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Renewal emails are a great way to continue engaging with your customers and reinforce your brand’s value. Renewal emails help you encourage customers to continue working with you and give you a chance to upsell and provide special offers. Marketers use this opportunity to retain customers and drive long-term value for their company.
What is a renewal email?
A renewal email is an automated email sent to your customers to remind them that their contract, membership, or subscription with your company is ending. The customer has to renew their association, typically by making a payment. Renewal emails have an engaging call to action and include all the information a customer needs, including payment details, contract guidelines, and where they can go to renew their service.
These kinds of emails are typically used for subscription-based services as well as products with recurring payments. For example, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ may remind you to keep paying monthly or yearly, depending on your package, to continue watching content on their platform. Renewal emails are also commonly used by SaaS providers and membership sites. If a client decides not to renew their account, a cancellation email can be sent to inform them that the account has expired.
Just because a renewal email is an automated reminder to pay doesn’t mean it has to be boring. As a marketer, you can use this opportunity to reinforce the value of your products to retain customers.
Why should you send renewal reminders?
Sending renewal emails offers several upsides for businesses, including:
Higher customer engagement. Sending renewal emails is a key strategy in maintaining active engagement with your customers. By providing valuable information or updates, you can keep users interested in continuing their membership.
Better retention rates. Renewal emails can help you improve retention by effectively communicating membership benefits. By highlighting the value, these emails encourage your clients to stay on their plan.
Upselling opportunities. Subscription reminder emails often include feature updates, product announcements, or exclusive offers. They can be a gateway to discovering additional benefits that enhance the subscription experience.
Legal compliance. As more companies switch to subscription-based models, different countries establish rules to prevent any subscription tricks. Laws imply that companies inform their users before automatically renewing their subscriptions.
Not only businesses but also customers can benefit from renewal email reminders, as they help:
Avoid unwanted renewals. Reminders are essential in minimizing unwanted renewals. While some customers intentionally opt for automatic renewals, others may prefer to assess their subscription before committing to another term.
Prevent interruption of service. Receiving timely reminders about upcoming renewals can help users who are sure they want to continue their membership avoid any service interruption and ensure a seamless experience.
Spend less. Services often offer discounts or bundle deals if you renew early enough. In this case, receiving renewal emails lets you stay on the ball.
Depending on the type of your business and the laws where your company is located, renewal emails might be almost essential. In any case, they help you and your customers stay on the same page when it comes to subscriptions, updates, and even upselling opportunities.
How to create catchy renewal email subject lines
Effective renewal email subject lines involve a few essentials to enhance visibility and open rates. Here are some best practices to follow:
Prioritize brevity. Since your customers already know your product, there is no need for lengthy introductions. Limit your subject line to 50 characters or fewer, addressing the recipient’s needs directly.
Leverage personalization. A well-established personalization strategy is to include the recipient’s name in the subject line. You can also add relevant membership information, like the number of days left before a subscription expires, to increase the likelihood of opening your email.
Highlight importance. Make sure it is understandable from the subject line that an action concerning a user’s account or subscription might be required.
Personalize your renewal emails
A great way to engage with your users right off the bat is to use their name in the subject line and email body. This creates a bond with the reader as it makes it seem like personalized communication rather than an automated email blast. But you can also go further. Segmenting your mailing list allows you to send customers targeted messages based on their interests, behaviors, and demographics.
To take things to the next level, you can even use personalized images and GIFs in your renewal email templates. Personalization also means that the email should seem to come from a specific person. The sender should be someone from your team and not just the name of the brand.
Check out the example from Squarespace. Notice how it uses the customer’s name, builds a connection by inviting the customer to get in touch with any issues, and signs off with a real person’s name.
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