Accuweather

Premium+ App Subscription

Upgrade Screens

When AccuWeather rolled out Premium+, its paid app subscription, the upgrade experience was convoluted and confusing. Worse, it didn’t convert. So the digital team stepped in and streamlined the process, making it clear, seamless, and effective. Stunning nature photography, captivating copy, and a comparison chart featuring benefits that are undeniable, make upgrading a no-brainer. And the banner in the app’s fly out menu and permanent upgrade button in the top corner of every screen ensure Premium+ is always top of mind. The results have been considerable. Within a year, from 2021 to 2022, subscription revenue increased from $1,000/month to $4,000/month, and by the end of 2022, approximately 1% of our total U.S. user base had downloaded the app. The consensus seemed to be this: Like the Aurora Borealis playing across the landing page, Premium+ and its upgrade experience are coruscating.
 

Detail Screens

Upsell Ads

Since Premium+ was so new, there was no definitive product- or promotional messaging. So I shaped how we talked about it. Because our upsell ads interrupted users’ scrolling, they needed to be relevant and enticing, worth the interruption. They performed best when they were contextual, tied to seasons, holidays, or timely news, and offered incentives, like a 7-day free trial. I crafted language that was pithy, playful, alliterative, über conversational, and, ultimately, effective. I knew our audience and spoke directly to them: An older demographic takes pains to avoid the sun’s rays. And when I did something as simple as change the CTA from “Get Premium+” to the softer, “Try Premium+” or “Explore Premium+,” the click-through rate, and total subscriptions, soared.
 

Interstitial Ads

For these big, bold, whole-screen takeovers, I wrote big and bold, relaxing the language even more. Since the interstitial ads stopped the show, they needed to be show stoppers. We tested two different versions, options that spoke to users’ biggest pain point (ads), and an option that spoke to Premium+’s biggest benefit (next-level safety. I wrote the latter as a factoid, something the AccuWeather audience seems to love and responded to well.