What's considered a good retention rate?

[BrianDN]

Just wanted to put this out there: what's considered a good retention rate? (in terms of percentages of existing recurring members).

Thanks,

BrianDN

[Lee]

In all honesty, it really does depend on who you ask, affiliates or program owners, if you ask affiliates then they are going to say a much higher figure than a program owner and, depending on the type of program, even that figure could vary greatly. I like to base our retention on Condom Cash on the 50% mark, if we get 50% of members retaining, we're doing something right. If we dont, we're doing something wrong and i need to look at things to see what needs fixing.

Right now (based on last months figures), we're at the 45% retention mark on the first month meaning, out of every 100 joins we get, 45 of them rebill at month 1 and, of those 45 rebills from month 1, a good 70% of them rebill in to the 2nd month and around 50% of that 70% has rebilled in to month 3, ill find out later this month how well the figure for month 4 looks but based on the last 4 months, im guessing ill see a further 20% reduction on month 4 rebills

Basically, i need to improve things on our sites to get that figure closer to 50% or above for month 1. This is also the reason im currently working on a bunch of new members area layouts for the 18 sites however, rather than changing them all at once, im going to stagger the changes across our family of sites to see how they effect retention on different niches.

The really interesting thing that im finding, especially with the Condom Cash sites is that, although retention is below my target level of 50% at the present time, the reasons for the cancels are primarily based on the member ONLY wanting the first months access or, that their card was declined when the rebill came around LOL

Thats not really something i have any control over but, i can ensure that the existing members retain as long as possible by tweaking things on my end a little more

Hope that helps a little

Regards,

Lee

[BrianDN]

Excellent post Lee... I found that very useful. So, essentially, 50% retention (based on month 1) is a good indicator to look at then. I'll definiately keep that in mind.

Thanks,
BrianDN

[Lee]

Excellent post Lee... I found that very useful. So, essentially, 50% retention (based on month 1) is a good indicator to look at then. I'll definiately keep that in mind.

Thanks,
BrianDN

Well thats what *I* aim for retention wise, once i get several months of 50% retention, im pretty sure ill be raising my target

For a 3 month old program however, im reasonably happy with retention rates at the levels they are at right now, im sure there is room for improvement but that will come as the program matures over the next few months / years

Regards,

Lee

[BrianDN]

Lee,

So, what would you say if a site had consistent retention of 70%... Would that be considered good or great (in your opinion)?

[Lee]

Id say that was pretty good myself

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

i haven't promoted that many programs with a month to month retention rate of 70%, but there have been some. i'd say 50% or over is nice, and 70% is a high but definitely possible target.

[Chilihost]

70% is very impressive, you are doing something right!

cheers,
Luke

[dannyz]

Lee,

How exactly do you come up with your retention rate?

Are you counting trials that turn into full monthly members into the equation as well, or only full members whose trials have already converted?

I want to figure out our exact retention rates but the math is a little fuzzy LOL

Cheers,
D.

[basschick]

a trial that turns into a monthly member is coverting, not retaining. i'm not a fan of trials, but a 50% conversion rate is very nice. many large programs convert around 20% or even a little less of their trials to full memberships.

[dannyz]

Thanks Patti, that answers my question. :-)

In my experience trials do well as long as they are not too cheap and the site has enough of the kind of content they want to keep them. Our sites have so much content and updates in the niches they are looking for I think we're able to hook them.

[basschick]

do you also offer webmasters a trial-free option?

Thanks Patti, that answers my question. :-)

In my experience trials do well as long as they are not too cheap and the site has enough of the kind of content they want to keep them. Our sites have so much content and updates in the niches they are looking for I think we're able to hook them.

[Lee]

Lee,

How exactly do you come up with your retention rate?

Are you counting trials that turn into full monthly members into the equation as well, or only full members whose trials have already converted?

I want to figure out our exact retention rates but the math is a little fuzzy LOL

Cheers,
D.

Danny,

No, we dont offer trials on Condom Cash, only full monthly memberships.

I count my member retention slightly differently because of that, instead of the first time a member joins counting as month 1, that, to me, is counted as month 0 only when they rebill do they become part of the month 1 stats.

Does that make sense? LOL

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

makes sense to me, lee

Danny,

No, we dont offer trials on Condom Cash, only full monthly memberships.

I count my member retention slightly differently because of that, instead of the first time a member joins counting as month 1, that, to me, is counted as month 0 only when they rebill do they become part of the month 1 stats.

Does that make sense? LOL

Regards,

Lee

[dannyz]

do you also offer webmasters a trial-free option?

Patti,

Not yet, but if you are looking to send some traffic I could set one up today for you LOL. Let me know.

Danny,

No, we dont offer trials on Condom Cash, only full monthly memberships.

I count my member retention slightly differently because of that, instead of the first time a member joins counting as month 1, that, to me, is counted as month 0 only when they rebill do they become part of the month 1 stats.

Does that make sense? LOL

Regards,

Lee

Yeah that perfect makes sense since you don't have a trial option, only after they rebill are they actually 'retaining.'

Cheers,
D.