So you wanna launch a subscription box and don't know where to start. Girl, you are in the right place. I'm Julie Ball, a subscription box coach and your host here at Subscription Box Basics, a podcast for new and aspiring subscription box entrepreneurs that want to avoid overwhelm. So grab a coffee, some pen and paper, and let's have some fun. Hey everybody. Welcome back to Subscription Box Basics. I'm Julie Ball, your host, and today I have a guest with me from SUBTA, my favorite organization. It's the Subscription Trade Association. Jennifer Cline is here with me today. She is the Director of Marketing at SUBTA and Sub Summit, which is the world's largest direct to consumer conference. Surely you've never heard me talk about Sub Summit, right? So I am super excited to have Jennifer on today because she's going to talk us through q4, but also give us some sneak peaks on what's coming for Sub Summit. The last couple episodes of the podcast, I talked about the top 10 reasons why you should budget for in-person events. Then I was sharing with you a couple of the events that I already have on the calendar for next year, and that includes Sub Summit. So Jennifer, welcome back to the podcast. Hello. Hello. So good to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah, like you said, I'm director of Marketing of all the amazing things in the subscription industry. Mom of three boys living the chaos life. But yes, everything that I'm doing is really exciting and all of my mission is about connecting ideas, people, and resources. And that's exactly what we're gonna talk about today. Yes. We are gonna dive right in cuz I know we have a lot to cover and this is the first I'm gonna hear about some of these things, so I'm really excited to get to it. So let's start, let's just talk about the industry in general at first, right? Yeah. Here we are, 2022. When we think back when the pandemic hit, we saw this huge increase in not only consumers subscribing, but new subscription box companies forming. A lot of the people in my audience launched their box during that time. Yeah. So now that the industry isn't being, as, impacted by that, what should newer boxes be thinking about? Absolutely. So like you said, consumers have an increasing appetite for subscriptions, but it's also a really busy marketplace. And so we saw a lot of businesses start out of passion or necessity during the pandemic, and that's continuing now. But you really have to start thinking about what your long term goal is. What does success look like to you? Yes, is. 50 subscribers and you are happy with that. It's nice supplemental income. You can keep it literally in your house or garage. And you're doing it all yourself, or is your goal in a year, two years, 500 subscribers? That is a vastly different strategy. It now includes partners, fulfillment, support. Maybe you're growing your team, or ultimately, are you looking to get acquired? Vastly different even further now you're thinking about what do investors care about? What is my line items on my budget. What is revenue looking like? Why would they want to acquire my business? Maybe they have a box subscription in their portfolio, for example, and you have a CAT subscription and that's a natural extension of their brand. They already kind of know that market. And so you have to be thinking about all those things as you're starting out. And the big thing that I would recommend businesses thinking about is they're differentiators. If I am lining up all of your boxes on a table and going to all of your websites in the same session, what makes you stand out? We see a ton of health and wellness boxes, for example. What makes yours different? What, how are you talking to your customers that really makes them see this is a natural extension of their lifestyle and they really need this to be a part of their life continuously. Think about all of those things as you're starting out and as you're scaling. I love that. One of the things that immediately came to my mind was, when I was running Sparkle Hustle Grow, I was very aware that there were other office supply boxes, stationary boxes, right? But one of the things that really set us apart was that we were hyperfocused on business and entrepreneur life. It wasn't about self-care. Does that mean we didn't think self-care was important? No, of course we thought self care was important, right? It, it didn't Put things in there though that were very specific to your business and I love that there were other boxes in the same niche that also did have a bath bomb or, things that would be deemed self-care. Yeah. So I think that's so important. I'm with you 100% on that. And then when you talked about what does success mean to you, I think that's so important and that's a conversation that you should have not only at the beginning of your business, but as you change. there's, you're gonna go through different seasons of your business and what success looked like to me in year one was very much different than what it looked like to me in year six when, you know we sold. So I think that's so important to understand what that looks like and not just have this arbitrary like pie in the sky number. I remember talking to a student of mine once and she was like, I