• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, October 23, 2024

What can’t I subscribe to these days?  The answer, is there’s nothing you can’t subscribe to anymore.  It’s a double negative, which can be confusing, so let me point it out more clearly:  You can subscribe to most everything in your life.

You can subscribe to media like streaming services, or simply subscribe to cable.  You can subscribe for groceries and meal services.   You can subscribe to a digital assistant that will remind you of everything you need to do, including subscribe to more services. And some companies will review your financial statements, point out all the myriads of things you subscribe to, and help you cull down the list so you can only subscribe to the essentials and save money.  Of course, I am pretty sure that service is available as a subscription.

Subscriptions are big business. They create recurring revenue and customer loyalty.  They are time savers, enabling consumers to stay on top of what they need so they can focus on what they want instead.  Subscriptions also create an entirely new form of media that some advertisers take advantage of, but many overlook. 

Subscription services can be used in the same way as any subscription media channel like a streamer or a cable network.   You can reach a very targeted, loyal, attentive audience.

Many if not most subscriptions are delivering physical goods, which creates the opportunity for engagement.  Subscription boxes are 100% targeted and 100% engagement.  They don’t go to waste.  Consumers are active in this channel, and they open every box that comes to them, which creates a distinct opportunity for partnership and the chance to deliver a message, or a trial product, to someone who will always take note.

To date, subscription services are varied and siloed, but there's definitely an opportunity for someone to organize this space.  Currently you must reach out to the subscription holder and negotiate the inclusion of a card or trial product on a one-off basis.  It can become a more organized, aggregated and pre-negotiated opportunity, so subscription box inclusion would become a scalable media channel for advertisers and marketers.

Even if nobody organizes the space, it can be worth it to engage with subscription holders.  Subscription boxes are like birthday presents that come every month, and people look forward to them.  This is not a skippable media insertion.  This is a form of engagement that as a former media buyer, I would pay handsomely to use for my brands.

The subscription economy is not going away.  It continues to grow, and more brands are finding ways to be engaged in this space.  As a media professional, you should be looking at this space to determine how you can harness its value.