Scribbler is a subscription box for writers created by two authors in Dallas, TX. In just ten days, the two-women team tapped into the power of subscription commerce by generating over $10,000 in recurring monthly revenue. And with the help of Cratejoy’s SaaS-enabled marketplace, Scribbler is growing 53x faster than the average subscription box merchant.
About the Scribbler Team
Scribbler was created by Lindsay Cummings, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and Victoria Scott, an author of nine critically acclaimed novels.
The idea for Scribbler came to Victoria while she was editing her latest book. After discovering the subscription box business was one of the fastest growing industries, she asked herself, “Oh, yeah? Where’s my box for writers?” After a call to her husband, Ryan, and writing partner, Lindsay, Scribbler was born.
At $29.99/month, subscribers receive a monthly writing theme, a new release fiction novel, a collectible “writing passport” from a featured author, an invitation to communicate with a publishing professional, and curated writerly gifts.
Keys to Success
Along with utilizing Cratejoy’s free online community, Subscription School, the Scribbler team used three strategies to succeed:
- Market Research for Idea Validation
- A Pre-Launch
- Social Media Promotion
Idea Validation
The Scribbler team chose to start a subscription box in a category with low supply and high demand. In the Cratejoy Marketplace, “writing” and “book” related boxes are searched more than 200x per day. With only twelve boxes in the “writing” category, Scribbler quickly found their position in the Marketplace.
With a churn rate of less than 1%, Scribbler researched their target market to determine the products to include in their subscription box to keep their customers engaged and excited for the next month’s shipment. On Scribbler’s Instagram post announcing the launch, user @kaizokub comments, “I am so excited for the first box! Sometimes you get to a point in your writing where you question if you can really do this, and I feel like this concept you amazing authors have come up with is a huge step in bridging that divide! Thank you!” By listening and engaging with their customers, Scribbler continues to build strong customer retention.
Scribbler also has a conversion rate of almost 6%, 100% higher than the industry average of 3%. What does the team attribute this to? Connecting to their customer.
Victoria states, “If you already practice what’s going in your box, subscribers will see the product as an authentic extension of the seller and buy in.”
Pre-Launch
A pre-launch is an email gathering campaign used to collect interest and generate buzz for an upcoming subscription box launch. When you’re ready to launch your subscription box, you email the list of potential customers you collected during your pre-launch with notice that your box is available which sets up your subscription box for success on day one. With Cratejoy’s built in pre-launch theme, new businesses can set up the campaign in minutes – no previous e-commerce or coding experience required. The theme allows you to set a logo, change a main image, write a summary of your box and choose fonts and colors.
Scribbler used a pre-launch to collect email addresses and to run giveaways to build their social media followings. With this strategy, Scribbler gained 126 subscribers on their first day of launch, resulting in more than $5,400 in recurring revenue. With Cratejoy’s Mailchimp integration, Scribble was able to collect email addresses for a launch announcement email in just a few steps.
The Power of Social Media
Victoria recommends not only a pre-launch, but also “for the love of all that is holy, utilize the power of social media!” Scribbler’s Instagram account, @goscribbler, has almost 2,000 followers and posts to the account every day. The team shares a variety of content including motivational quotes, product announcements, customer surveys and giveaways. Most importantly, they promote their subscription box and create urgency to purchase.
With the consistent social posting, Scribbler receives more than 30% of their website traffic from social media. To continue their early social media momentum, the team is reinvesting 10% of their total revenue back into paid digital marketing, event marketing, and promotions.
Although early in their business, there is no slowing down the for the Scribbler team any time soon! The team is projecting $250k in total revenue for their first 12 months of business, and 2,000 active monthly subscribers by January 2019. We look forward to Scribbler’s success and can’t wait to report back on their learnings!
Want to learn more? Check out our related articles:
Cratejoy’s Pre-Launch Theme
7 Properties of a Great Subscription Box Idea
How to Create your Marketplace Listing
Feeling inspired by Scribbler to start your own subscription box?
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This is very inspirational! Any knowledge of what exact paid digital marketing, event marketing, and promotions they’ve run that has lead to their success?