7 Ways To Increase Average Subscriber Lifetime Value
Mar 28, 2026
Most businesses that do email marketing go through a bit of a cycle:
Get started with the basics
Try to grow their list as much as possible
Realize that it’s quicker to make more money from the subscribers they already have
This is what this post is about:
How to increase the average subscriber lifetime value.
I’ll be showing you two main things:
A few reasons why that number is so important
The actions every business should take to increase that number
Let's dive in-
Why Average Subscriber Lifetime Value Is Important
1) The game of list growth has changed.
It’s not 2017 anymore. You can’t just put together a crappy PDF, toss it in a Facebook group, and expect to get a bunch of signups.
There is more competition. AI makes the creation process quicker than ever. People are burnt out from courses that promise big results - and then force them to go through 45 hours of modules.
All this to say-
Generating new email subscribers in 2026 is not the same as it was just a few years ago. Can you still grow a huge list? Definitely. But it’s harder. So if you want to get paid-
Focusing on extracting value from the subscribers you already have is a good move.
2) It’s a heck of a lot easier to sell to people that have already bought.
Somebody that has spent money on you at least once is way more likely to buy your next thing than somebody who hasn’t is.
What this means in the context of Email Subscriber Lifetime Value: when you focus on getting each individual subscriber to spend more money over time-
You inevitably take communication with past buyers more seriously…
Which then gets them to keep buying (easier each time)-
And makes you more money in the process.
This creates an approach to your business in which you focus most of your efforts on your most valuable people.
3) It gives you a focus like few other things.
This is important to understand as a business owner:
There are a ton of things you could be doing.
Messing with AI tools
Investing in social media
Starting a YouTube channel
Updating all of your sales pages
But as you already know:
You want to focus on the things that actually work. If it doesn’t make you money, it doesn’t really matter.
When your big goal is simply “increase Email Subscriber Lifetime Value”, your priority gets laser-focused.
This doesn’t necessarily make achieving your business goals easier. But it certainly makes them clearer-
Which is half the battle.
How To Increase Average Subscriber Lifetime Value
1) Get your segmentation down.
The better your segmentation is, the more each individual email you send sounds like it was written just for the reader. This makes you more money.
Of course, you can get complicated here. Segmentation is really as crazy as you want to make it. But you can also just stick with the 80/20:
Engaged subscribers: how many people have opened one of your emails in the past 30-90 days
Buyers: people that have bought from you at least once vs. multiple times vs. not at all
Skill level: beginner vs. intermediate vs. advanced
"Good enough" segmentation is a foundation that lets you do all the other things on this list more effectively.
2) Make offers more consistently.
I don’t just mean giant promos here (although that’s part of it, as I say below).
What I mean is more “always be giving people the chance to buy.”
In the context of email, this could be something like:
Having an email footer that presents all your products
Sending a one-off discount code for a product based on something current
Running a special “full price” offer for a product that is normally not available
When people can spend more money, they often do…
Which makes your average subscriber lifetime value much higher over time.
3) Email more.
Even if you don’t make an offer in every email (and I recommend that most businesses DON’T do that), you still need to be showing up in your list’s inbox. Why? So you build a report with them, so they get to know and trust you-
And are more likely to buy when the time comes.
Nothing complicated here. Stories. Anecdotes. Unexpected advice. Talking about the news.
The content of your emails is less important than the simple fact that you actually email a lot.
4) Give your past customers a special deal on your new offers.
People like special treatment.
Assuming you DO run more offers, your past buyers should get something that nobody else does. Something like:
A special bonus
A live call with you
Additional support
Exclusive access to a community
Remember: your past customers are already the ones that are most likely to buy. Stack a few cool things on top of your offer, and make it known that they are the only ones that are getting it, and that’s a guaranteed additional influx of cash.
5) Do more promos.
Businesses don’t run enough promotions. They have their Black Friday sale, and maybe a few sales throughout the rest of the year. But that’s not enough.
When I managed StoryLearning’s email list, we had a rule we stuck too 90% of the time:
One promotion in the middle of the month, and one promotion at the end of the month
People like an event. Run more special events like promos, and they buy more. And your average subscriber lifetime value goes up.
Remember: this sounds like you’re just forcing a bunch of sales onto your list. But get your segmentation down, and the right promotions are going to the right people.
6) Create new offers from existing products or content.
All this talk about offers and promotions might sound like you have to whip up new stuff every single month. And while making new things to buy is always a good idea (“new” is a convincing reason to buy)-
You likely already have a bunch of stuff you can sell. You just need to package it in a new way.
Just look at the products and content you already have. It’s all about taking something that already exists, and just adding something.
Here are some ways you can create new offers from what you already have:
Existing product + add live support
Existing blog posts + add supplemental learning materials
Existing YouTube videos + add AI that gives them personal advice on how to implement it
Just sprinkle in a little creativity here.
7) Bring in better leads with buying intent.
Lastly, if you want to drive up average subscriber lifetime value, the first step is bringing in the right people in the first place. Lead quality matters. Bring in people that don’t buy, that don’t spend money, and are just looking for free stuff-
And there’s only so much you can do.
As I’ve written about before:
You don’t want a list of subscribers, you want a list of buyers.
Structure your lead generation around people that actually spend money-
And things kind of take care of themselves.
Higher Average Subscriber Lifetime Value = Business On Easy Mode
When your subscribers spend more money on average, everything about your business gets easier.
Your margins go up. More affiliates want to send you traffic. You have more money to spend on ads.
Focus on a higher average subscriber lifetime value-
And good things inevitably happen.
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I help education businesses make more money from their email list. Two actions for you:
If you're interested in working with me to maximize email revenue:
If you want to check out my 33 email marketing lessons from managing a $10-million email list: