Giving Up 30% to Apple and Facebook with Vindicia CEO, Gene Hoffman
Three Ways to Increase Your Subscribers’ Lifetime Value with Editor of SubscriptionSiteInsider.com, Sean Donahue
Is Now the Right Time to Change Your Price? with PricingWire CEO, Chris Hopf
Please join us for our Vindicia 2011 Spring Webinar Series and register for these webinars. Additionally, if there are any other topics you’d like to see us cover in upcoming Webinars, please contact us with your suggestions and/or questions.
 | Tags: Apple, CLTV, customer retention, facebook, news, online content, pricing, pricing strategy, PricingWire, SaaS, subscriber retention, SubscriptionSiteInsider, Technology
Posted by Stephanie Jorgl in Best Practices, Events, Industry News, gaming | No Comments » |
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
The volume of data that now flows through CashBox (over $2bn worth last year) allows the marketers at our client companies to truly understand what’s happening in their business and compare it to the broader universe of the digital merchants that we service. I’ve discussed in the past how SaaS Billing is really a Marketing asset, not just an operational necessity. We’ve also been extremely vocal about the need for our clients to focus on long-term customer lives, whether this be for a subscription-style service or for a microtransaction service that uses a virtual currency.
Here is an example from an existing client that illustrates the importance of data. The chart below represents a cohort analysis of the subscribers to their 1-month plan. What it shows is that the average lifetime for subscribers to the monthly plan is about eight months or so. This client, however, does not offer an annual price plan and asked us whether we thought it would make sense. Based on this data, we said that if they offered a plan that generated more revenue than their average monthly lifetime value and that was at a discount to the annual value of their 1-month plan then, yes, it would make sense to do so assuming it fit with their business goals. To put this into concrete terms, if their monthly plan was $10/mo, they could offer an annual plan anywhere from $81 to $119 and have it still make economic and subscriber sense.
We learn a lot about consumer behavior through our clients and the relative importance of changes to product and pricing mix on subscriber acquisition and retention, and look forward to sharing more of these insights on this blog in the future.
 | Tags: CashBox, customer acquisition, customer lifetime value, microtransactions, pricing mix, SaaS, SaaS Billing, SaaS Marketing, subscriber retention, subscription service, subscriptions, virtual currency
Posted by Sanjay Sarathy in Best Practices, Data Geek, Marketing Fury | No Comments » |
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Last week Gene and I participated in the Guardian Changing Media Summit that provided for a number of stimulating conversations. I wanted to share what I learned during the course of the event and provide my own personal opinion on some of these issues as they apply to the world of digital content and services.
- The continued growth of “linear” broadcast TV in the UK. Apparently residents in the UK are watching more regular TV than ever before. This is in stark contrast to the US where the growth of DVRs and services like Boxee are leading to time-shifting of traditional TV viewing as well as the phenomenon of cord-cutting. Are the UK and the US fundamentally different in this regard, or do we expect the two regions to more closely align over time? I suspect things will change once Netflix enters the UK market — not just because of the added competition to companies like LOVEFiLM — but because it may stimulate the shift from traditional TV viewing as broadband continues to take hold in the region.
- The use of the word “paywall” in every speech and constant discussion of the NYTimes model. Frankly, I dislike the word paywall. It implies creating a rigid barrier between provider and consumer at a time when the media industry is desperately seeking ways to strengthen and lengthen customer relationships. Rather than describing it as a wall of any type, companies should focus far more on the value of the service (that includes the content) to the consumer for which he or she is willing to pay some type of subscription fee.
- The recognition that charging for regular news and content has as high a probability of success as I do of succeeding Queen Elizabeth. While most commentary focused on the need to provide unique content, there were few discussions on the need for media companies to recast their value in terms of a service that highlights the reason for their existence, whether that service is in the realm of entertainment, education or something else.
- Importantly, a week of seeing the sun after non-stop rain in the Bay Area.
Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Next week Vindicia will be participating in the Guardian Changing Media Summit in London. We’re very excited about debating and sharing ideas on how media, content, broadcast and game publishers of all stripes can navigate the transition to digital business models. As yesterday’s New York Times pricing announcement reveals, it’s still an open question as to what the right model should be to achieve what every media company cares about: long-term customer loyalty. Should it really cost more to get the standalone digital version versus the digital and print bundle? I’ve schlepped enough newsprint to the recycling bin…
Both my session and that of my colleague, Sanjay Sarathy, will focus on a variety of issues that our clients regularly face, including those related to business model decisions, the impact on customer retention, the context of demographics, and much more. A recent online video provides some additional color on my views related to this area and while experimentation will undoubtedly continue, our existing clients like Boxee, Mind Candy, and Next Issue Media are proving the thesis that media companies who think about themselves as offering a service rather than just a paywall to content will be the ones who remain the digital leaders of tomorrow.
