Challenge
Subscribers obtained through magazine subscription agents historically generate lower renewal rates than promotions sent directly from the publisher. The marketing team approached Alliant for a solution that would maximize renewals from the agent-sold pool — and avoid spending valuable promotion dollars on unprofitable names.
Solution
The marketers supplied Alliant with mail and response files from direct mail renewal campaigns for agent-sourced subscribers. Alliant developed a custom response model to predict which names would most likely renew directly with the publisher.
Results
Subscribers in the highest response groups generated above-average response and payment rates — almost 100% higher than campaign averages.
The model allowed the marketing team to select about 30% of their available agent-sold subscriptions for renewal promotions with acceptable net payment rates.
Targeting the best response groups generated a new source of profit, while saving promotion dollars that could be reinvested into additional subscription campaigns.
The success of the program led the client to initiate development and testing of similar models for other titles and its Direct-to-Publisher (DTP) renewal pools.
