Subscriber acquisition costs are climbing, competition is relentless, and even the best offers can’t outpace churn. For digital subscription businesses, the biggest threat isn't always dissatisfaction, it’s disengagement. Research from Nudge shows that the more engaged a customer is, the more likely they are to stay. This theory is fully supported by Firework, which found that 25% of customers leave due to a lack of engagement.
To grow sustainably, subscription providers must look beyond acquisition and focus on nurturing long-term engagement. That means understanding the subscriber engagement lifecycle and activating personalized, real-time strategies that convert passive users into loyal advocates.
What is the subscriber engagement lifecycle?
The subscriber engagement lifecycle is the process a subscriber goes through from the moment they discover a product or service through their entire relationship with it. This includes how a subscriber interacts with the product or service, how they stay engaged, and, on many occasions, how they become loyal advocates. In other words, the subscriber engagement lifecycle focuses on how to attract, engage, retain, and grow subscribers over time through personalized experiences and proactive communication.
Subscriber lifecycle stages
Success depends on delivering personalized, high-quality experiences at every touchpoint. When platforms align with subscriber needs through the lifecycle, they see higher retention, improved lifetime value, and more opportunities to upsell or win back users.
Why is engagement critical to subscription providers?
Lack of engagement doesn’t just lead to churn. It’s also a missed opportunity for upselling, feedback loops, and habit-building. Companies with strong omnichannel engagement strategies retain 89% of their customers on average, compared to just 33% for those with weaker efforts.
When subscribers disengage, they often miss new content, ignore premium features, and slip away before your team can intervene. Even the best win-back campaign struggles if you don’t understand why users left in the first place.
On the other hand, regular engagement helps build habits, fosters trust, and strengthens the emotional connection between the subscriber and the brand, which is essential for building loyalty. Additionally, engaged users are more likely to provide valuable feedback, refer others, and explore premium offerings. For subscription providers, prioritizing engagement isn’t just about keeping customers active but rather about creating a sustainable relationship that drives growth and reduces churn.
The key to making this happen? Real-time, personalized interactions that anticipate user needs, not just react to problems.
Solutions for subscriber engagement: build and maintain loyalty long-term
Subscription businesses need tools that integrate seamlessly into their existing platforms to streamline management and improve user retention. That’s where Braze comes in.
Braze is a no-code solution built to help subscription-based platforms improve user engagement and minimize churn. It works within your product experience, bridging the gap between a user’s first sign-up and potential customer support needs. Braze uses real-time user behavior and segmentation to trigger messages in the moment, across various channels, including in-app, web, email, SMS, and many more.
Integrated with Cleeng’s Subscriber Retention Management (SRM®) suite and the ChurnIQ analytics engine, Braze enables:
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Timely, behavior-based prompts: Braze enables timely, behavior-based prompts using its own analytics and engagement tools. With the integration, Cleeng’s segmentation data can be used to trigger such prompts within Braze.
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Personalized in-app experiences: Braze supports personalized in-app messaging, as well as other channels like SMS and email. With Cleeng integration, the personalization can be further enhanced using Cleeng’s subscriber insights.
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Scalable engagement campaigns without code: Braze enables subscription brands to build and launch scalable engagement campaigns through an intuitive, user-friendly interface - no coding required. With the integration of Cleeng’s subscriber insights, these campaigns can be more precisely targeted and personalized, all managed within Braze’s no-code or low-code environment.
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Data-backed insights for real-time optimization: Both Cleeng and Braze offer data-driven insights for campaign optimization. The integration allows Cleeng’s analytics (like churn risk and segmentation) to inform Braze-powered campaigns for real-time optimization.
Instead of reacting after users churn, you act when engagement drops, while there’s still time to re-engage.
Benefits of the Braze integration with Cleeng
With the Braze integration activated in your subscriber engagement lifecycle strategy, you can transform passive users into loyal advocates. Here’s what you can do with the Braze x Cleeng integration:
1. Deliver personalized experiences that drive action
Make use of rich user attributes and real-time data to deliver tailored content, recommendations, and dynamic, context-aware nudges. If a subscriber skips content, avoids using a core feature, or leaves an upgrade screen, your engagement engine can react by sending personalized onboarding helpers, reminders about unused benefits, or behavior-specific offers. This approach enhances engagement and boosts retention by going beyond generic popups to meet user needs directly.
