August 14, 2018 by Kezia Gollapudi

Five Steps Broadband Marketers Should Follow to Predict and Prevent Subscriber Churn

 

Having talked to several Calix Cloud customers about successfully tackling subscriber churn, my last blog on the topic focused on key takeaways on approaching it differently: it’s more than a number, it’s an opportunity, and it’s everyone’s responsibility.

However, during a recent webinar, A Differentiated Guide to Subscriber Experience, I learned how de-emphasized subscriber retention is in a busy marketer’s priorities. An attendee poll about campaigns revealed that 40 percent focus on acquiring new subscribers, while 60 percent on upselling to existing subscribers, and 0 percent on subscriber retention.

If you are in the same boat, whether it’s because your subscriber loss is low, or haven’t yet figured out if and how you can address churn (or simply can’t find time to prioritize it), I can’t help thinking that retention is all about addressing subscriber experience proactively – so we all need to turn this around.

Considering regional broadband providers like NCTC are successfully addressing potential churn with data analytics, here are five easy steps to make retention part of your marketing strategy:

  1. Put churn on your radar. Whether your business calculates churn based on reduction in number of subscribers or loss of revenue, look at past trends and monthly averages to set a baseline, and start monitoring it regularly.
  2. Identify at-risk subscribers. Pay close attention to signs of bad subscriber experience. Find subscribers who are: hitting service limits frequently, running speed tests, getting a low Wi-Fi score (what is this?), visiting competitor websites, and gaming or streaming while on a low-speed tier.
  3. Segment based on triggers. Once you have spotted everyone with potentially bad subscriber experience, create target segments for prioritization and personalization. For example, all customers who are hitting service limits frequently and visiting competitor websites could be the first red-alert target.
  4. Personalize your engagement. With segmentation based on subscriber behavior and experience, it is easier to customize offers and campaigns. For example, targeting gamers on low speed with a message such as “beat your enemy: the spinning wheel of death” is likely to get more attention because of the lag they may already be experiencing. Or proactively calling and educating them about the effect of internet speeds on gaming, will drastically reduce frustration and create an upsell opportunity.
  5. Make retention your KPI. Measure the impact of your campaigns by monitoring change in churn that you started tracking. While this completes one full circle, note that it has to be a continuous loop. Once a happy customer can soon become an at-risk if his or her brand new smart lock is glitchy on their home Wi-Fi.

If you are wondering how to get your hands on all the necessary intelligence to start attacking churn proactively, Calix Marketing Cloud can help. We capture data from your network and billing systems, and arm broadband marketers with the subscriber behavior insights needed for retention as well as discovering upsell opportunities.