just wanna get to a thousand subscribers. And I was like, Why? And she's like, Well, it just seems like the right number. It just seems like that's the number. Yeah. And I'm like, Well, why? And I just kept pressing, like why? And I'm like, Right. What's more important is figuring out what number. Of what income you wanna bring in, then back into that, like how many subscribers do you need to get there? Yeah, so I love that those are conversations that you guys are having at SUBTA and I'm assuming we're gonna have those conversations at Sub Summit as well, right? Absolutely. Yeah. We're already preparing for those types of conversations by talking to our community about exactly what you just said. I was talking to a subscription box the other day, for example, her first year success was just proof of concept and can I do this. That's all she wanted to understand for her first year. She proved the concept she can physically, emotionally, mentally, do this business, and now it is, okay, what? What is a realistic profit margin for me and what is a realistic subscriber count? She's at 20 subscribers right now. Her goal is to get to a hundred this year. Now she has all of the research data to understand that she genuinely can get there, and now she's got what success looks like in year two for her. So I love. We're gonna be continuing those conversations at Sub Summit and helping people actually strategize and get to that point of understanding. Yeah. And it's not a race. A lot of people think they have to run. Yeah. And my box bestie Jessica from All Girl Shave Club, I think I remember her telling me that she was basically in pre-launch for about a year, trying to grow her email list and proof of concept. And she didn't have to be in a race with anybody else. You know what I mean? Right. And she had, but she had to differentiate herself because there were other players in the industry. So, Right. All these things are so relevant no matter what stage you're at in your business. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay, so we're recording this in October. Holidays are right around the corner. And traditionally you're gonna see, just like clockwork, this increase in consumer demand for subscription boxes because they make such great gifts. Yeah. Whether that's, a one off box or whether that's a subscription. So what do you think that our listeners should be thinking about as we're in this holiday season and we're like really heading right into it. Yeah. Two key things. Seamless gift giving and proactive retention. We did a study in March that 60, we found 65% of consumers are going to gift a subscription. For the holiday season, Huge number. And as we get closer to the holiday season, the hypothesis is that's only increasing. So it's a really unique opportunity for subscription companies to get people aware of their box that might not been a, they're not aware of it otherwise. Right. I love a certain subscription box and I want the world to know about it, so now I'm giving that as a gift. This person is introduced to this new brand. For the consumer that's buying the gift. Make sure in the checkout process that gift purchasing is super easy. You're getting all the information for who's getting the gift, you're getting their email address. Obviously you need their snail mail address. the email address is gonna be key so you can continue the conversation with them after the subscription ends. And then proactive retention. What happens when the gift is no longer happening? Yeah. I wanna continue. The subscription, I should get a quick email letting me know your subscription is ending. Happy little button that leads me to a page. I can enter my own credit card information and continue that relationship with the brand. You also need to be thinking about, these are new people. They haven't been introduced to your brand. They're getting this unboxing experience. How do you make it a really meaningful experience for them? Putting extra pamphlets in the box, maybe having unique emails that go to them that's different than the traditional subscriber. Having maybe video content that supports their lifestyle throughout their duration of their subscription, making sure that they understand they're truly gonna miss something once this gift ends and they wanna make sure that this relationship is continuing afterwards. I would agree with that. We would put an insert in our October, November and December box to just I love that. Yeah. Just to kind of get them thinking about gift giving. Yeah. The one side of it said it was a picture of me holding a box and I had a pink santa hat on, just very festive. And it said, Forbes calls us the. The best box to gift the boss, babe. And then on the backside it says, Here's how you can gift. And it gave options. And our options were gift cards. So you could do a digital gift card for all those last minute ones. Like you could literally buy it 10 minutes before you go to the holiday party, and you have a gift in hand or gifting subscriptions like you said. And admittedly, I don't feel like I did a great job in retaining those customers because like clockwork come, if someone got December, January, February as a gift, we could see that in March those gift subscriptions drop off. Yeah. And I can think back now in hindsight, like, Oh, I should have done this, or I should have done that. So I love the idea of an email paired up with an insert and maybe that insert has a QR code to a personal video that says, Hey, I think your gift subscription is about to expire and you're really gonna miss it. Here's how you can continue to get the box. Yeah. I love all of that. Great ideas and doing like, Hitting them from multiple angles, might have seeing that. Yeah. We're seeing it so much now. We, our tension spans are weaning. Right. And oh, the gift subscription's over, I'm gonna carry on with my day. Remind them, it's borderline of don't spam them Right. But make sure it's a tailored message talking to them very personally, especially if you're attached to your brand. Right. Have a conversation with them about we're gonna miss you. Come back like, let's hang out forever. Yes. Ooh. I like that. We're gonna miss you. Like it's a relationship almost like you are gonna miss getting this box, but we're gonna miss you too. Yeah. So don't break up with us, right. Please don't go girl. Yeah. Okay, so let's continue talking about q4. I've had a couple people ask me this recently about budgets, like how to evaluate their budgets and goals for next year. I found that in the past I, I saw a lot of cyclical things for the business businesses. Sparkle Hustle Grow for example, q4 was hot, solid, strong. Q1 was good, but in the summertime when people were taking a break from their jobs or, at home with their kids in the summer, we would definitely see that cycle, that cyclical kind of decrease in demand. Right? So like how do you guys think about this when you're looking at budgets and goals for the next year? Yeah. I'm really on this wave right now of you don't necessarily need money to get started eventually. Right? It's 2022 going into 23, you're gonna need to do social ads. But especially as you're starting out, you really need to think beyond social. You need to think more grassroots and personal engagement. And so, budget for me is more about time than it is money. You need to think the finances. That's absolutely important. But on the time front, what unique things can you do to attract to your customers? So an example, if you're a health and wellness box, how can you meet those people where they are? Maybe it's hosting a workshop at your library on health and wellness. You're already attracting your target demographic. Educating them on something and then kind of that soft sell is a natural extension of that conversation. I recently saw a subscription box at my local farmer's market, which at first I til in my head and I was like, Why are you here? But then as I talked to her, I really understood she was a kid's craft box with locally based products. People that I go to going to the farmer's market care about. They care about quality made products. they often are the families of the community. They care about supporting others in their community. And so she actually got a ton of signups at the farmer's market and it costs her$20 for the day and she and I far surpassed that and revenue at the end. And so how do you uniquely support the lifestyle of your target demographic in a way that might not cost you anything or cost you very little? That is my recommendation for budgeting next year for sure. I can be on board with that. We love going to events and think about where does your target audience spend their time? Yeah. Not just on social media, of course they're, they might have their favorite social media, but Are they going to events? So in my previous. Corporate career. I worked in music marketing and one of my jobs was to get sponsors to come to our local amphitheater in Charlotte, North Carolina to set up as vendors. And so it's almost like the same thing. I'm not saying that you have to go out and, find a 10, 20,000 seat venue and set up there, right? But if that's where your audience is, why not start to think about where can you naturally be where they're at, enjoying that lifestyle or whatever where it. Absolutely. Yeah. They're already having the conversation. You need to make sure you're a part of it and they understand why you're going to be a support in that lifestyle. Yeah. Yeah. So when you're looking at 2023, I mean, things seem like, are the trends healthy? Like are subscriptions just as hot as they were? They are just as hot, but you have to have the lens of inflation is a thing. Recession is probably a thing. So it really goes back to that differentiator, right? Like why do they need your business and how are you a practical solution to things they're already gonna be purchasing? Yeah. So highlighting those things on your site is gonna be huge. What is the value proposition and why is it better to buy it from you than going to my local store and purchasing things? One off. The practicality of boxes is huge. If you think of Hello Fresh, for example, sure it's expensive, but going out to eat is incredibly expensive too. So the practicality of getting that subscription box in these economic times is very suitable for the lifestyle that we need to lead. So make sure you're talking about those things on your site and. Helping people understand it's a no brainer to subscribe. You are not like in a marriage commitment forever. This is a mutually beneficial relationship and we are supporting your existing life in an economical fashion. And with your example of Hello Fresh, like it's the opportunity costs too. Like the time I have the opportunity to get back, an hour of my time because this meal is like almost ready, like prepared. Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that you can really talk about on your website is the convenience factor. It's gonna show up what you need when you need. It's gonna show up on your doorstep. Yeah. And that, think about like what unique factors your subscription box can do, not only for convenience, but practicality, but like, how do you make their lives better? Yeah. Just sit down and brainstorm. Like, how do I, when someone subscribes, how do I make their life better? And there was where I was at an event, it was like a marketing event one time, and the speaker said, Start with the transformation. When you're writing your copy, start with the transformation. Like what does their life look like after they've experienced your product, In this case, your subscription box. Yeah. How is their life better? And paint that picture for them. Absolutely. So I always love that. Yeah. I think something unique about subscriptions too is it's so go be, it goes beyond the product and so many subscriptions if you're doing it right, they have things that engage you throughout the subscription. That's not just product specific, it's the exclusive Facebook group. It's the video content, it's the blogs, it's the one on one coaching, it's the, whatever it is. You're doing so much more than the product. Yeah the product is important, but especially with the relationship we have with the subscription, you have to be very comprehensive in how you do that. The experience, right? Experience, Yes. Everything from a unboxing to what happens in between you getting those boxes. Yes. The experience is everything. One thing that worked really well for me in the past is teaching my customers how to use the product. So randomly I would just grab one item and I'd do a quick video and that would be a great reel. Cause reels are so big right now, Like, how do you use this product? And not only will it remind them that they also have this product, but it might also give them ideas of using it in ways that they didn't think of already. That's true. So you want them to use that product so it runs out and they need it again when it shows up next month..So yeah if you guys are trying to take, if you want one little action step from this conversation right here. Create a reel just pick one item from your box this month, start with one and teach your customer how to use it. And it's so much easier than. You wouldn't believe. You don't have to even put your face on the camera, you can just show your hand with the product. That's great content. So hashtagabble too, right? There's so many hashtag hashtags that goes in that. Yeah, that's right. Okay. So we had our little industry chat. Let's talk about Sub Summit cause oh my gosh, I've been going for years. It is, My favorite event of the year, if you're thinking about going, just let me make the decision for you. Let's just go. So it is next year, it's in May, right? In Dallas, Texas. Yeah. May 31st to June 2nd. Okay. And it is a mixture of work play teaching vendors networking. There's just so much that you can walk away with. It's one of those events that you truly get roi. After going, like, you're gonna walk away with notes, you're gonna walk away with new box besties. You're gonna walk away with vendors to buy products or packaging from. So let's talk about some of the things that you guys have in the works for Sub Summit 23. Yeah, I can't believe we are about seven months away, but we already have so many great details locked in and we have some secrets coming out that I'm really excited about. So at the end of this month, we're gonna announce our first five speakers. Okay. We are bringing back the startup track. So if you are in pre-launch or early on, these are sessions specifically dedicated to you and what you need. We, right now, we're in the discovery phase of really evaluating what does the market need, what are the pain points, trends, the themes, we have a good pulse on all those things, but what's happening next year and what do we really need to be preparing for in June? So we're putting together sessions related to all of that great stuff. We are really talking to the community about all of those pain points. And then by the end of the year, you're gonna know the first 15 speakers and. Exclusive little insight. Prices are gonna increase rapidly next year, so if this is something you're even considering now, it's definitely the time to buy your tickets cuz they're$4 99 right now and only going up from there. Okay. Really working on talking to the community, preparing everything, getting the speakers locked in, discussing the sessions. We we're gonna have a VIP experience this year, which I'm really excited about. So, as you attend all of these sessions, there's a marketer in every session taking notes about the key takeaways. Within the VIP package you're gonna get all of those key takeaways, top quotes from the session, you're gonna get an exclusive registration line so you can beat the crowd in the big line, go to the VIP line. You're gonna get some surprises along the way. You're gonna get access to all of the on demand footage from Sub Summit. So if there was two sessions happening at one time, you couldn't attend both. Go back and watch all of those videos, or if you need a reminder or if you got a gap in your notes or whatever it is, you have all those sessions forever you will get. And within the V I P, you're also gonna get a SUBTA Premium membership, which is our annual membership that has everything from expert series to data reports on what consumers are looking for, and it is a really impactful use of your time to go into the membership, go into the dashboard, and learn all year round. Awesome. I am so excited. Are you gonna have your traditional events too, like the Cube Awards? Yes. Yeah. We are already accepting nominations for Cube Awards and Pitch Competition. Cube Awards is the biggest award ceremony in the industry. This is like the fancy plated dinner, all the Glip and glam or red carpet like paparazzi. The most fun night, honestly, of the year, in my opinion, is it, is we start planning our outfits months in advance because we don't get to dress up a whole lot anymore these days. And so it's super fun. We definitely look forward to it. What else are some of my favorite things? Are you gonna have the vendor marketplace again this year? Absolutely. Yeah. So we've got the expo hall, the largest expo hall in the industry. We're gonna have the marketplace where you can check out different products. If you're looking for fulfillment it in your box. And so really as you're starting to scale, you need to be starting to think about who are the right partners. For me, we're seeing a lot of people struggling specifically with marketing right now of, okay, I've hired a contractor to do PPC and a contractor to do SEO and a contractor to do this. More and more people need, like the agency life of everything is together and the communication and strategy is housed together so that it's fluid and it's comprehensive. So we'll have those opportunities for you to explore as well. Awesome. So much fun. Okay, so one of the things that is, I think, so unique and so cool about the event is this pitch competition that you guys have. Why don't you tell everyone about that? Because I feel like a lot of our listeners could be qualified to be a part of. Yeah, Pitch competition price package is$50,000,$10,000 cash. We're gonna give you the big check on stage cash, no strings attached, no equity in your business. It is all yours. And then 40,000 in additional prizes, including a complete website rebuild. Wow. So if you are a company that's been in business for two years, or. Or maybe you were an existing business and you added the subscription component to it, within the last two years, you qualify. We are looking for businesses that they know what they wanna do to grow. They're ready to do it. They just need the extra support to make it a reality. You have the business strategy, the growth strategy, the team, the vision, the mission identified, and now we can swoop in and make it your reality. So the first round of applications, As due in at the end of January. Okay? There's a huge benefit to getting in that round one because if for whatever reason you're not accepted in round one, you qualify for round two. And so you kind of get a double whammy of possibility there. And so your application will be relevant for round one and round two, so I'd recommend getting your applications in as soon as possible. Okay. So you have a couple of rounds of virtual pitches, correct? Yes. And then you have the finalists pitch live in person at Sub Summit. Is that how it's gonna run this year? It is, yeah. So 20 companies total are gonna pitch virtually in round one, in round two, and then four finalists go and pitch live in Dallas. In front of the audience, with the judges, with the questions, with all of the amazing pressure and support and so huge opportunity here. I mean, even if you walk away not winning it, you walk away with tons of exposure. Our judges are fantastic. We hand select them based on their experience related to the industry, and they're really asking questions throughout the process that are driving you towards success. There are poking holes in your business that maybe you didn't identify before. So, Even becoming a semifinalist is a huge benefit to your business. So you can really get that pulse on the industry and what people are looking for in that. It could be a game changer. I mean, for$50,000 prize package, it's crazy. Yes. Yeah. So we, So how can they apply? Go onto our site, sub summit.com/pitch application is all there. It's a three step process, so make sure you get through all three steps to officially qualify. Okay. We'll make sure we put that in the show notes. And we'll put just sub summit.com too, because that's where you get the tickets, right? Yep, that's right. Okay, perfect. Okay, so what if your, what if someone's business isn't quite to that stage yet? Cuz some of our listeners are just starting out. What do you got for them? Yeah, we know that sub Summit could be a true