Today, many companies follow the paid subscription model. Be it Netflix or Amazon prime, you select a plan and pay for it. However, each plan has an ending date beyond which you can no longer use its services. How does a company continue to retain their customers then? They send a renewal email to do so! For instance, have you ever received a reminder to renew your Netflix subscription? 

Despite this era of Instagram and Tiktoks, digital marketing still gives emails a lot of importance. Therefore, email marketing is far from disappearing. The primary reason is the reach. Almost every person has an email address today. Be it a 50-year-old man or a 15-year-old child. This is also due to the companies themselves. Almost any website today requires you to create an account. They either prefer creating an account through a phone number or an email id. However, lots of people don’t like giving out their phone numbers. Therefore, more people keep getting added to mailing lists daily.

However, customers don’t take time to disengage too. Customers missing out on emails or being spammed by too many are very common causes. Therefore, it becomes important to have a solid email marketing strategy. Most of the communication between a company and a customer takes place via email. Be it offers or reminders, email is formal and easier. This is the same with renewal emails too. Each email should be written in a way that makes the user open it. You don’t want your company to lose existing customers. We all know how getting a new customer is way more time and money-consuming. Therefore, renewal emails come in handy to keep your cash flow constant.

What Is Renewal EmailAn email (or electronic mail) is a method of exchanging communications through the internet. It is one of the most used features on the web and the number one mean...? 

If your company has a subscription-based model, your subscription is your revenue. Therefore, more subscribers equal more revenue. However, rarely do companies offer lifetime memberships. This means that there is a cycle of payment. This is for very small daily things in life too. For instance, your mobile recharge! We all tend to pick out the best plans that work for us. We have monthly, quarterly as well as yearly plans. After the end of the selected number of months, you have to pay again. Therefore, the cycle continues. 

So, renewal emails are messages sent to customers automatically. These emails are sent as a reminder for renewal. The reminder’s main goal is to make the customer take action. However, a renewal email is not just one single email. It can actually be a campaign too. If you want a customer to stay with you, one email isn’t enough. How about 2-3 emails before the expiry date? One email on the date your plan actually expires and finally the last follow-up. Every email inbox is filled with endless emails. You cannot expect customers to check every mail. Therefore, It is a process.

Your renewal emails should not just be reminder messages. They can be crafted a lot better. For instance, add a call-to-action in your email. This saves the customer time and trouble to renew their membership or subscription. Some emails may focus on sending reminders along with better offers or plans. This will attract the customer even more. You must ensure how you make your customer realise your company’s value. Therefore, focus on giving the customer a strong reason to continue being with your company. This is exactly what makes renewal emails stand out and do better.

The Importance and Benefits 

Well, the importance of sending a renewal email is actually well established. It’s actually a good way to recognise a loyal customer too. However, there are some key advantages of sending a renewal email:

• Inform: Well, obviously the first purpose of a renewal email is to inform. It is to inform the customer about your plan expiring and the expiry date. However, It is also to inform them about any new plans and offers. A company must always ensure providing the correct information to their customer. However, fancy or creative you want your email to be, you must make sure that this information is a part of it.
• Retains customers: Very often, customers decide that they no longer have any use for your service. In fact, lots of times we don’t realise if our customers are slipping away. These renewal emails offer a lot of help. They are not only meant to remind but also revive. Your email should be such that it pulls back the customer you might be losing.
• Issue addressal: Sometimes, customers may face issues while using your service. These issues could also arise while renewing the subscription. A renewal email with the correct contact information can help. This will help you address your customer’s problems. Therefore, increasing customer satisfaction.
• Increases Revenue: Gaining new customers but losing out on old ones isn’t good business. These renew emails help retain your customer base. Therefore, maintaining and increasing the company’s revenue.

How To Write Renewal Email 

Well, your customers may have expiring subscriptions at a lot of places. How should your email be to make them take action? Here are a few things you can keep in mind while writing a renewal email:

• Subject line: First and foremost, a perfect subject line. Your email’s subject will make sure if your customer opens the email. Be creative with it! Don’t make it plain and boring like any other. For instance, “We miss you, are you joining us again?” Urgency is also a good way to make your customers open the email. 
• Keep it crisp: Honestly, no one wants to read long messages, especially emails! Writing long emails can make your customer miss out on important details. Use pointers or different fonts to make your point clearer.
• Mention the date: Don’t make this obvious mistake! You have to mention the exact date your service expires. Make it bold to hold your customer’s focus there.
• Add contact information: Plenty of customers may have doubts about plans or renewal issues. It is best to mention a number or email id they could send their queries to.
• Content: Your email’s content should be attractive as well as to the point. A renewal email is like giving an offer again. Therefore, try using different ways to do so. For instance, sharing your company’s achievements. You can also talk about how long the customer has been with you. All this helps hold your customer’s attention.
• Personalise it: Nowadays, personalising any message goes a long way. Wouldn’t it be nice to be reminded of all the shows you watched this year? This will remind you of how valuable this subscription was for you. Hence, making you actually pay again for renewal! Therefore, your renewal email should do the same for your customer too. 

