The digital subscription industry has seen a significant shift, with direct-to-consumer services taking center stage and surpassing traditional models.
Subscription-based services have solidified their role as major revenue drivers across industries. The global subscription economy is projected to be worth nearly $1 trillion by 2028, with digital video subscriptions alone expected to reach 3.5 billion worldwide during the same period
For businesses offering digital subscriptions, it's important to understand that subscription pricing models are fundamentally different from pay-as-you-go models. This is because the recurring revenue model shifts the focus from a single transaction to building a lasting relationship.
With the right pricing strategy and quality services or products, it's possible to engage and retain customers for years. This is how smart businesses optimize customer lifetime value.
When approaching subscription pricing for streaming services, it’s key to take note of the current OTT market scenario and economic condition. Currently, the times are getting challenging for OTT broadcasters as the SVOD market matures.
Subscribers today are overwhelmed the multitude of streaming options. Moreover, there’s widespread subscription fatigue from having multiple subscriptions and the inability to keep track. Thus, despite the demand in entertainment, customer acquisition and retention is tough for broadcasters today.
Moreover, the current economic climate is dotted with uncertainty around a recession along with high inflation prevalence. This is making it difficult for people to afford multiple subscriptions, rendering the right pricing strategy as a critical variable in driving OTT success.
Getting the optimal price points in SVOD subscription necessitates understanding what will make customers pay happily, and designing the offering accordingly.
This includes brainstorming to design offers in different ways to include flat-rate pricing, and value based pricing options like a freemium strategy and so on to appeal to different customer segments.
We have compiled the most recent research on pricing tactics with our decade of experience as subscriber retention experts. Our insights are carefully curated to help you develop a strategic approach to building your SVOD pricing strategy, in a way that will maximize your subscriber acquisition and retention.
These insights are applicable for both beginners and established players in the OTT industry looking to offer services to multiple buyer personas and scale revenue.
Gear up to boost your subscription pricing scheming with practical, and easy-to-implement tips.
free Ebook
This playbook distills millions of subscriber actions into benchmarks and practical plays that protect revenue and extend lifetime value.
Inside, you will:
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The playbook breaks down the full subscriber lifecycle into four phases, with benchmarks, gaps, and practical plays for each.
Phase 1
Acquire and convert
Benchmark: New-user conversion, sub-5-minute sign-ups, trial-to-paid, and campaign performance
Insight: Identify where top performers convert faster and keep more trial users engaged
Phase 2
Optimize revenue
Benchmark: ARPU, long-commit, web-channel, and annual vs. monthly value
Insight: See how leaders increase average revenue per subscriber and shift users to higher-margin plans
Phase 3
Retain and win back
Benchmark: Subscriber lifetime, retention rate, resubscription, and recurring payment success
Insight: Understand which retention gaps most impact subscriber lifetime
Phase 4
Customer experience
Benchmark: Help-center engagement, contact rate, one-touch resolution, and ticket reopen metrics
Insight: Discover how leading brands turn support interactions into loyalty and retention advantages
