The Key Advantages of Adopting a Subscription Payments Model in the Adult Industry

For merchants in the adult industry who have taken their business online, life can be difficult. The internet is a place where adult content, services and products have found very, very fertile breeding grounds, making access to the adult industry almost inescapable, covering both free and paid-for entertainment. As a merchant looking to make money, not only do you need to be more attractive to potential customers than the plethora of businesses offering their wares for free, but you need to keep customers coming back to you time after time, or you will find it extremely difficult to stay afloat.

Standing out from the crowd

It’s safe to say that there is no shortage of other rival companies looking to make serious money with a whole host of adult services online. After securing the approval of an adult merchant account facility and technical setup, the first challenge is to have faith in your product and to market it in such a way that appeals to your target customer. If you have the right product or service, this should be easy enough. But now the question is, how do you keep the customer’s eye from drifting to the next company that comes along with a flashy ad campaign?

Keep them coming back

A key way that the online adult businesses do this is through cheap subscription based offers versus one-time payments. Although prices for services such as access to online chat rooms, dating, games and video content are relatively low, the fact that the merchant introduces a recurring payments system means that the customer will keep coming back again and again and, more importantly, the payments will keep on being transferred to the merchant’s ever-growing bank account. There are several key advantages of subscription payments that should persuade online merchants in the adult industry to introduce them to their ecommerce website:

The saying goes that ‘time kills every deal’, and that’s especially true when it comes to the adult industry. Customers often act on impulse, when, in the throes of excitement and passion, they decide to indulge in pleasure. If they are left fiddling around with payment methods and information entry, they are likely to be distracted and for the moment to pass. With subscription payments, however, the payment process is bypassed as it is renewed automatically, leaving the customer to enjoy themselves without the hassle of paying every single time.

When customers agree to pay their installments subscription payments and subsequently receive excellent goods and services and exemplary standards of customer service, they are much more likely to grow to love the brand. By entering into a subscription, they are pledging their future commitment to the brand, and therefore they will come to both know and cherish the brand as they familiarise themselves with it more and more. As a result, they are more likely to renew their subscription as well as recommend your brand to other potential customers looking for top-notch adult services.

When merchants offer subscription payments they can afford to drop their prices while maintaining profits, as the frequency of the payments, despite being of a lower value, will keep the merchants’ business in the clear. For example, with customers that use services in the adult industry regularly, seeing a price advertised on an adult chat room that is within their budget will make them much more likely to sign up. Of course, because the same price is being paid on a recurring basis, the merchant will not lose out on profit, so each party gets the best of both worlds.

Within the adult industry, there is such a wide range of choice available online that if merchants do not offer flexibility in their payment options, the customer will easily find another company that will. Customers want the most personalised experience possible - the adult industry is built on intimacy after all - and businesses should extend this mentality to all aspects of their operations, including payments. Give customers the choice to pay for services regularly or as a one-off, and you will be able to keep them satisfied.

A key challenge for successfully marketing your adult business online is knowing your demographic and how best to communicate with potential customers. With subscription payments, you can get to know your customers as you will gather more data on their preferences and habits. An example of this is with dating websites - when customers commit to your service, you will be able to monitor their activity and behaviour, and will therefore be able to target similar customers, driving your capacity for additional revenue. Knowledge is power, and subscription payments will give you a regular stream of data. Additionally, you know who your customers are, so will be able to market goods and services to them that you know they will want to purchase.

Offering subscription payments means that you can advertise exclusive deals to customers that will make them feel special and help you to nurture brand loyalty. For example, if you offer the first month for free, they will be much more likely to sign up, enjoy your service, and then continue with the subscription as a paid service. Everybody likes getting freebies and extras, and subscription payment models facilitate this.

Adult Merchant Account Experts

Subscription payments are a simple way to grow brand loyalty, guarantee regular income and offer convenience to the customer. Make sure you choose a payments processor with experience of offering subscription payments in the adult space. Get in touch with MerchantScout’s team of experts today to be matched with the the optimal solution for your business.