A 5% increase in customer retention increases profits by up to 95%.
I just finished up an A/B test that increased our retention by 11%.
Here's how I did it: 👇
I just finished up an A/B test that increased our retention by 11%.
Here's how I did it: 👇
First, some context...
I work full-time as the Director of Retention at The Beard Club.
We sell subscription beard growth kits.
i.e. We help dudes grow awesome beards.
I work full-time as the Director of Retention at The Beard Club.
We sell subscription beard growth kits.
i.e. We help dudes grow awesome beards.
To start this A/B test, I had to answer 4 questions:
• What's the goal?
• Where are we testing?
• What are we going to test?
• What's the hypothesis for our test?
• What's the goal?
• Where are we testing?
• What are we going to test?
• What's the hypothesis for our test?
What's the goal?
Our goal was simple.
Increase the month 2 retention rate of our top-selling kit.
Not ALL products.
We got laser-focused on ONE kit.
Our goal was simple.
Increase the month 2 retention rate of our top-selling kit.
Not ALL products.
We got laser-focused on ONE kit.
Where are we testing?
We chose to run the test in our email onboarding series.
Email is one of the best channels to communicate with your customers.
We wanted to nail the customer experience from purchase to first subscription renewal.
We chose to run the test in our email onboarding series.
Email is one of the best channels to communicate with your customers.
We wanted to nail the customer experience from purchase to first subscription renewal.
What are we going to test?
We decided to test email content in the first 30 days post-purchase.
Path A: Personalized kit breakdown
Path B: Lifestyle / educational emails
We decided to test email content in the first 30 days post-purchase.
Path A: Personalized kit breakdown
Path B: Lifestyle / educational emails
What's the hypothesis for our test?
Our hypothesis was...
If we go ALL-OUT on a personalized kit breakdown:
1) The customer will get more value out of their products
2) They will see better results and want to stick around for month 2
Our hypothesis was...
If we go ALL-OUT on a personalized kit breakdown:
1) The customer will get more value out of their products
2) They will see better results and want to stick around for month 2
Content planning:
With our goal and test idea in place, we were ready to start building.
Our next step was to develop the content roadmap for each path.
With our goal and test idea in place, we were ready to start building.
Our next step was to develop the content roadmap for each path.
Path A: Personalized Kit Breakdown
14 educational emails over 30 days tailored specifically to the kit they just purchased.
Email #1:
• Welcome + high-level overview of what's in their kit
14 educational emails over 30 days tailored specifically to the kit they just purchased.
Email #1:
• Welcome + high-level overview of what's in their kit
Emails #2-8:
• Detailed breakdown of each product
• Sent every day for 7 days
• What the product does
• How to use the product
Emails #9-14:
• 1 email sent every 4 days
• Address common struggles
• Education on routine
• Lifestyle-focused
• Answer FAQs
• Detailed breakdown of each product
• Sent every day for 7 days
• What the product does
• How to use the product
Emails #9-14:
• 1 email sent every 4 days
• Address common struggles
• Education on routine
• Lifestyle-focused
• Answer FAQs
Path B: Lifestyle / educational emails
This path was essentially the same content as Emails #9-14 in Path A.
1 email sent every 6 days.
All evergreen educational content that could apply to most of our products.
i.e. Useful, but not personalized.
This path was essentially the same content as Emails #9-14 in Path A.
1 email sent every 6 days.
All evergreen educational content that could apply to most of our products.
i.e. Useful, but not personalized.
The Results:
Path A (Personalized Kit Breakdown) had a 11.82% uplift in month 2 retention rate.
It took about 3 weeks to plan, write, design, and build the email flow.
It took another 2 months to collect the test results.
Path A (Personalized Kit Breakdown) had a 11.82% uplift in month 2 retention rate.
It took about 3 weeks to plan, write, design, and build the email flow.
It took another 2 months to collect the test results.
Takeaways:
My guess is most companies aren't putting that much time and effort into their email onboarding series.
Especially for just one product.
Those that do put in the time will be rewarded with more loyal customers.
My guess is most companies aren't putting that much time and effort into their email onboarding series.
Especially for just one product.
Those that do put in the time will be rewarded with more loyal customers.
Bonus:
We now have a playbook we can run on all of our other most popular kits.
It's sparking new test ideas for:
• Month 2 & 3 education
• Upsell/Cross-Sell
• SMS onboarding
And we can continue optimizing this original flow over time.
We now have a playbook we can run on all of our other most popular kits.
It's sparking new test ideas for:
• Month 2 & 3 education
• Upsell/Cross-Sell
• SMS onboarding
And we can continue optimizing this original flow over time.
TL;DR - To increase your customer retention rate by over 10%...
Create an onboarding flow that:
• Is personalized to the 1st order
• Shows how to use the product
• Addresses common struggles
• Adds value to the experience
• Reminds them of benefits
Create an onboarding flow that:
• Is personalized to the 1st order
• Shows how to use the product
• Addresses common struggles
• Adds value to the experience
• Reminds them of benefits
Thanks for reading!
If you liked this:
1. Follow me @joe_portsmouth for more marketing tips and breakdowns.
2. RT the first tweet below to share with others!
If you liked this:
1. Follow me @joe_portsmouth for more marketing tips and breakdowns.
2. RT the first tweet below to share with others!
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