The 4 must-have lifecycle marketing campaigns to optimize revenue

What most successful subscription apps have in common today is a well-crafted and optimized lifecycle marketing strategy that supports their monetization funnel.

Look at industry leaders like Calm, Flo, BetterMe, NordVPN, and others – they’re using lifecycle marketing to optimize every touchpoint of their monetization system. These companies understand that each user interaction is an opportunity to drive revenue, and they’ve built sophisticated campaigns to capitalize on these moments.

When teams think about lifecycle marketing, they often focus solely on engagement metrics. But they’re leaving money on the table by not leveraging it as a key driver of revenue and monetization.

If we generalize, there are three umbrella lifecycle points where you can use lifecycle marketing to maximize its impact on revenue.  

1. User activation – getting users to take free trials
2. Trial-to-paid rate – improving the trial-to-paid conversion rate
3. Revenue retention – improving the revenue retention

In this article, I’ll mostly focus on the revenue retention aim of the lifecycle marketing and, usually, it’s one of the least utilized ones.

Revenue retention is a metric that measures a company’s ability to retain and grow its revenue from existing customers over a specific period. It reflects how much revenue remains or grows from a group of customers after accounting for churn (customers who leave or downgrade) and upgrades (customers who increase their spending). It usually decreases when your paid customers churn or trial-to-paid conversion rate tanks. 

There are four big segments that your winback strategy should target with lifecycle marketing.

1. Users with canceled but active subscriptions
2. Users with canceled but active trials
3. Users with expired subscriptions
4. Users with expired trials 

Users with canceled but active subscriptions

These canceled-but-still-active subscribers can represent a significant cohort, especially for apps with a large user base and good install to paid conversion rate. Since these users have already demonstrated willingness to pay for your subscription once, they’re a valuable segment that deserves special attention. However, your win-back strategy should vary based on factors like their original subscription plan and when they canceled – a one-size-fits-all approach won’t be as effective.

To create an effective win-back strategy for this segment, focus on these two key factors:

• The length of their original subscription plan (whether they chose monthly, quarterly, or annual billing)
• The timing of their cancellation within their subscription cycle (for example, immediately after purchase vs. near the end of their period)

When a user subscribes to an annual plan and cancels immediately after payment, offering discounts requires careful consideration due to App Store subscription guidelines. Here’s a practical example: imagine a user subscribes to a $39.99/year plan and then cancels. If you send them a discounted offer of $19.99/year and they accept it, the new price and subscription will only take effect at the end of their current subscription period. This means (depending on when they canceled) you might not receive the new subscription payment for 9-12 months – all while providing service at a significantly reduced future rate with no immediate revenue impact.

How should you approach this segment effectively? First, determine your win-back strategy (whether it’s discounts, additional trials, or buy-one-get-one offers). Then, divide your audience into two key segments:

• Users with more than 9 months remaining on their subscription
• Users with less than 3 months remaining on their subscription

For users with longer remaining periods (e.g. 9 months), instead of offering annual discounts, consider converting them to discounted multi-year plans (like 2-year subscriptions). NordVPN executes this strategy particularly well. Here’s why this works: according to App Store guidelines, subscription upgrades take effect immediately, meaning you receive payment upfront.

For example: If a user is currently on a $39.99/year plan, you might offer them a two-year plan at $59.99/year. When they opt in, they’re charged immediately for the upgrade. (Note: Be careful with this approach, as users may be eligible for a refund when upgrading to a more expensive subscription tier.)

For users with canceled but active subscriptions who have less than 3 months remaining, focus on creating compelling, time-sensitive offers. Use a combination of personalized discounts and urgency-driven messaging to encourage resubscription. While these users won’t be charged immediately if they accept your offer – the new payment will process at the end of their current subscription period – the shorter remaining time (maximum 3 months) makes this approach more financially viable.

Users with expired subscriptions

Another crucial segment is users with expired subscriptions. This group is particularly valuable because they’ve already demonstrated willingness to pay for your product and understand its value proposition. Their likelihood to convert is typically higher compared to users who have never paid, making them an essential target for your win-back campaigns.

Here are three key strategies that prove particularly effective with this segment:

Full-price resubscription offers at expiration

When a subscription expires, immediately present users with an option to resubscribe at the regular price. This straightforward approach works surprisingly well because it catches users at a moment when they might be missing your product’s value. The timing is crucial – reaching out right as they lose access can create a sense of immediate loss that motivates resubscription.

Strategic discount offers after full-price decline

If users don’t respond to the full-price offer, follow up with a strategic discount. This tiered approach helps maintain your price integrity while still providing flexibility. Start with modest discounts and potentially increase them over time, but always maintain a sense of urgency or exclusivity with these offers to drive action.

Trial period extensions

Sometimes users have low intent to re-subscribe so offering them free access for a certain time period might work surprisingly well. Offering a short additional trial period can effectively re-engage users who may have forgotten why they subscribed in the first place. Make sure to showcase new features or improvements during this trial period, and set up clear messaging about subscription options as the trial nears its end.

Users with canceled but active trials

Another important segment to tackle are the users who took a trial but then canceled it but the subscription is still active. These users showed some intent to purchase and were interested in the paid offering of your product. There are mostly two reasons why users cancel their trials – 1) it’s expensive for them, 2) are not convinced of its value. 

There are two particularly effective strategies to deal with this segment of users to win back.

1. Extend their free trials after cancellation
2. Offering deep discounts to convert them to paid 

Extend users’ free trials after cancellation

Trial cancellations predominantly occur during the first hour of taking it, revealing two critical patterns. First, users are canceling preemptively due to concerns about automatic charges at the trial’s end. Second, while users recognize the need to test the premium product, they often find the pricing premium and struggle to justify the value proposition during such a brief exposure.

