Although Aftenposten has maintained a steady pace in sales, high churn rates remain an issue that needs to be addressed.

User interviews underscore that subscribers simply aren’t getting enough value out of their subscriptions, and many face challenges in discovering content that aligns with their preferences or the content that prompted their initial subscription.

In short, we had to solve two challenges:

• Declining renewal rates.
• Unclear return of value. 

Solving user needs

Aftenposten formed Lifecycle, a cross-functional team with members from product and tech, editorial, CX/CRM, and data and analysis. The team’s goal was to address the challenges described above, focusing on initiatives and strategies that educate new subscribers on the benefits of a subscription.

The four user needs we wanted to solve were:

1. Make me feel like becoming a subscriber was a great idea.
2. Help me get the most value out of my subscription.
3. Show me the Aftenposten content universe.
4. Help me find content I like and want to read.

Our initial experiment was the First Step Guide (FSG) , which introduced an onboarding flow immediately after purchase. The FSG addressed two out of the four identified user needs (1 and 2).

The FSG had four steps: promoting app downloads, subscription sharing, text-to-speech articles, and newsletters. All of these are actions we know have a positive effect on both usage and churn.

Alongside the FSG on-site, we designed an onboarding process linked to the user’s actions via e-mail and in-product messaging (via our marketing automation system, Braze), where we personalised messaging according to each new subscriber’s actions.

The FSG had a positive effect on subscription sharing and app downloads, but this engagement was only seen in the 16% of trial subscribers who completed or engaged with the guide.

For our next experiment, the goal was to boost this percentage while also addressing additional user needs in the trial subscribers’ journey (3 and 4).

The value of active subscribers

If subscribers use Aftenposten in the first week after purchase, there’s a higher chance they will continue using it in the second, third, and fourth weeks. We’ve also learned from earlier experiments that users who make an active choice tend to be more engaged and have higher renewal rates.

Therefore, in the new experiment (active personalised onboarding), trial subscribers encountered a list of topics on the receipt page, providing them with the option to follow their preferences. We selected topics known to positively influence habit formation, incorporating content typically less prominent in daily front-page displays.

Upon toggling the preferred topics, subscribers would get a widget, “Articles for you” on the front page, showcasing the latest published articles within the chosen categories. Users also have the option to edit the topics.

Results of this campaign

Active personalisation onboarding resulted in a 25% higher completion rate (21% vs 16%). However, we saw that the app usage was significantly higher among the group with FSG (30% vs 18%).

There was no significant difference among the groups for subscription sharing or digital activity. The first renewal rate is 7% higher for the group with the FSG onboarding (38.5% vs 35.7%).

Based on the results, we are now working on combining the FSG onboarding with active personalisation, leveraging the strengths of both. This hybrid approach aims to leverage the engagement strengths of FSG with the inclusivity of active personalisation for a more effective onboarding experience.

Additionally, we are aiming for a more seamless experience beyond the initial 30 days. By expanding on the user journey within our marketing automation system, we can leverage their actions throughout the first 30 days and start working on engaging the users from day 30 to 100.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .