Subscriptions to people could be what you never knew you needed. Today, we dive deep into the concept of subscribing to humans, take a look at a new episode of the ProfitWell Report, and argue the value of customer success teams in a segment called Overrated/Underrated.

Today's Top Subscription News

Mind the Gap

An Old Agency Proverb once said, "No agency is retained for the services they provide, but for the services they provide well." Meaning, customer retention is more than sending out a great ad; you have to close the gap between ad clicks and conversion. 

Have no fear, HubSpot and Instapage's ebook on how to do just that is here. The book explores why only managing client ads is no longer enough. Agencies now have to master the consumer pre-click and post-click experience.

This knowledge comes at no cost, download the ebook here. 

Bye-Bye Humans, Hello AI

The world as we know it is changing thanks to artificial intelligence. Experts predict AI will contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. 

Yext, the online brand management company, tweeted an interesting read about the future of AI, saying search engines no longer only support AI-powered services....search engines are the AI powered services. What does this mean for you? A shakeup in your marketing strategy.

Instead of shying away from AI, we must embrace it. Getting on board with AI will help consumers find answers to their questions, which will only help solidify your brand. 

Megvii IPO Filing

On the topic of AI, Chinese AI start-up Megvii has filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering targeting proceeds of at least $500 million. 

Megvii, widely known for its facial recognition platform Face++, may raise as much as $1 billion in the IPO. 

Reuters reported that this filing comes as companies postpone or slow down listing plans in a recession-bound city. Undisclosed sources also told Reuters Megvii went forward with the IPO plans because it has little business in Hong Kong and expects the unrest to ease later this year. Megvii has remained tightlipped on the matter. 

Deep Dive

Subscriptions to... People? 

Singer/songwriter David Archuleta, a runner up on American Idol back in 2008, tweeted about the drop of his personal subscription, bringing to light the influx of potential for “subscribing to people.” 

In season 4 of our show Pricing Page Teardown, we examined the same concept but with rapper Kanye West.

David also opened up early access to the song for those who subscribe to what he’s dubbed the Archie News, a simple yet effective tactic to increase following numbers. 

A subscription service that could offer fans all the things they want exclusively from the artists themselves is a novel idea to say the least. Artists, creators, and entrepreneurs can open up their creativity and independence by relying on fans for support, not just their record labels (or, more likely, their day jobs).

So although our Yeezy breakdown was hypothetical, the Archuleta news is very real, so our hats are off to the American Idol superstar for dipping into the space. Don't be afraid to ask your subscribers to pay for content that adds value to their enjoyment of your projects, no matter what form that takes.

Overrated/Underrated

Overrated/Underrated is a game in which players deem debate-worthy items as they see fit. From freemium and free trials to the cannabis company boom, no topic is off the table. In today's segment, I'm joined by ProfitWell's Andrew Gierer, Ian black, Neel Desai, and Gina Eygenson, to argue the value of customer success teams.

And that’s a wrap for your August 27th subscription news. We’ll catch ya back here tomorrow, where we do it all again. To recruit your friends into the subscription know, send them to profitwell.com/recur/recurnow to sign up for episodes on the daily.