Strategies for Building Engagement and Long-Term Relationships
In our first article in this series, Recuro and Sesamy explored how to grow your subscriber base smarter — finding the right offer, using your owned channels effectively, and creating compelling reasons to join.
But acquisition is only half the story. The real success of any subscription business lies in what happens next: keeping customers engaged and loyal over time. That’s what this next part is all about.
Acquiring new customers is important for growth, but it is the ones who stay that build a sustainable business.
In subscription models, two key concepts are central: churn and retention.
Churn describes how many customers cancel their subscription within a given period. Retention is the opposite – how many choose to stay. Together, they reveal the true health of your subscription business.
Retention is ultimately about creating engagement and ensuring that customers continue to find value in your service over time.
Why Customers Leave Early
Most churn happens early in the customer journey. After a campaign, a free trial, or a low introductory price, many users cancel their subscription before they have even experienced the real value of the product.
The problem is rarely lack of interest. It’s that customers never have time to form a habit. When the barrier to join is low, it becomes just as easy to leave.
Introductory offers play an important role by lowering the threshold for the first purchase, but how they are designed directly affects how long customers stay. Short trial periods, such as one free month, often attract many new users but also lead to quick cancellations. Longer introductions – for example, the first 100 days at a reduced price – create better conditions for customers to build habits and truly understand the value of the service.
It’s also important to recognize that not all churn is bad. Some customers will always try and leave. What matters is identifying which customers have the potential to stay and focusing efforts on them. Trying to retain everyone often leads to higher costs and weaker results.
How to Build Loyalty
When analysing subscription data from Nordic publishers, three clear patterns emerge among customers who stay longer:
1. Early engagement.
The first weeks are decisive. Customers who start using the service frequently during their first month tend to stay much longer. Help them find the right content, establish routines, and experience value from day one.
2. Smooth experience.
Many cancellations are not caused by dissatisfaction but by small irritations. Confusing logins, poor navigation, or technical issues break habits and make it easier to leave. Every small improvement in the user journey can have a major impact on retention.
3. Sense of belonging.
Loyalty grows when customers feel part of something bigger – a brand, a community, or a shared idea. Communicating values, highlighting creators or editors, and creating community around the content strengthens the emotional connection.
Retention is not only about preventing churn. It’s about creating an experience that makes customers want to stay because it feels natural, relevant, and meaningful.
That is how you build growth that lasts.
About the Recuro × Sesamy Knowledge Series
This article is part of the ongoing Recuro and Sesamy Knowledge Series, where we share insights and best practices for building sustainable subscription businesses. Together, we explore every stage of the customer journey — from smarter acquisition to deeper engagement and lasting loyalty. Stay tuned for the next part in the series.
