I snagged this interesting tidbit off of another forum, so I can't link to it, but I will
thank KatieAnn & SC for making it available!
Quote:
Finally got a large enough sample to do a real analysis of the impact of offering trial subscriptions to my site, so I thought I would share. I know some people like to promote sites with trials, some people hate it . . . but my conclusion is that on the whole they are good!
I started by looking at 2 different 4-month periods with no anomalies in traffic, no major marketing pushes, and no major site changes. The only difference that should have seriously impacted signups was the pricing (below):
Period 1 - $19.95/mo recurring ("monthly recurring")
Period 2 - $3.95 3-day trial, rebills at $24.95/mo ("trial")
$24.95/mo recurring ("monthly recurring")
$64.95 3-month non-recurring ("one-time")
Net, I increased the price of the membership and added a 3-day trial option. I did get a handful of "one-time" signups, but not enough to be a significant portion of my analysis.
The results:
- between period 1 and period 2 I saw a 10% drop in "monthly recurring" signups
- trial signups brought period 2 up to a 100% increase in total signups
- trial signups only rebill at 50% of the "monthly recurring" rebill rate (this one surprised me!)
- the clincher: "monthly recurring" signups plus *trial rebills* resulted in a total 10% *increase* in first-month month-long members for period 2!
The conclusions:
- offering a trial option cannibalizes <10% of "monthly recurring" signups (remember, I increased the monthly price as well)
- a trial option can result in doubling total membership, but trial purchasers are pretty good about remembering to cancel during the trial period
- offering a trial still results in increased income, no matter how you slice it (assuming you offer decent content).
Obviously this represents a cross-section of all traffic I get. I'm certain signups and conversions by signup type vary by traffic type . . . but I'm pretty convinced at this point that it's worthwhile to offer a trial option on the whole.
Thoughts or comments?
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This is verified for me what I would have thought, and why I have never offered trials for any of our sites.
Your experience?