Reducing churn through strategic price communication

The challenge

WildApricot was raising prices by 20% during the pandemic. My challenge was to reduce churn risk and encourage upgrades—without overwhelming our support team or alienating our small nonprofit customers.

My role

As Product Content Manager, I led the communication strategy across email and in-product touchpoints for over 40,000 customers, collaborating with marketing, product, support, and development to plan messaging, timelines, and targeting.

Transactional email announcing the new WildApricot pricing — Note: the macros aren't shown in this preview.

Results for the email sample above (from HubSpot):

HubSpot results: 34.6% open rate, 6.3% click rate

Strategy highlights

Segmented communication by account type (free, trial, monthly, annual)
Timed emails based on renewal date using custom macros
Roadmap transparency to reduce backlash
CTA optimization for faster upgrades
In-product messaging tailored to each user type

For paid accounts

For free accounts

In-product banner encouraging free accounts to upgrade at current prices — The price increase may incentivize them to upgrade their accounts to keep current prices.

Channels & content

Emails

Transactional emails with personalized pricing information, upgrade instructions, and roadmap context.

Open rates: 15% (free), 35% (monthly), 39% (annual)
Result: 281 accounts upgraded early

In-product notifications

Lightweight banners and messages at key user moments.

29k+ views across user types
Result: low clicks, but paired with emails, reduced support load

Chart of the payment systems being decommissioned — Initial chart I created for each of the payment systems we were decommissioning.

Original communication timeline developed as a team — Original communication timeline that we developed as a team.

Final communication timeline based on team feedback — Final timeline based on team feedback.

Results

281

accounts upgraded to annual or bi-annual plans

500–600

fewer tickets compared to previous spikes

12,000+

views on in-product notifications for paid accounts

39%

open rate for annual and bi-annual pricing emails

Support tickets volume has been the lowest compared to previous price announcement periods.

There could be several factors why we're seeing fewer customers reaching out to support.

However, the most significant impact is likely providing customers with tailored content and timely emails based on their subscription plans and renewal dates.

Chart comparing pricing announcement periods

What I'd improve next time

Use more impactful headlines ("Your plan is changing" vs. "New pricing")
Place messaging directly in dashboards (not just banners)
Customize CTAs more deeply ("View your plan" vs. "Learn more")

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