The ultimate guide to CDPs for consumer subscriptions
Learn everything there is to know about CDPs in consumer subscriptions, including global trends, key insights, use cases, how leading subscription companies are leveraging personalization, and a framework for evaluating CDP vendors.
Why are subscription companies adopting CDPs?
Consumer subscriptions are all about loyalty. Customers expect and demand continuous value and if you’re not delivering on that value, they’ll move on. The only competitive advantage you have is data.
Industry leaders in consumer subscriptions differentiate themselves with personalization
HelloFresh uses machine learning to provide personalized meal recommendations
Dollar Shave Club is powering personalized product recommendations and website optimization
FabFitFun creates highly curated emails for members to drive shopping participation
consumer subscriptions use cases
Acquisition campaigns
Drive new subscriptions by using browsing data to target potential subscribers and lookalike audiences with offers like free trials or discounted plans, increasing customer acquisition.
Suppression campaigns
Reduce wasted ad spend by suppressing active subscribers from acquisition campaigns using CRM data, reallocating budget toward lapsed users and new prospects.
Retargeting campaigns
Re-engage trial users or signup abandoners by serving dynamic ads highlighting premium features, exclusive benefits, or limited-time offers, driving conversions.
Upsell & cross-sell campaigns
Promote premium plans or add-ons to existing customers by using engagement and usage data to target subscribers with ads for higher-tier plans, increasing ARPU.
Conversion APIs
Share online and offline conversion data with ad platforms, enabling algorithms to better identify and target users with a higher likelihood of converting to improve campaign performance.
Media networks
Monetize customer insights by offering anonymized audience segments to subscription-based brands for targeted advertising, generating incremental revenue.
Upsell & cross-sell campaigns
Encourage subscribers to upgrade to premium plans, add family members, or purchase exclusive content bundles.
Reactivation campaigns
Win back churned subscribers with waived fees, limited-time discounts, or exclusive perks.
Seasonal campaigns
Offer holiday or themed subscription plans, such as a summer entertainment bundle or a winter wellness package.
Engagement campaigns
Provide personalized content recommendations, expert tips, or featured product highlights to maintain user interest.
Loyalty rewards campaigns
Celebrate long-term subscribers with milestone discounts, free perks, or VIP member benefits.
Localized promotions
Offer region-specific benefits such as free delivery for local goods or exclusive streaming partnerships.
Digital adoption campaigns
Promote in-app features like auto-renewal, subscription pause options, or personalization tools to improve retention.
Usage milestone rewards
Recognize high engagement users with exclusive benefits such as a free bonus box or early access to new releases.
Upcoming renewals
Send renewal reminders with special incentives to encourage continued subscription loyalty.
Dynamic home page content
Personalize the homepage based on browsing history and subscription preferences to increase engagement and conversions.
Dynamic app experiences
Highlight key app features based on user activity, such as reordering frequently purchased items, to improve retention and reduce friction.
Dynamic search results
Tailor search filters and results to highlight trending products, best-sellers, or user preferences to accelerate product discovery and repeat purchases.
Recommended features
Suggest complementary add-ons, premium upgrades, or additional services based on subscriber behavior to increase revenue.
Next best action
Encourage high-value actions like completing a profile, exploring new products, or upgrading plans to enhance engagement and satisfaction.
Proactive cart nudges
Reduce abandonment by reminding users about incomplete sign-ups or expiring offers, increasing conversions.
Savings goal tracking
Show progress toward loyalty rewards such as free gifts or discounts, motivating additional purchases.
Personalized rewards tracking
Highlight available loyalty rewards and suggest actions to maximize benefits, deepening engagement and retention.
Retention & upgrade offers
Recommend plan upgrades, exclusive add-ons, or renewal incentives based on user engagement, purchase frequency, and browsing behavior to drive higher retention and lifetime value.
What subscription companies should consider when evaluating a CDP
90%5 of marketers say their traditional CDP does not do what they need, so why do they keep buying them?
| Category | Traditional CDP | Composable CDP |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Operates as a separate entity, removed from your company’s data | Integrates directly within your company’s data infrastructure |
| Security & data storage | Data is stored and maintained in the CDP’s data infrastructure | Data is stored and maintained in your existing data infrastructure |
| Data access | Supports user and event data | Supports both online and offline data |
| Data modeling | Uses predefined models that may not fully capture churn signals or subscription tier migrations | Supports tailored models to handle subscription plans, churn predictors, and engagement data |
| Audience management | Supports broad segmentation but struggles with identifying retention patterns or high-value subscribers | Enables granular segmentation using data on subscription tiers, usage behaviors, and cancellation trends |
| Customer journey customization | Provides standard templates for campaigns like renewal emails or general promotions | Powers fully adaptable journeys for events like tier upgrades, subscription renewals, and trial-to-paid conversions |
| Identity resolution | Relies on out-of-the-box algorithms that may not unify profiles across subscriptions apps and payment platforms | Supports custom algorithms to unify profiles across subscription accounts, usage logs, and billing systems |
| Pricing | Bundled pricing: dependent on monthly tracked users (MTUs) & feature add-ons | Unbundled: individually priced features with no MTU billing |
| Average implementation time | 6-12 months | 1-4 months |
- ArchitectureIntegrates directly within your company’s data infrastructure
- Security & data storageData is stored and maintained in your existing data infrastructure
- Data accessSupports both online and offline data
- Data modelingSupports tailored models to handle subscription plans, churn predictors, and engagement data
- Audience managementEnables granular segmentation using data on subscription tiers, usage behaviors, and cancellation trends
- Customer journey customizationPowers fully adaptable journeys for events like tier upgrades, subscription renewals, and trial-to-paid conversions
- Identity resolutionSupports custom algorithms to unify profiles across subscription accounts, usage logs, and billing systems
- PricingUnbundled: individually priced features with no MTU billing
- Average implementation time1-4 months
- ArchitectureOperates as a separate entity, removed from your company’s data
- Security & data storageData is stored and maintained in the CDP’s data infrastructure
- Data accessSupports user and event data
- Data modelingUses predefined models that may not fully capture churn signals or subscription tier migrations
- Audience managementSupports broad segmentation but struggles with identifying retention patterns or high-value subscribers
- Customer journey customizationProvides standard templates for campaigns like renewal emails or general promotions
- Identity resolutionRelies on out-of-the-box algorithms that may not unify profiles across subscriptions apps and payment platforms
- PricingBundled pricing: dependent on monthly tracked users (MTUs) & feature add-ons
- Average implementation time6-12 months
Why Hightouch for consumer subscriptions?
Your CDP vendor should mold to your data — not the other way around. Hightouch is purpose-built to handle the complexity of consumer subscriptions.
Leverage any data point in your warehouse – not just users, accounts, and events.
Build and activate audiences directly from your warehouse.
Integrate with your existing data infrastructure on your warehouse.
Leverage any data point in your warehouse – not just users, accounts, and events.
A complete CDP for consumer subscriptions
Members
Overlap
Long-term subscribers who canceled recently
2,988 members
1,974 members
Churned 12+ month subscribers 2,988
Annual subscribers who switched to monthly before churn 1,974
Member overlap 378 or 12.65%
Customer Data Platform resources
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What is a Composable CDP?
Learn why Composable CDPs are seeing such rapid adoption, how they work, and why they're replacing traditional CDPs.
Free CDP RFP template: streamline your vendor evaluation
Building a tailored CDP RFP is key to choosing the right platform for your business. Use our free template and evaluation framework to focus on the most important features and values for your goals.
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