How to overcome subscription fatigue?

• The dominant factor for streaming video demand is the high quality of the original content. It's important for 57% of consumers, particularly for the ones aged 22-35 (71% of the value of this factor).
• People are tired of ads. 77% of paid TV consumers say that ads should be no longer than 10 seconds. They say 8 minutes of ads per 1 hour of video content is the maximum they're ready to deal with. The same people said that if they are fed 16 minutes of commercials per hour, they will exit the platform.
• US users are concerned about data privacy: 82% claim they suspect companies do not protect their private data.
• Voice assistants are still gaining traction. People apply them mostly to search for information, get map directions, play music, set alerts, and make phone calls. Yet, half of the consumers don't use voice assistants at all.
• As for video games, 41% of American consumers play them at least once a week. Consoles are also often used to stream TV and movies, watch online content, browse the Net, stream eSports and music.

It should be noted that subscriptions are often the favorite buying method for consumers. The majority of them are more likely to pay $10 per month than buy a $500 multi-year package.

But with so many little payments piling up, we don't even suspect how much money disappears from our wallets without us even noticing that!

Of course, some services are essential and improve the quality of your life. So before you rush to delete each and every subscription, let's see how to optimize things first.

5 ways to deal with subscription fatigue

Bundling

This approach is not new but still works well for many services. Aggregation can help you save and get maximum from providers. For example, cable companies sell bundled TV channels with various tiered variants. If we look at modern VOD companies, they offer pretty much the same things.

For example, Disney united ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu services in a single package that costs $13 per month. Apple also offers subscription bundles that include Apple TV+ and other apps.

Freemium models

This is a super-rare option because people simply don't know that it exists! In this hybrid model, users can enjoy the free basic functionality and access some paid premium features. For example, VOD services can place a paywall for particular movies and provide various pricing models to grow the average revenue per consumer.

Ad-based models

Since VOD subscriptions are popular as never before, subscribers started considering alternatives with integrated ads. Studies show that there is a connection between the number of subscriptions a household has and the number of family members ready to watch advertisements.

Good news: ads are becoming less intrusive and more personalized. AI learns about viewers' preferences and comes up with ad content that's more likely to be relevant for users. Bad news: ads are still ads. If you switch to this model, don't complain about being tempted to make other purchases. We warned you.

Brand partnerships

If the above-mentioned model doesn't appeal to you, native advertisements might be just the thing. We're talking about product placement. Some free content is actually free because it was sponsored by someone. For example, The Morning Show series broadcasted in Apple + is a great example of branded content created right. Through the series, you can see Apple products used here and there.

What's the benefit of brand partnerships for viewers? It gives them a chance to access the content for free or for a fraction of its cost.

Loyalty offers and discount

If you are a returning customer, your loyalty should be appreciated. Loyal customers spend 67% more than newbies. Hence, if you don't think you can deny yourself a certain subscription, don't hesitate to ask them for a loyalty discount.

There's a myriad of ways a company can remunerate you:

• Free trials.
• Promo codes.
• Discounts and coupons.
• Personalized offers.
• Referral programs.

Some platforms go further and even reward users with coins or points that can be exchanged for their products and services.

Okay, those were ways to save money on services that you really need and want to continue receiving. Let's move on to more drastic measures - the cancellation of a subscription.

How to cancel your subscriptions through the App Store and Google Play?

The most common complaints about in-app subscriptions are related to the free trial period. You need to search for them in the corresponding application store: for Android devices, it is Google Play, for iOS devices, it is the App Store.

Unsubscribe on Android

Go to Google Play → Side Menu → My Subscriptions

Here you can both cancel the subscription or change the payment method if required.

Unsubscribe on iPhone

Go to App Store → Your avatar in the upper right corner → Manage subscriptions

In addition to canceling membership, you can change the type of subscription here, for example, change a family plan to an individual, annual, etc.

It is important to note that in this way, we can only cancel or edit subscriptions that were activated using the In-App tools of the App Store or Google Play, but not the developer's own tools.

Direct subscriptions to applications or services

If you made a subscription not through in-app tools, but, for example, on the website of a service or application, you should unsubscribe on the same platform. Take YouTube Premium for example you can cancel or change your subscription options through the account settings.

Paid services within the ecosystem

There is another type of subscription - additional functions of the operating system or platform, for example, additional space in iCloud, Samsung Cloud, etc. They are managed in the corresponding settings menu (as a rule, in the settings of the corporate account under which your smartphone operates).

Here's an example.

On iOS, outside of applications and third-party services, only additional iCloud space is offered on a paid basis. It is managed the following way:

Settings → Account (the first line of settings with your data) → iCloud → Manage storage → Change storage plan.

Disabling subscriptions through support

Above, we looked at examples where you can unsubscribe yourself, albeit a little looking for the coveted button. But there is a small number of services developers of which did not foresee such a possibility! The clearest example is Adobe. Subscribing to their Creative Cloud is done in a click, but then you can't find the cancel button - it just doesn't exist. Whatever one may say, you will have to contact technical support.

One app to manage them all

Subscription management might become an overwhelming challenge for all of us. However, you can fix the subscription fatigue in one day using the INXY subscription management tool. We will help you track your subscription, see invoices and payment due dates. With this information at your fingertips, you'll be able to easily cancel or change your memberships.

INXY Subscription tracker presents a new way to bring your subscriptions to order.

How to find all subscriptions and keep them up-to-date?

INXY's automated solution extensively uses open banking platforms that allow it to securely detect recurring transactions (subscriptions) by fetching data from customers' banks.

Built-in integrations with accounting software (Xero, QuickBook) allow parsing all transaction feeds and invoices.

Here's how you can control your subscriptions with this platform:

1. Access the organized dashboard, regular reports and subscriptions catalog with AI makes it easy to see the whole picture and make smart decisions

2. INXY virtual card serves to manage (purchase, cancel, pause or modify) subscriptions from within the app.

3. Set up smart alerts synced to the calendar, email and various messengers.

4. Chatbots allow you to get feedback from your team or family with important notes & reviews.