Episode 116: Preparing for SubSummit 2023 with John Haji at the Subscription Trade Association (SUBTA)

May 15

John Haji is the Co-Founder of the Subscription Trade Association (SUBTA), an organization that helps connect and grow the global subscription commerce economy through valuable resources, data and events.

John and his team are gearing up for their annual SubSummit, an industry trade show, now in its eighth year, coming up in late May in Dallas, Texas. The conference is devoted to those who work in or alongside the DTC subscription industry.

SUBTA and SubSummit 2023

John first got involved in the subscription industry when he co-founded a subscription box company called Gentleman’s Box. It was early on in the popularity of physical subscription box services, and the major players at the time were companies like Birchbox and Dollar Shave Club.

Being new to the subscription business, John and his team wanted to network with people from those companies so they could learn how to take their fledgling box business to the next level. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a practical way for that to happen.

So in 2016, he and his team took matters into their own hands, and they started SubSummit. The first event was held in Detroit, Michigan, which is where they were located. They were able to bring in around 200 subscription company owners and other professionals for an intimate gathering focusing on networking and education about their industry.

In 2017, they formed SUBTA, and it has become the engine that drives the SubSummit event. It is a year-round organization that bridges the gap between subscription companies and the vendors and suppliers that work with them. John’s goal for the association is to let those groups of people network and learn from each other.

The main focus for SUBTA and SubSummit initially was on subscription box services, which is what they were familiar with. But as they began to look deeper into it, they realized that there were several other verticals that could be involved with the conference.

They looked at streaming subscription verticals like Netflix and HBO. They looked at media subscriptions like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. They even thought they could include SaaS software subscriptions.

They started diversifying their audience in 2019 when they identified six distinct types of subscription categories: Subscription Box, Subscribe and Save, Membership, Media and Publication, Digital Software and Streaming. All those categories will be well represented at SubSummit.

Creating a positive customer experience

A big topic of discussion for everyone in the subscription industry is the customer experience. John says it’s important to have a positive and engaging customer experience to retain existing customers and to attract new ones.

With everyone fighting for the same amount of disposable income in the subscription world, John says your customer experience can set you apart from the competition. He’s aware that engaging with customers may not seem like a priority for a new brand, but he feels like it should be part of everyone’s strategy.

The best way to build a loyal community of customers is through content. As he says, content is king nowadays, and if you don’t have a solid content strategy you need to come up with one ASAP or you will be left behind.

Part of that strategy should include as many different content delivery channels as possible. That includes social media posts, email, YouTube and TikTok videos, blog posts, podcasts and rewards programs. Any way that you can touch a customer or reach a potential new customer is worth your time and money.

He tells the story of a company that he has a personal subscription with that is doing it wrong. The only time they reach out to him is through transactional emails, specifically one when his subscription renews and one each time an order ships.

He thinks that if you have an email list of thousands of subscribers and you’re not reaching out with promotions, deals, and personalized offers, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to create a community and grow your business.

Inventive rewards programs

John is a big fan of incentives and rewards programs to retain customers and to attract new ones. However, he thinks many brands are not being creative when it comes to those programs. As he says, anybody can offer 10 percent off, and that’s not something that is going to catch the attention of a customer.

He gives the example of a rewards program for referrals for Morning Brew, a daily email newsletter that covers everything from stocks to Silicon Valley. If you refer five people to sign up for a subscription, they will send you a tangible reward, like a shirt or a coffee mug.

He says it is memorable to get something physically delivered to your home or office, and it’s exciting to open the box and hold it in your hands. That’s the kind of creative program that people will remember.

The role of influencers

Everyone in the subscription industry knows the role of influencer affiliate marketing is changing, and it is trending toward being more expensive than ever before. It isn’t like 10 years ago, when you could send your product to someone and expect that they would promote it for you. It’s also hard to measure the ROI of that type of marketing.

John says that smart companies today are entering into strategic partnerships with influencer affiliates. The influencer has a vested interest in promoting a certain product or service because they have some kind of involvement in the curation or the messaging.

This makes the message seem organic and genuine. Doing influencer marketing this way is a great customer retention strategy if the influencer is likable and relatable to the brand. While it may be difficult for a younger company to give equity to a celebrity as an influencer, John would advise companies of all sizes to consider it. It’s the Shark Tank analogy. Not all companies go on that show for the money. Some are more interested in the network and connections that landing one of those investors could bring.

Details of SubSummit 2023

SubSummit this year will run from May 31 through June 2. It is being held in Dallas at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to subsummit.com.

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