Subscription content providers: New route to new subscribers

Bango research highlights the opportunity for content providers to massively expand their reach with Super Bundling

Too much of a good thing?

Subscription service providers can’t keep up. On the one hand, consumers love subscription services — searching for more choices. At the same time, they’re overwhelmed by the sheer volume and fragmentation of subscriptions. In other words, they want the best of both worlds.

If the subscriptions industry cannot solve these apparent competing demands, there is a risk that consumers will turn away from the benefits of the subscriptions model, or satisfy their demand for content from alternative sources.

Almost a third (28%) of consumers we surveyed believe online piracy is the only way to access all of the content they want.

“[Partnerships] are important for multiple reasons: to drive new users, generate new subscribers, to elevate our brand, and make us more recognizable to users.”

Global Head of BD & Partnerships, Education Company Interviewed for Parks Associates and Bango report: Effective Bundling

Subscribers want more…

of consumers would sign up for more subscription services if they were easier to manage

of consumers would spend more time using subscription services if a single app or platform was available

can’t afford all the subscriptions they would like

Consumers want choice – but on their own terms

What consumers want is a single platform to discover and manage their subscriptions.

A content hub that brings together dozens of subscription services — all in one place and as part of one monthly bill. And they want their telco to deliver it.

Driven by consumers, telcos are responding by offering Super Bundling platforms that offer unparalleled choice, ease of use and simplified payments and billing.

And it’s working.

Indirect subscription offers and bundles have become a major market in 2024, with combined subscriptions, bundles, and third-party selling all proving essential drivers of growth for content providers and accounting for 1 in 4 of all subscriptions sold.

“The goal of bundling and partnerships is to optimize the monetization of content – get it on as many distribution channels as you can… These partnerships are good for business, they’re actively being pursued… [they are] revenue drivers and have built [our] customer base”

Senior Product Lead at Streaming Video Service Interviewed for Parks Associates and Bango report: Effective bundling

of subscribers sign up exclusively via indirect means, avoiding the traditional, direct subscription process

subscribe via another service they already pay for

of subscribers receive their subscriptions for free as part of a bundle

Rapidly scaling reach and acquisition

For subscription content providers this means instant access to millions of potential customers — all for the cost of one easy integration.

To put this opportunity into context, content providers can access the entire US market via four telcos, through one technical integration and a unified operating process.

By becoming part of the Super Bundling revolution, not only can content providers piggyback on this reach, they also leverage the formidable marketing power of the global telco industry.

“For providers of subscription-based digital services, bundling is essentially about tapping into the distribution, marketing, and billing power that telcos have in local markets”

Telco exec Interviewed for Omdia and Bango report: Super Bundling

How Super Bundling benefits content providers

Super Bundling gives content providers instant access to a ready-made distribution, marketing and billing network provided by telcos and other channels around the world

Reach

Telcos have millions of customers and provide an unequaled channel for content providers.

Stickiness

Bundled subscriptions, especially if they’re discounted, means subscribers are less likely to cancel.

Perceived value

Benefit from the halo effect of being closely associated with other premium services.

Reduced CAC

Joint marketing, introductory offers, enhanced targeting and the consumer appeal of bundles all contribute to more effective marketing and reduced customer acquisition costs (CAC).

Simplified payments

Remove the complexity of managing payments ecosystems across different countries, regions and payment methods.

“We’ve tried a few partnerships with telcos which have been really successful for us. Users of telco services are already paying on a monthly basis.”

– George Audi, Head of Business Development and Partnerships, Duolingo

Join the Super Bundling revolution

Bringing together telcos and content providers in one place, the Digital Vending Machine® (DVM) from Bango is a SaaS product that enables the Super Bundling of content subscriptions.

Support for a range of commercial models means that the Bango DVM ensures you get to market at speed and with minimal integration pain and commercial workload.

Our pre-built integrations ensure content providers are made available to all the telcos, all the time.

Developing subscription hubs with telcos including Verizon and Optus, we’ve helped create bundling partnerships for subscription services spanning Netflix, ESPN, Amazon Prime, Duolingo, YouTube, Peloton, Audible and more.

Put ‘super’ in your Super Bundling strategy. Contact Bango.