An inconvenient truth for most subscription publishers is that their businesses are driven — to some degree — by revenue from people who don’t actually use the products or services they’re paying for. They might be paying subscribers, but they’re inactive — or “asleep.”
Deciding what to do about sleepers can be tricky. They often represent a meaningful chunk of publishers’ subscriber bases, and attempting to “wake” them risks triggering cancellations and denting revenue.
At the same time, relying on revenue from users who are unaware they’re paying for a product — and/or see no value in it — is not an effective strategy for a sustainable business. Subscription publishers reliant on revenues from sleepers should ask themselves serious questions about the value of their products and services, and their long-term viability.
What are sleeper subscribers?
Definitions for sleeper subscribers vary based on the nature of the publisher and product in question, but users can typically be considered sleepers if they have not accessed a site or service they have an active subscription to at least once within the past 30 days. Sleeper subscribers are also sometimes referred to as “zombie” subscribers.
Subscription software provider Piano said sleepers represented 40% of subscribers to media sites who used its technology during the month of January.
Why ignoring sleepers is not an effective strategy
Opting to minimize contact with sleepers while continuing to charge them for a product they don’t use can be tempting. Most publishers bend over backwards to minimize churn, so the idea of taking actions that might trigger cancellations is tantamount to blasphemy.