RA Renewal Emails
Turn renewal emails from transactional to educational and benefits-focused.
GOAL
Reduce # of cancellations due to unclear subscription benefits for our $80M registered agent (RA) product.
challenge
Customers know they often need an RA for their business—but user testing showed they didn't know what an RA did. (Hint: It’s a person or a business who signs for official state mail or legal papers if you’re served.) When they're starting out, customers pick LegalZoom for peace of mind. But by Year 2, they’re more confident in doing it themselves or want to save $249/year.
ROLE
Copywriter
PROCESS
Over 8 months, we ran 6 different email tests to try and reduce our cancellation rate. Initial tests involved small additions (i.e. an exclamation mark icon to drive urgency, images for visual interest, or testimonials for social proof) but we didn’t see a noticeable drop. So we took a bolder approach with a stronger focus on protection and security.
First A/B test
1. Explain what happens if you don’t have an RA
Before, we told subscribers that they need an RA to stay compliant—but we didn't say what happens if you’re not compliant. We wanted to be clear that there were usually penalties involved. (So even if you didn’t pick us, you needed to have someone on file with the state.)
We wanted to say something like “Avoid penalties for not having an RA in most states.” but we ran into an issue. We couldn’t legally say that because we had variable content for owner name, business name, date, and more fields. If we could make those fields variable, we needed to customize the copy so customers in no-fine states knew they didn’t have to worry about penalties. So we created copy variations—warning of fines for most states, and focusing on peace of mind for no-fine states.
Copy variations by state.
Copy in the design.
2. Speak to the benefits without overreaching
Our execs wanted to say that having us as your RA meant you wouldn’t get served at home or at work—to avoid potential embarrassment. I pointed out the problem was the product couldn’t guarantee that. Someone could Google your address and show up at your home or office even if you have us as your RA.
Instead, I tried a different approach by saying the service offered peace of mind and checked off a state rule to keep your business in good standing. But senior leadership didn’t feel that was as strong.
So I proposed saying that the service reduced the likelihood that you’d get served directly. That was a bold approach because I didn’t have hard data to support it. But I made a case to our legal counsels that having us as RA means there’s a possibility that we could get served on the customer’s behalf. And that means there’s no longer a 100% chance a customer would get served directly. So even if they were 0.1% less likely to get served directly, that’s still a reduction.
3. Include a little-known, complimentary service
I proposed that we spotlight an Experian benefit ($1M in identity theft protection & credit monitoring) that we hadn’t promoted in months. We put a pause on promoting it due to a tech glitch, but I checked with our product team and found out it had been fixed. Since our $249/year service cost more than competitors, I felt the free Experian benefit ($239) would soften the sticker shock by showing customers how they were getting so much added value—and also reinforce our peace-of-mind messaging.
RESULTS
We increased annual revenue by $2M by decreasing cancellations by 6%.
Final A/B test