A marketing director from a well-funded subscription business contacted me last week with a frustrating problem: “We’ve tripled our ad spend but our conversion rates are plummeting. What are we doing wrong?”
After a quick review of their marketing funnel, the issue was painfully obvious – they were committing the cardinal sin of subscription marketing: generic messaging.
The Generic Marketing Trap
When it comes to growing subscription businesses, I’ve seen this pattern hundreds of times. Companies pump thousands into acquisition, driving traffic to a generic homepage with generic messaging that tries to speak to everyone at once.
The result? It speaks to no one.
Think about it – your subscription product likely serves multiple audience segments with different needs, goals, and pain points. When you try to create a one-size-fits-all journey, you’re essentially asking prospects to do the mental work of figuring out if your product is right for them.
And here’s the truth: they won’t do that work. They’ll bounce.
The Real-World Impact of Personalization
At one streaming service I led growth for, we were great at acquiring new subscribers but terrible at keeping them. Our marketing focused solely on getting people in the door, with little consideration for why they signed up in the first place.
When we analyzed our data, we discovered something fascinating: our content fell into distinct categories (history, science, nature, etc.), and users typically engaged primarily with one category.
This insight led to a complete overhaul of our acquisition strategy:
We stopped showing the same ads to everyone
We created category-specific ad creative (history ads for history lovers)
Most importantly, we built dedicated landing pages for each interest group
The results were staggering – a 64% increase in acquisition. But the benefits didn’t stop there. These segment-specific conversions also showed 22% higher retention rates over six months.
Why? Because we delivered on the specific promise that got them to sign up in the first place.
The Buyer’s Journey Framework That Actually Works
If you’re running a subscription business and facing similar challenges, here’s the framework I’ve used repeatedly to drive massive growth:
- Segment by Interest, Not Demographics
Forget age and location for a moment. What do your best customers actually DO with your product? What features do they use? What content do they consume?
At another company I worked with, we discovered that subscription length correlated much more strongly with feature usage patterns than with any demographic factors. - Create Dedicated Landing Pages
Your homepage tries to serve everyone. Stop sending ad traffic there.
Instead, build landing pages that speak directly to specific use cases or interests. The copy, imagery, and positioning should feel like it was created specifically for that segment – because it was.
A SaaS client implemented this approach with just three dedicated landing pages and saw trial starts increase by 37% with no increase in ad spend. - Align Ad Creative with Landing Pages
This sounds obvious but is rarely executed well. Your ad creative should seamlessly connect to your landing pages in both visual style and messaging.
When a prospect clicks on a history-focused ad and lands on a history-focused page that shows history-specific content, the cognitive load drops to zero. They don’t have to figure out if you’re right for them – you’ve already shown them you are. - Personalize the Onboarding Experience
The personalization shouldn’t stop at conversion. Your onboarding sequence should reinforce why they signed up in the first place.
If someone comes in through your “productivity features” campaign, their first-week experience should highlight those specific tools, not your collaboration features.
With one client, we implemented a simple but effective solution: tagging users based on acquisition source and using those tags to customize their welcome email sequence. This small change led to a 14% increase in week-one engagement.
The Hard Truth About Scaling Subscription Businesses
Pumping money into acquisition is easy. The hard part is delivering enough value to keep subscribers engaged and paying month after month.
Generic marketing creates a disconnect between what prospects expect and what they actually experience. This gap is where churn is born.
When you personalize the entire journey – from first ad impression to daily usage – you create alignment between expectation and reality. That alignment is where retention thrives.
Start Small, Scale What Works
You don’t need to rebuild your entire marketing operation overnight. Start with your highest-potential segment:
Identify your most engaged user group
Create a dedicated landing page for them
Run a small test campaign with segment-specific creative
Measure not just conversion rates but also retention and engagement
Once you prove the model works, roll it out to additional segments.
The Bottom Line
In the Marine Corps, we learned to assess situations with precision and rigor, facing hard truths with no fluff or BS. The hard truth here is simple: generic marketing is killing your subscription business.
Your prospects aren’t generic. Your product isn’t generic. Your marketing shouldn’t be either.
Stop trying to speak to everyone at once. Start creating personalized journeys that show prospects exactly how your product solves their specific problems.
Your conversion rates – and your retention metrics – will thank you.
I help subscription businesses with growth strategy and execution so they can grow in a predictable, repeatable way. After 20+ years of leading growth at companies from startups to major media brands, I’ve seen what actually works. Want to discuss your specific challenges? Let’s connect.
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Best,
Rob
When you’re ready, here are some ways I can help you:
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