catalyst for the growth of so many companies, and we wanna give the opportunity to those that maybe couldn't otherwise financially afford it. So we have a scholarship program and applications are open until December 13th for that. So if you've got less than a thousand subscribers, you really have that mission statement locked in and kind of where you're headed. You're not as far as pitch competition, you don't need the investment in. Business, but you really need the insights and the connections and the partners to help propel your success. You can qualify for that. You would get a free sub summit ticket up to$500 travel reimbursement, and you're gonna get the hotel state included in that. And so we're giving those away. And then we're gonna give away a lot of partial scholarships as well. So depending on what your financial need is or where your business is, you might get the opportunity for a lower cost partial scholarship within that program as well. It's all financially based. So we're looking for people that truly need that financial backing to get to their dream. What a great opportunity. Thank you guys for doing that. This could be an opportunity that they can actually get themselves to this event, and I promise you, if you're listening, if you go to this event, it will make a difference in your business, in your mindset, in your network. This is the one I've said it before. I'll say it again. This is the non-negotiable event every single year that my team and I go to. It's like a family party. And even if you're new to the family, we heard so many people last year, like, I'm an introvert running this by myself, and I feel very alone sometimes. They come to summit and they immediately have their people. They're with their people, right? Yeah. Even if you're, an extrovert, whoever you are, if you're in this business, you're ready to learn. Sub Summit is the jam. It's the party, it's the knowledge, it's the college, it's, it's everything that you need to really grow your business no matter what stage you're at. I'm already so geeked about it. Me too. And Renae and I will both be there. And so if you're listening and you're like, I'm really shy, or I don't know anybody else going, That's not true. You know me. Yeah. Renae. Absolutely. And you absolutely can come hang with us. We spent so much time. With our podcast listeners, with our boot campers, and we want to be there. We want to support you and hang out with you and have fun. So, yeah if that's something you're thinking about, like I don't wanna go by myself, reach out to us DM us we'll be happy to hang with you and show you the ropes cuz this is not our first rodeo at the sub Summit absolutely Yeah. I mean, we do intros all the time, right? Like, actually, Competitors. Sometimes we get'em together and they're like, Oh my gosh, let's learn from each other. And yeah, so many people meet their new friends at Sub Summit and continue those relationships after, and there's huge return on investment on that, like continued conversation and talking to somebody who's experiencing the same things that you're experiencing and just having that box bestie for life. Yeah. And even just getting in the room with people who are a couple steps ahead of you, like even if you're in that early stage, schedule one or two sessions that are beyond where you're at, just to help you start to get leveling up. Help you get in the room with those people. You never know who you're gonna sit next to. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, the speakers end up, going to sessions themselves. So one minute you're watching a keynote, and the next minute you're sitting next to them in this session, you're like, Let me keep picking your brain on that thing you just talked about for 20 minutes. And they're totally ready to do it. They're there to help and support. It's what it's all about, connecting ideas. People's and resources. Right? Yeah, I love it. Well, we are super excited about it and you have to promise us that you guys, maybe you or Paul or Lauren or someone's gonna come back on the podcast and drop some more exciting news about like what's coming up at at Sub Summit 23. I want to make sure our listeners hear it first and they get as excited about it as I am. It's gonna be amazing. I am so excited to see everybody there. Awesome. Okay, so we are gonna send them to sub summit.com, right? Because that's where you can get your tickets. That's where you can find the Pitch competition application, and that's where you can find the scholarship application. So those are the things that we want you to do today, go to sub summit.com, check it out and get your ticket because those prices are gonna go up. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining me today. I wish Sub Summit was next month. I mean, I can't wait to get together with you guys and cannot wait to see what else you all have up under your sleeve because you guys know how to throw a party. Absolutely. We will definitely be back on giving some little exclusive behind the scenes what's going on. So stay tuned everybody. Awesome. Well thanks for listening today, guys. Hope to see you at Sub Summit. Go check it out on the website subsummit.com and I'll see you in the next episode. Bye bye.