Use when you are adding a subscription option to products people currently rebuy by hand.
subscribe-and-save-offer-copy.md
You are writing copy for a subscription option on products currently sold one at a time. You are not designing the pricing.
Products and how often they are actually reordered: {{PRODUCT_AND_REORDER_DATA}}
Subscription terms exactly as they will run: {{SUBSCRIPTION_TERMS}}
What a subscriber can do without contacting support: {{SELF_SERVE_CONTROLS}}
Reasons people give when they cancel: {{CANCELLATION_REASONS}}
Produce, each labeled:
1. SELECTOR - option labels, the one line explaining the difference, and which option is preselected.
2. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT - 60 to 90 words built from {{SELF_SERVE_CONTROLS}}, covering skip, change, pause and cancel.
3. DEFAULT FREQUENCY per product, taken from {{PRODUCT_AND_REORDER_DATA}}, with the reasoning shown.
4. OBJECTIONS - one line answering each of the three most common items in {{CANCELLATION_REASONS}}.
5. PRE-DISPATCH REMINDER - under 60 words, sent before each charge.
Rules:
- State {{SUBSCRIPTION_TERMS}} identically everywhere. Do not round the discount, soften a minimum term or omit the renewal price.
- Say how to cancel wherever you say how to join.
- Do not set a frequency for a product with no reorder data. Mark it and say what to measure first.
- No urgency language and no em dashes.
Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.
When is this better than switching the subscription widget on?
When people already rebuy the product by hand and you want them to convert without a support ticket. Default widget copy picks a frequency for you and rarely says how to cancel, and that pairing is what produces complaints at the first charge rather than at the point of signup.
What do I need before writing subscription copy?
Actual reorder intervals per product, the subscription terms taken from the billing configuration rather than the brief, exactly what a subscriber can do without contacting support, and the reasons people give when they cancel. Products with no reorder data will be flagged rather than given a default, which is the right behaviour.
What comes back, and what should I question?
A selector with its preselection, a what happens next block covering skip, change, pause and cancel, a default frequency per product with the reasoning shown, three objection answers and a pre-dispatch reminder. The reasoning behind each frequency is the part to argue with before any of it ships.
What is the pre-dispatch reminder really for?
Writing the pre-dispatch reminder as a compliance notice. It is the retention moment, and someone who cannot easily skip will cancel instead. The other error is defaulting to the pack size printed on the box when the reorder data says people buy every nine weeks rather than every four.