TL; DR
- BFCM subscription marketing strategies can help with recurring revenue and go beyond simple discounts
- Risk-free trials: Offer 1-month trial subscriptions at discounted rates to reduce commitment fears and increase sign-ups
- Mini subscription series: Create a 12-day experience with daily perks to build customer habits and drive conversions
- Founders Club: Launch an exclusive tier for early BFCM subscribers with lifetime perks like early access and priority support
- Gift subscriptions: Enable short-term gifting options (2-3 months) with personalized digital cards
- Bundle with experiences: Add exclusive experiences like masterclasses to subscription boxes for enhanced value
- Secret subscriber sales: Run exclusive BFCM deals only accessible to subscribers to convert one-time buyers
- “Set and forget” positioning: Market subscriptions as stress-free holiday gifts for busy shoppers
- BFCM vault: Create limited-edition products available only in subscription boxes to drive FOMO
- Mix & match options: Let customers build personalized subscriptions to increase control and reduce risk concerns
- “Freeze anytime” guarantee: Promote flexible pause/cancel options to reduce commitment anxiety during busy shopping periods
- Mystery bonuses: Add surprise gifts to BFCM subscription orders and encourage unboxing content
- Post-holiday renewal campaign: Offer incentives for long-term commitments tied to New Year’s resolutions to combat post-BFCM lulls
- Focus on subscriptions during BFCM to build recurring revenue beyond one-time holiday sales, using tools like Appstle Subscriptions App for implementation
The BFCM season is around the corner. Most eCommerce brands have set up their special campaigns. But while most brands focus on marketing their individual products, they ignore subscriptions all together.
What if you could promote your Shopify subscriptions by setting up BFCM subscription marketing strategies?
Curious? We share 12 strategies that you can easily implement in your Shopify store this BFCM season.
Let’s get started!
12 BFCM subscription marketing strategies you can implement before this year ends
Think beyond the tried and tested BFCM strategies, such as discounts and incentives; market your Shopify subscription plans, increase sign-ups, lifetime value, and engagement with these strategies.
1. “Try before you commit” holiday subscription
Customers want the least amount of risks when making purchases from sales. When it comes to subscriptions, they do not want to get locked into long-term commitments. This is one fear that keeps them away from signing up even though they may love your products. That’s why offering a risk-free trial of your subscriptions can drive customers to sign up. Here’s what you can do:
- Allow customers to start with a 1-month trial plan during the BFCM period
- Offer this subscription plan at a discounted rate to increase sign-ups
- Set up an automated system that signs up customers after the trial period ends
- Send a reminder to customers when the trial period is going to end
Pro tip: Install Appstle Subscriptions App and use its flexible billing and plan-switching features for this strategy
2. Offer a mini subscription series
Another BFCM subscription marketing strategy is to offer a 12-day experience of your subscription. Instead of a limited-time subscription, in a mini series format, customers can be offered a small perk, tips to use products, discounts, etc.
These perks create urgency and FOMO and the limited timeframe makes customers feel like it is a BFCM season special offer. The benefit of this strategy? The daily touchpoints for 12 days can turn into customer habits, and eventually, they might want to sign up.
3. BFCM founders club for early subscribers
Set up a subscription plan that has an exclusive tier that makes early subscribers feel special. Call it “Founders Club”. Offer a limited edition subscription badge to all customers who sign up during the BFCM time.
Offer lifetime perks to these subscribers, for instance, first access to new collections, exclusive content, special discounts, or priority customer support. When you provide customers a sense of belonging and recognition, they feel more obliged to sign up and stay for long.
4. Gift subscriptions with a twist
Enable customers to give your subscription to their loved ones. Make this offer even more appealing by allowing them to gift the subscription for just a few months, for example, three months or two months.
Implement this BFCM subscription marketing strategy by creating special promotion campaigns, creating digital cards that allow people to add personalized messages, etc.
Pro tip: Market this subscription gifting plan as a ‘gift that keeps on giving’, making it more appealing.
5. Bundle subscriptions with exclusive experiences
Enhance subscriptions by combining them with exclusive experiences. While your subscription boxes and deliveries will have products, every now and then, you could add in an experience with it.