2. Engage subscribers with the right message at the right time
Adapt your messaging across the subscriber lifecycle, from onboarding support at sign-up, to mid-cycle reminders and re-engagement nudges, to timely prompts for upsell or retention.
3. Optimize engagement tactics with built-in testing and insights
Run A/B tests, track performance in real time, and refine your engagement tactics with clear, actionable analytics.
4. Create a seamless experience across every touch point
Coordinate engagement across email, push, in-app, and other channels for a unified subscribe experience.
5. Convert more users with fringe-click actions
Enable subscribers to take action, such as upgrading, applying discounts, or extending trials–directly from engagement communications across channels.
What are the action prompts offered by Braze and Cleeng?
As part of Cleeng’s Engagement Layer, action prompts guide users to complete specific tasks through designated URLs. These prompts make it easy for users to accept offers, modify plans, or apply discounts by directing them to the appropriate page to take action.
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Subscription upgrade: Encourages upselling by prompting subscribers to visit a page where they can switch to a higher plan.
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Subscription downgrade: Helps retain customers by offering a lower-tier plan instead of cancellation, redirecting them to a page where they can make the switch. Learn more about subscription downgrades.
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Coupon application: eward engaged users with discounts that they can apply for a set number of billing cycles. This action requires a coupon campaign setup in the Cleeng dashboard.
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Free trial reminders: Remind users who haven't purchased a subscription that they still have a free trial.
How Cleeng optimizes the subscriber lifecycle
Cleeng’s SRM® suite is designed for one goal: driving sustainable subscriber retention at each phase of the lifecycle. Here’s how our products fit together:
- Core handles the backbone of subscription management.
- ChurnIQ delivers granular analytics to uncover disengagement signals and inform retention strategies.
- Hi5 facilitates help and support interactions, closing the loop with customer support teams.
- Merchant manages payments, compliance, and tax.
Braze joins Cleeng to supercharge subscriber engagement
To deliver even more precise and proactive subscriber engagement, Cleeng has partnered with Braze, a leader in real-time in-product experience optimization. This collaboration enhances Cleeng’s value proposition by enabling subscription brands to act instantly, based on live behavior signals, across every device.
Braze works seamlessly with your platform’s backend to trigger personalized nudges and calls-to-action directly inside the user experience. From promoting new features to intercepting cancellations, Braze helps you guide users toward the right action at the right moment - no code required.
What Braze brings to Cleeng’s engagement layer:
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Intelligent, in-app prompts that mirror your app’s native look and feel
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Out-of-the-box journeys for upsells, downgrades, feature discovery, and cancellation deflection
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Cross-platform support including iOS, Android, web, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, and Samsung TV
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Instant activation of lifecycle actions like trial extensions, coupon offers, and plan changes
By combining Cleeng’s SRM® suite (with Core, ChurnIQ, Merchant, and Hi5) with Braze’s real-time engagement intelligence, you can optimize every phase of the subscriber journey.
Here’s how the Cleeng x Braze partnership makes an impact across the entire subscriber lifecycle:
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Acquisition: Target fence-sitters with timely, persuasive calls to action and create personalized onboarding experiences to increase subscriptions.
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Upsell: Identify high-value subscribers through Cleeng’s rich analytics and target them with personalized, real-time in-app offers powered by Core and Braze, highlighting the benefits of upgrades and special offers.
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Retention: Leverage ChurnIQ’s detailed insights into subscriber behaviour to deflect cancellations before they happen. Prompt downgrades instead of cancellations, offer customized coupons, and extend trials to keep users engaged and satisfied.
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Winback: Re-engage cancelled subscribers with personalized campaigns based on their specific reasons for leaving and deliver highly relevant offers, discounts, and perks to bring users back and reignite their interest in your platform. Learn more about win back campaigns.
Together with Braze, Cleeng helps you take subscriber engagement to the next level, ensuring long-term growth and satisfaction.
By activating a robust engagement layer powered by Cleeng and Braze, you turn insight into action at scale. It’s the missing link between product and retention, and it’s changing how the world’s best subscription businesses operate.
Want to see how Cleeng and Braze can help you engage and keep your subscribers? Contact us now to start building deeper engagement and drive your subscription growth.
