How to customize paid subscriptions

Customizing your paid subscriptions is one of the most effective ways to increase your subscriber base and boost revenue. Whether you’re offering free trials to entice new subscribers, adding discounts to encourage conversions, or providing complimentary access to key individuals or groups, beehiiv makes it easy to tailor your subscription strategy to fit your goals.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps for setting up free trials, discounts, and complimentary gifts. We’ll also explore advanced options like creating upsell emails and enabling Apple Pay, ensuring you have all the tools you need to optimize your paid subscription experience. 

How to add a free trial to your paid subscription

1. From the left panel Dashboard, go to Monetize > Paid Subscriptions, then click the Paid Tiers tab on the right.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to the Paid Subscription Offers section. Click on the Add New Offer button.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A new offer form will appear on the right. Give it a Name (required) and a Description (optional). Select a Tier, or leave this set to All Tiers (optional).
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Under Terms, select Free Trial (required) from the dropdown options.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. After selecting the Free Trial, you will need to select the Length of Trial (required). The dropdown options are 1, 2, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Select any of the desired Advanced Options for your tier.
   Choose from the following:

• Allow trial redemption without a credit card.
• Send an email to remind readers their trial is going to expire.
• Set when subscribers must redeem this offer by.
• Limit this offer to specific plans.

Upsell Email Date: Select the number of days before or after the trial ends that the upsell reminder email should be sent.

Set as Default: You can set it to be the default monthly or annual subscription offer that is shown on the Upgrade Page.

Edit Upsell Email: Click the Edit Reminder Email button to be brought to the post editor where you can customize your email to remind a subscriber that their subscription is expiring.

7. Once you’ve reviewed your selections, click Create to confirm. A success message will appear at the top of your screen, and your offers will be listed under Paid Subscription Offers.

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How to add a discount to a paid subscription

1. From the left panel Dashboard, go to Monetize > Paid Subscriptions, then click the Paid Tiers tab on the right.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to the Paid Subscription Offers section. Click on the Add New Offer button.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A new offer form will appear on the right. Give it a Name (required) and a Description (optional), Select a Tier, or leave this set to All Tiers (optional), set up Terms (required), and any Advanced Options (optional).
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Under Terms, select Percent Discount (required) from the dropdown options.
   
   
5. Under Percent Discount (required), use the slider or enter the percentage you’d like to apply to the offer.
   
   
6. Under For how long (required) choose how long the discount should be applied for. Choose between Forever, Once, or Repeating.
   
   
7. Select any of the desired Advanced Options.
   Choose from the following:

• Set when subscribers must redeem this offer by, then select a date.
• Limit this offer to specific plans, then select monthly or annual.
• Set as Default: You can set it to be the default Monthly, Annual, or One Time payment offer on your Upgrade Page.
  
  
  

8. Review your selections and click Create to confirm. A success message will appear at the top of your screen, and your offers will be displayed under Paid Subscription Offers.

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Upsell Email

After setting up a trial, you can create and enable an upsell email for any trials that do not require a credit card.

1. Further down on the Paid Tiers page, go to the Upsell Email Reminder section and click Set Up Upsell Email.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Your Upgrade Reminder Email dashboard will open, click on Edit in the top right corner to draft the email.
   
   
   Note: At this stage, your dashboard will not yet have any analytics and the Upgrade Reminder Email will show as Inactive until you create the email.
   
   
   
   
3. At the top of the Upgrade Reminder Email section, toggle on the option labeled Send the upsell email to subscribers whose trials are expiring.
   
   Next, provide a Subject Line and Preview Text (both are required). In the Content box, you can use all of the beehiiv editor tools to create a compelling upsell email.
   
   Use the Preview option to see how the email will appear on both mobile and desktop. Once you're satisfied with your email, click Save in the bottom right corner.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. After saving, you’ll receive a quick success message at the top of your screen, and the Upgrade Reminder Email will be marked as Active.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. When you return to the Paid Subscriptions page, the Upsell Email will be marked as Active. To view or update the email reminder, click Set Up Upsell Email and follow the same steps.
   
   
   

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Advanced Options

In this section of the Paid Tiers Paid Subscriptions page, you can enable tools to collect Subscriber Tax IDs and accept payments via Apple Pay.

Collect Subscriber Tax IDs

By enabling this feature, you will optionally allow subscribers to submit a tax ID when they upgrade to a paid subscription. This will be saved to your connected Stripe account. Complete the Stripe Tax onboarding process to automatically add tax information to your invoices.

Enable Apple Pay

Add this option as a payment method for your Upgrade Page. Please note, Apple Pay is browser and device dependent and won't show up on all devices for all users.

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How to create a complimentary gift

1. From the left panel Dashboard, go to Monetize > Paid Subscriptions, then click the Paid Tiers tab on the right.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to the Complimentary Access section. Click on the Add New Gift button.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A New Paid Subscription Gift form will appear on the right. For the gift tier you will select the Time Unit (required), Duration (required) and Tier (required).
   
   
   

• Time Unit: This is the unit of time the complimentary access will be given. Select from Days, Months, Years, or Lifetime.
• Duration: This is how long it will last for. Type a number into the field. If Lifetime is selected in the previous field, the field will not be present.
• Tier: Select one of your tiers that you created from the dropdown.
  
  
  Note: This cannot be applied to an offer.

4. Once complete, click the Save button. A success message will appear at the top of your screen, and your offers will be displayed under the Complimentary Access section.

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How to apply a complimentary access to an individual subscriber

1. From the left panel Dashboard, go to Audience > Subscribers. Search for or navigate to the subscriber you wish to apply the offer to, then click on their name to open their profile.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Once inside a subscriber’s profile, click on the down arrow found next to Unsubscribe in the top right corner and select the Complimentary Access option.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A box will pop up allowing you to select the Complimentary Access Offer you want to send. Choose your offer and click Send Access.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. You’ll receive a quick success message at the top of your screen.  

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How to apply a paid subscription offer to a group of subscribers

1. Create a segment of the specified group of subscribers.
   
   
2. Once inside the segment, click the down arrow next to Quick Export and select the Complimentary Access option.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A box will pop up allowing you to choose the Complimentary Access Offer you want to send. Select your offer and click Send Access.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. You’ll receive a quick success message at the top of your screen.