For example, a wellness box might come with access to one-on-one wellness masterclass with an expert. Experiences add value, create emotional connections, justify premium pricing, and reduce price sensitivity in shoppers.
6. Run a secret sale for subscribers only
Create a BFCM secret sale that is accessible only to subscribers. Promote this sale via special campaigns before the BFCM season. This will encourage and entice customers to sign up. Create FOMO by sending targeted marketing messages, such as, “The best deals of the year only in the secret sale for subscribers.”
This BFCM subscription marketing strategy can help convert customers and one-time buyers into subscribers. Customers that like your products will definitely not want to miss this exclusive opportunity.
Pro tip: Make the deals worth it for people to subscribe and share a few of these deals in your marketing messaging.
7. Position subscriptions as ‘set and forget’ gifts
This strategy can be specifically targeted at stressed holiday shoppers. When you market your subscription plan as a stress-free gifting solution, it can lead to conversion. People are always short of time during the busy holiday season, and this strategy can drive conversions. Create marketing campaigns with messaging that highlights thoughtful gifting and long-term benefits to the receivers of the gift.
8. Create a BFCM subscription vault
Create a special inventory of limited-edition products for the BFCM season which are available only in subscription boxes. Do not provide access to regular customers to purchase these products individually.
By positioning it as an insider access, not available to regular customers, or for subscription vault members only, you can create urgency to sign up, FOMO, and scarcity. These aspects lead to more subscription conversions.
9. Introduce a ‘mix & match’ build-your-own subscription
When customers have flexibility, control, and freedom in subscriptions, their feelings of risk of being stuck reduce, and sign-ups increase. Allow customers to create their own personalized subscriptions by mixing and matching products.
For example, allow them to choose: 1 of product A, 3 of product B, and skip product C all together. You can also add a holiday season touch by creating themes. This sort of personalization not only increases average order value (AOV), but also makes subscribers feel more invested in building their own unique subscription boxes.
Pro tip: Appstle Subscriptions and Appstle Bundles can help implement this strategy.
10. Promote a “freeze anytime” subscription structure
Another BFCM subscription marketing strategy is to implement a “freeze anytime” subscription guarantee. BFCM is a busy time and customers mostly shop in a rush. In this frenzy, they may not want to commit to something like subscriptions.
However, if you promote subscriptions that they can stop or freeze anytime, you can increase the potential of subscription sign-ups. For instance, promote messages, such as, pause anytime, cancel anytime, etc.
11. Add mystery bonuses for holiday subscribers
Create BFCM special promotions for subscriptions. For instance, include surprise bonuses in all BFCM subscription orders. You can add exclusive samples, discount coupons, reward points, limited-edition merchandise, etc.
Also run unboxing campaigns for user-generated content to entice more customers to sign up. BFCM is a time when consumers end up shopping a lot, and these marketing tactics can easily entice them to sign up for your Shopify subscriptions.
12. Launch a post-holiday ‘renew and reward’ campaign
Another holiday subscription campaign idea is renew and reward. Once the BFCM sale period ends, there is usually a dull time. But there’s one BFCM subscription marketing strategy that can help reverse this lull. Offer special bonuses to subscribers who commit for longer-term subscriptions.
For example, offer incentives if customers sign-up for one year or two years. You can market this around New Year’s resolutions, saying how the same subscription can give them more this new year.
Wrapping up: How to implement BFCM subscription marketing strategies on your Shopify store?
Think about the BFCM and Holiday Season sale as more than just driving immediate sales. Think long-term, include subscriptions in your BFCM offers. By doing so, you can increase recurring revenue, enhance engagement, drive conversions, and ensure your BFCM efforts give you returns all year long.
To implement your BFCM subscription marketing strategies and holiday subscription campaign ideas, use Appstle Subscriptions App. The app helps set up subscription plans, run marketing campaigns, automate tasks, integrate with other marketing apps, and provides a comprehensive set of features to complement Shopify and Shopify Plus features.
Install Appstle Subscriptions App on your Shopify store today!
