fuboTV: Efficiently acquiring high-quality subscribers

The goal

Like many subscription-based live TV streaming platforms, fuboTV sought to improve customer lifetime value and conversion following their initial free trial. fuboTV looked to Cardlytics to help bring in higher quality subscribers and build a more reliable audience base.

The results

Cardlytics enabled fuboTV to acquire new subscribers that were well-qualified, with stronger retention rates and better performance across all KPIs. The campaign efficiently delivered a 300% year-over-year increase in new subscribers without sacrificing return on investment.

How it worked

As a cable TV replacement platform focused on live sports, fuboTV sought to improve post-trial retention. This meant finding high-quality users interested in fuboTV’s overall sports, news, and entertainment content offering rather than those only interested in one-off sporting events. It also meant securing customers with reliable payment after the trial period.

The Cardlytics user is outperforming our baseline user in almost every single metric we track. They’re watching more content and renewing their monthly subscriptions much longer.”

Cristina Arango, Director of Strategic Partnerships, fuboTV

fuboTV partnered with Cardlytics to attract a more reliable subscriber base with a genuine interest in their programming — not one-and-done users looking for a quick content fix.

Cardlytics efficiently brought in a high volume of new subscribers to fuboTV by identifying likely buyers based on past purchase behaviors across categories relevant to fuboTV. These included moving and major life-event purchases as well as over-the-top television services, traditional cable, and sporting events purchases. Cardlytics then targeted these customers with personalized cash-back offers in their online banking channels, driving them to sign up for fuboTV.

The experience of working with Cardlytics has been super positive in every single way. If Cardlytics works this well for a fully digital brand like us, then they’re a must for brick & mortar retailers who have less visibility into customer spend.”

For Cristina Arango, Director of Strategic Partnerships at fuboTV, the quality of the subscribers Cardlytics brought was just as impressive as the quantity. “The Cardlytics user is outperforming our baseline user in almost every single metric we track,” said Arango. They’re watching more content and renewing their monthly subscriptions much longer.” Arango attributes this subscriber quality in part to Cardlytics’ bank channel, which reaches bank consumers actively engaged in managing their spend.

Since working together, Cardlytics has driven a 300% year-over year lift in fuboTV subscribers and improved payment-related cancellations by 50%. Following the success of their acquisition campaign, the teams are working on a future initiative to identify and engage existing subscribers with a likelihood to cancel.