At a time when print products are under increasing pressure, a publishing group launched an ambitious project to strengthen customer loyalty.
The goal: significantly extend the lifespan of print subscriptions, deepen customer relationships, and increase the value contribution of each individual subscriber.
The project “AI-/Data-Based Print Retention Management” demonstrates how data- and AI-driven processes, creative communication, and agile execution can work together seamlessly.
Starting point: Print needs new touchpoints.
The print sector naturally lacks digital touchpoints. While digital products interact regularly with their users via apps, newsletters, and push notifications, the print channel is often limited to physical delivery. This limitation makes personalized communication and binding offers, and thus engagement, more difficult. At the same time, all experience with digital subscriptions shows that, apart from content, the number of relevant touchpoints is the strongest lever for greater retention.
The key question is therefore how to establish sufficient digital touchpoints with print subscribers and tailor them to individual subscriber needs. The publishing group is addressing this challenge with a clear goal: to create a pool of communication content that can be used in a target group-specific and largely automated manner throughout the entire customer journey of the print subscriber—from onboarding to offboarding.
Data as the foundation: Termination prediction and segmentation
A key element of the project is the introduction of a machine learning model for termination prediction. The model analyzes more than 60 attributes per subscriber—ranging from sociodemographic information and payment behavior to complaint patterns—and forecasts the likelihood of termination.
Subscribers are then divided into risk categories. Customers who are particularly at risk can be targeted with appropriate measures or served with particularly intensive touchpoints. Segmentation is based not only on individual characteristics but also on cluster analyses and individual pattern recognition. This creates a finely tuned profile of each customer.
Communication along the customer journey
The customer journey is viewed as a relationship model—with phases such as the introductory phase, experience, development, and maturity. Specific touchpoints have been developed for each phase:
- Welcome flow: A ten-step email sequence guides new subscribers through their first 90 days with editorial insights, special offers, and interactive elements.
- Newsletter portfolio: New topic formats such as “Celebrities” or “Family” address clearly defined reader interests.
- Exclusive content: Behind-the-scenes videos, personal forewords from the editor-in-chief, and interactive formats such as live interviews strengthen the emotional connection.
- Goodies & events: Book launches, sweepstakes, and member-only club offers provide added value beyond the print product itself.
Technical implementation and automation
Implementation takes place in agile streams, supported by tools such as Jira. All measures are transferred to standard processes and technically anchored/automated—for example, through CRM integration, automated email generation, or landing pages for data collection.
A particular focus lies on growing the email/WhatsApp opt-in rate. In the pilot phase, targeted measures such as transpromo messaging on invoices, sweepstakes, and online registration walls increased the opt-in rate from 17% to more than 44%. The goal is to exceed 50% for subscribers with less than four years of tenure.
Initial results and measurable success
The results of the pilot project are promising:
- +5% increase in subscription retention after six months.
- Six-figure additional revenue through extended customer relationships
- 20,000+ new leads through the algorithmic processing of legacy data.
- 2,100+ new email addresses have been captured from existing subscribers.
- 3,000+ active participants in interactive campaigns such as quizzes or prize draws
These figures indicate that retention management in the print segment is not an abstract concept but a tangible driver of financial stability and deeper customer relationships.
Outlook: Scaling and strategic anchoring
The project is being gradually rolled out to additional titles and regions within the publishing group. The technical infrastructure—in particular, cloud-based data storage in BigQuery—enables scalable implementation. The churn prediction models are regularly retrained and further developed.
In the long term, retention management is intended to become a firmly established part of the corporate strategy, supported by clear roles, responsibilities, and governance mechanisms. The combination of data, processes, and emotionally resonant communication will be the decisive success factor.
Would you like to learn more?
We’d be happy to discuss these topics in more detail and share further insights.
Contact:
Alexander Kahlmann, Managing Partner at Highberg
alexander.kahlmann@highberg.com
