Case Study
Cleaning Up Ghost Subscribers
A routine list audit uncovered 400 "ghost subscribers" costing thousands in wasted print and postage. A targeted win-back campaign recovered $4,000 in recurring revenue and cut $3,000 in annual costs.
The Problem
When this community newspaper came to CJP, they suspected some housekeeping issues on their subscriber list - but didn’t realize the scale. Our audit uncovered 400 expired subscribers still receiving weekly papers without paying. These “ghost subscribers” were quietly draining $60 per week in printing and mailing costs - over $3,000 annually walking out the door.
The Solution
We reviewed every expired account and designed a personalized win-back campaign. The approach was simple: give lapsed readers a fair chance to renew, then cut the ones who don’t.
The publication’s only job was to approve the plan - CJP handled everything else. We wrote the messaging, managed the multi-touch sequence of letters, emails, and postcards, and staggered outreach to avoid overwhelming local staff with mailed payments. Readers who didn’t respond were removed from the list, stopping the bleeding immediately.
The Results
Of the 400 ghost subscribers, 44 converted back to paying customers - generating $4,000 in recovered recurring revenue in year one. The remaining 356 were removed from the active list, saving the publication $3,000+ per year in print and postage.
Total first-year impact: ~$7,000 from a single list cleanup.
The 356 non-converters aren’t forgotten - we continue reaching them through periodic content marketing, giving them opportunities to resubscribe when they’re ready.