Often trial to paid conversion requires adequate time to demonstrate product value. An effective strategy is implementing a dynamic trial extension program, tailored to each user’s engagement profile. This approach transforms an immediate cancellation into an opportunity for deeper product engagement.

Consider implementing a lifecycle marketing journey that activates immediately upon trial cancellation. This journey can automatically offer personalized trial extensions—ranging from an additional week to a full month—based on user behavior metrics and characteristics. You can execute this either through your backend infrastructure or leverage the App Store’s cross-grading functionality for seamless trial extensions.

Upon securing a trial extension, it’s crucial to launch targeted value demonstration campaigns. Focus on guiding users toward premium features that historically correlate with successful conversions and long-term retention. This data-driven approach to feature adoption has shown significant improvements in trial-to-paid conversion rates and overall subscription longevity.

Key actions:

• Monitor early cancellation triggers
• Implement automated trial extension offers
• Develop personalized engagement campaigns
• Track premium feature adoption metrics
• Measure conversion rate improvements

This refined approach transforms trial cancellations into opportunities to improve revenue and winback subscribers.

Offering deep discounts to convert them to paid 

Implementing strategic discounts for users who cancel their trials can be a powerful win-back tool. The key is developing sophisticated lifecycle marketing journeys that activate upon trial cancellation, systematically offering targeted discounts to re-engage users.

A progressive discount strategy is particularly effective, where discount percentages incrementally increase if users don’t convert during initial touchpoints. For optimal results, you can either:

• Leverage machine learning models to predict optimal discount levels for different user segments
• Implement a systematic progressive discount framework to maximize revenue potential

However, your retention metrics should guide the aggressiveness of your discount strategy. If user engagement drops dramatically after trial cancellation, consider leading with deeper discounts immediately rather than gradual increases. This prevents losing potential conversions from users who might otherwise churn permanently.

Key variables to consider when crafting your discount strategy:

• Post-cancellation retention curves
• User segment response rates
• Optimal discount thresholds
• Timing of discount offers
• Revenue impact analysis

Monitor key metrics closely to fine-tune your discount progression and timing, ensuring you’re maximizing both conversion rates and revenue per user. This data-driven approach to discount management can significantly improve win-back rates while maintaining healthy profit margins.

Users with expired trials or subscriptions

Users with expired trials or subscriptions represent a valuable opportunity since they’ve already demonstrated willingness to pay for your premium offerings. The revenue potential of this segment depends on your monthly active users penetration rate among expired subscribers.

Rather than bombarding these users with marketing messages and discounts, which could harm retention and user experience, consider a strategic two-segment approach.

The first segment consists of users whose subscriptions or trials have just expired. For these users, implement a trigger-based lifecycle marketing journey that activates immediately upon expiration. Start with a straightforward notification about their subscription status and offer a full-price renewal option. If they don’t respond, gradually introduce progressive discounts as discussed earlier.

The second segment includes users with historically expired subscriptions and trials. For this group, create scheduled marketing campaigns using platforms like Iterable or Braze. These platforms make it easier to manage time-based scheduled campaigns for specific segments. Apply the progressive discount strategy here as well, but pay careful attention to timing, delays between communications, and frequency. Getting any of these elements wrong could disrupt the user experience and negatively impact retention.

The key to success lies in testing and optimizing your approach. Monitor how users respond to different timing patterns and discount levels, and adjust accordingly. This balanced approach helps maximize revenue recovery while maintaining strong user relationships and protecting your brand value.

Bonus strategy 🎁
Cart abandonments

Subscription cart abandonment is measured by analyzing the “Transaction Complete / Transaction Start” ratio – tracking users who click ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Start Free Trial’ but don’t complete the purchase. Most consumer apps face a significant challenge here, with over 50% of users abandoning the transaction after clicking paywall buttons.

To combat this issue through lifecycle marketing, consider two proven strategies:

The first approach is immediate intervention: Present an alternative promotional paywall with an instant discount when users do an abandonment. This works because users are still actively engaged and considering your premium offering. The key is timing – capturing their interest at the precise moment of hesitation.

The second approach focuses on systematic follow-up: Deploy targeted lifecycle marketing through multiple channels including push notifications and emails. Create a dedicated cart abandonment journey that activates the moment a user leaves the transaction flow. This multi-channel approach keeps your offering top-of-mind and provides multiple opportunities for conversion.

From my experience at CoinStats, implementing these strategies led to impressive results: a 64% reduction in cart abandonment and a 10% increase in new revenue. These numbers demonstrate the significant impact of well-executed cart abandonment strategies on overall business growth.

The key to success lies in quick action and persistent, thoughtful follow-up. By addressing abandonment both in the moment and through sustained engagement, you can significantly improve conversion rates and capture otherwise lost revenue.

Final thoughts 

Lifecycle marketing (or CRM) is a powerful yet often underutilized tool in subscription apps. When properly implemented, it can significantly optimize your subscription strategy and drive substantial revenue growth. While I’ve outlined several fundamental campaigns above, these should serve as a foundation for your own strategy – not the final destination.

The key to success is continuous experimentation, testing, and refinement of these basic principles to fit your unique product and user base. Every audience is different, and what works for one business may need adjustment for another.

I’m always happy to discuss strategies and share insights. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter if you have specific questions about implementing these approaches in your apps.

The beauty of lifecycle marketing lies in its flexibility and scalability. Start with these fundamentals, measure your results, and build upon what works best for your specific situation.