LinkedIn · professional social network
Offer a two-person plan at 20% off, plus a big annual-plan discount
Both offers retain better; no retention figures given
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- scale
In their words
Value-Driven Growth: LinkedIn's Billion-Dollar Subscription Strategy — Ora Levit, LinkedIn
Ora Levit… And so we try to provide more value props to address that. We say that articulating the value also helps if we do a better job at telling you what benefits we have and how to use them. Those type of messaging changes alone would improve retention because our members are better informed and how to use the product. And so that has been a driver. And then we provide economic benefits to individuals who are looking to stay with us for the long term.
Ora LevitSo for example, if you want to take an annual plan with Premium, you will get a significant discount towards that and that's also a great economic opportunity for you. We've been testing in dual plans that allow you to take a plan for you and a family, friend, partner, spouse, colleague, et cetera and then we also provide 20% discount for you taking two plans. And so we see that those type of offers have also better retention, whether because there's a social effect of you and a friend interacting with it or because you provide greater value for a lower price since you stayed with us for a year, et cetera, and you're more likely to see that value and stay for a second and third and four year. And we have customers who have been with us for over decade.
David BarnardOne concept you mentioned to me was boomerang and I'd never heard that term before, but I'd like to use this podcast to help socialize that term-
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More from this episode
- Keep adding paid features, with a team as big as the growth team20+ new benefits in two years; guest credits it for acquisition and retention growth
- Keep the core free; charge for extras like rotating cover photos and a website linkNo numbers; guest says the free base feeds paid growth
- Let paying job seekers mark up to 3 jobs a month as their top choiceTop-choice applicants 46% more likely to hear back from the recruiter
- Judge tests on 5-year modeled revenue, not just first-year bookingsNo numbers; they turn down revenue that would hurt the funnel long term
- Run 1,000+ A/B tests a year, each product manager owning one areaGuest says testing beats internal debate; no specific numbers
- Ask people why they want Premium, then show plans and content that fitGuest says more tailoring always added value; no downside found
- Tell subscribers what their benefits are and how to use themMessaging changes alone improved retention; no numbers given
- Show past subscribers their own messages and, sometimes, win-back offersReturning ex-subscribers grew into a large share of subscribers
- Offer a new free trial to past subscribers after 12 monthsStill in testing; no results shared
- Give subscribers free months of partner apps like Notion, Spotify and HeadspacePerk users tend to stay longer; no numbers given
- Use AI to draft profile summaries, but sell the help, not the AI
Tags: annual-plan, dual-plan, discount, social-plan