Page 48 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

2. Suggest that they will be missing out on things other people
will still be getting. Nobody likes to feel left out and if you play,
subtly, on this fear, you can make people feel that they ought
to renew.

3. Make it easy for them to renew. Don’t stick complicated forms
in front of your subscribers/members. Make it as simple as
possible for them to renew and don’t confuse them with too
many options.

4. Use “extend” instead of “renew.” Extend carries the sense of a
continuing relationship, rather than one that comes to an end
and has to be restarted each year. Really, we’re only interested
in how long they’re going to renew for, rather than whether
they’re going to renew at all. In other words, our old friend the
assumptive close.

5. Make an offer for early renewal and explain that there won’t be
any further better offers. You could use a phrase like “this is our
best offer for existing subscribers.” People will sometimes hold
off on the renewal because they’re convinced a better offer is just
around the corner. You can push them off the fence by stating
explicitly that this is the lowest price they’re going to get.

In practice

• Write a plan for the timings, appeal, offer, tone of voice, and call

to action for your renewal series.

• Include at least one letter using a regretful tone of voice. Explain

that, although you personally would like nothing better than to
continue having them as a subscriber, unless you receive their
order it really will have to be goodbye.

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 39