by This post will help you if you’re looking to sign up a high volume of subscribers and accelerate the growth of your Subscription Box Business in 2021
Over the last few years I have spent an enormous amount of time testing different marketing strategies and trying to figure out what is the cheapest and most efficient way to grow my Subscription Box Business. We have literally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing at this stage so we have definitely learned some really valuable information along the way.
I have wanted to write this post for a while and share some of this information as I really believe it will help people in this group push on and hopefully take their Subscription Box Business to the next level.
I have written lots of marketing guides and tips in the past which mainly focus on Facebook Ads. (You can check those out on my blog or by searching this group)
This post isn’t exclusively aimed at Facebook ads, even though the tips I am sharing will 100% work with Facebook.
It’s more of a general marketing post and these tips that can be applied successfully to nearly any marketing channel as long as there is enough people there to actually advertise to.
If you want to grow your box rapidly I suggest you learn this information and start applying it to your marketing campaigns straight away (Trust me if you use all of these at the same time it will make a massive difference)
4 Quick Marketing Tips To Take Your Subscription Box Business To The Next Level
1. Always use emotion
Emotion is one of the main reasons why somebody makes a purchase. If you can create real emotion in your marketing materials it makes it much easier to sell your product.
I will give you an example. I have a dog subscription box company. We convert customers much easier when we show them the excitement our product creates. We do this by showing potential customers videos of dogs running around barking with pure joy when our box arrives.
This is extremely powerful as everybody loves their dog and they want their dog to experience the same joy as the dogs in the videos. This makes the selling process straight forward as they know our box will bring that happiness to their dog.
You should be looking to do something similar with your Subscription Box business. You need to identify the emotions that your box could bring. You should then lay into them heavily when it comes to your marketing materials.
E.G If it’s a kids subscription box the happiness the box brings to the kid should be a big part of your advertising strategy
This should also come across as genuine in your marketing materials. If it comes across as fake it will sink your campaign and customers won’t take you seriously. Trust me though its very effective when you get it right. If you can find a way to do it correctly, you will sign up a lot of people.
Anybody who is good at marketing will realise this and look to do it with all campaigns. If you take a while to study all the ads you consume on a daily basis you will notice emotion based campaigns are everywhere.
2. Social Proof.
If you aren’t including any kind of social proof in your ads or on your website then you are leaving money on the table. Social proof is one of the most powerful ways to increase your conversion rate.
If a potential customer is interested in signing up to your Subscription Box and they see loads of positive reviews that is going to push them over the line and make them take out their credit card.
If there is another potential customer who is on the fence, but comes across some social proof from real customers saying how great your box is and how good the service is there is a good chance that is going to sway that customer into buying your box.
One of the biggest mistakes a new subscription box company can make is not taking the time to add any social proof. They don’t bother to include any in their ads and their website lacks reviews. This can make consumers suspicious especially when you’re expecting them to commit to a 6 or 12 month subscription.
You should spend some time getting reviews from real customers and also including some social proof in your ads. You could do this by putting together a simple retargeting sequence and including some customer testimonials in that.
E.G if somebody goes to your website and doesn’t buy your box they will be retargeted over the next few days with quotes or videos from real customers saying how great it is.
Trust me, if you get this right, it will make a big difference. You have to remember people are getting blasted with ads more than ever now and unless you can grab attention and build up trust with that consumer they will take their business elsewhere.
3.The Offer.
I am always talking about this and I wasn’t going to include it, but I think I have to again. I believe this is the most important part of any marketing campaign.
Let me explain to you why…
A good offer can save a bad ad, but a good ad can’t save a bad offer.
If you have been advertising for a while and can’t seem to crack it and your campaigns keep flopping there is a good chance it is the offer. If you want to scale your box up and have a decent CPA you need to have a very attractive offer.
If your offer is 5% off a 12 month subscription paid up front you can expect your CPA to be extremely high.
If your offer is an unbelievable limited edition gift worth $50 for every person that signs up for 12 months you have a much better chance at getting it to convert.
The magic really happens when you manage to come up with an unbelievable offer that will get customers excited to sign up on the spot and you mix that with the points I discussed above.
If the offer is right, your campaign is emotion based and you have lots of social proof mixed in your subscriber count will go through the roof once you start advertising.
If you’re struggling to understand how much you can afford to discount or spend on an offer, you need to look at your metrics. Once you understand your Lifetime value, then you will understand how much you can spend to acquire a customer.
4.Keep your messaging simple and direct.
When communicating with customers via ads, your website or email marketing you need to keep things simple and direct with your messaging.
If you over complicate things, you will confuse your customers and they won’t buy from you as they won’t have time to understand what is going on.
This is a big mistake new advertisers make time and time again. They don’t take the time to understand how to write simple and direct copy.
I will give you a couple of examples.
Weak marketing messages contain irrelevant information and jargon the customer doesn’t care about.
Example: The Hamster subscription box was launched in 2018 it’s designed to help you and your hamster have more fun and try cool products. I am excited to share my passion with the world. Head over to our website to learn more.
Powerful marketing messages cut through the noise and address what is Important to the customer ASAP.
Example: All Hamsters deserve to be loved 
That’s why we’re including a FREE bag of Hamster food with all new subscriptions.
Show your hamster how much you love them with a monthly delivery of wacky toys and healthy treats!
Sign up now and see why ten thousand hamster owners choose us each month…
The point is you need to keep things simple and direct. The first example would not sell anything. It’s a particular bad example, but it is similar to some ads I keep seeing time and time again.
The second example is structured in a way that is easy to read, Is emotion based and cuts through the noise with a good offer and some social proof. This is what you need to be doing when advertising.
I hope you have found this article helpful. Over the last few years we have sold millions of dollars of subscription boxes through different kinds of advertising and over time you certainly learn a few things that can make a big difference. Next time you launch a new campaign take another read over this article and apply these tips. If you do it correctly, you will see a big improvement.
If you have any questions about what was covered here or subscription boxes in general please let me know. Have a good day.