Tips For Writing A Good Renewal Email 

Although the above section gave an insight into good email writing. Here are a few tips you could keep in mind for writing a good renewal email:

• How about a campaign? As already mentioned, renewal emails are a process. You cannot expect your customer to be waiting for an email from you. It is your job to make this smooth renewal process. Depending on the customer’s plan, work out what’s the best time to send reminder emails. Decide on when you send it first and when next. However, creates a sense of more urgency each time. Always ensure to send an email on the expiry date. In addition, it’s always nice to send a small follow-up later too.
• Don’t be pushy: Yes, you want your customers to click on that CTAA CTA is a phrase or word designed to get an immediate response from the reader. As the name suggests, it's usually something that involves a precise action performed by... but at what cost? Don’t be too over-persistent. You want to seem cool in front of your customers. You don’t want to force or beg them to continue using your service.
• Feedback: It’s always good to ask for feedback in your follow-up emails after expiry. Firstly, it makes your company appear humble. Secondly, it’s a great way to know what made them subscribe. Honest feedback can help you in the long run. For instance, realising that most customers chose to leave because of your high pricing. This might make you work on that aspect.
• Offers or incentives: Humans love offers! Anything with a discount is welcome. Therefore, you can use this to hold on to your customers. For instance, offering cheaper amounts for long-term plans. You may also reduce the subscription price if a customer renews earlier.
• Auto-renewals: This is a hassle-free way to continue subscriptions. Ask your customers to sign up for auto-renewals and everything is taken care of.

Best Practices

Here are some practices that’ll help you while sending a renewal email:

• Use different formats: Well, although renewal emails are the key but don’t stick to them only. As a company, your primary focus is marketing as a whole, not just emails. Therefore, it is completely okay to use different channels to remind. This is also dependent on your customers. Some customers may not check their emails at all. So, is a text message better or a phone call? For instance, what if both your reminder emails have gone by unopened? You’ve got to opt for a different medium to remind.
• Always time it well: Writing a renewal email is important but its timing is important too. Imagine sending a renewal reminder one month in advance for a 2-month membership. As a customer, you will find that pointless. Therefore, you will choose to ignore it. Similarly, imagine sending a renewal reminder on the day of expiry. What if your customer misses that email? Therefore, timing is extremely important. 
• Make the process easier: Well, a call-to-action does make things easier but there are still steps left. Not a lot of customers enjoy going through a long process of renewal. Try making this very process easier for them. Your CTA should immediately take your customer to the right page. They must be able to fill in as little as possible. In addition, don’t complicate your email processes. Keep it simple yet secure.
• Segmentation: Your audience is not the same. Everyone has different wants and likes. Some may prefer watching thrillers while some may like romance. It’s difficult. However, technology and data have made life easier. Leverage the same and segment your mailing list. Sending an email as per your customer’s liking is definitely a bonus. Long gone are the days of one-size-fits-all.

The Best Renewal Email Examples

Here are two great examples to take inspiration from:

• Squarespace

They used the client’s name to create a connection. It makes the client feel special. In addition, they use a real person’s name to sign off the email. This makes it appear friendly and increases engagement.

• Birchbox

Their email is crisp and short. A clear CTA button is added and photos are added to the email. These help users take the desired action and increase revenue.

• Clear

They clearly explain all the benefits of their service. This reminds the users why they signed up in the first place.

In Conclusion

All in all, renewal emails are much more than a simple reminder. They are an excellent way of creating customer loyalty. In addition, these emails also help you communicate your company’s value to the customer. No customer would like a simple “Reminder to renew on 5th march, 2023” email. Renewal emails must be fun and catchy. They must make your customer happy about paying and renewing their subscription again. People often don’t realise that emails can be used very creatively. Emails are often taken as a formal medium only. However, there are a lot of ways from the subject to your sign-off to be creative. Try using these to your advantage.

Using email marketing to its best can really boost your company’s performance. This form of marketing has a wide reach that has never gone wrong to date. Reminders are not a new concept. These have been used for a very long time. However, data makes all the difference today. The way you can connect with your customer is much better now. You know their choices and preferences well. Therefore, it is easier to know which type of content will work for them. These are small yet important things one must keep in mind while writing the perfect renewal email.

What do you think of renewal emails? Which techniques do you think work the best? Tell us in the comments section below!