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Kit Commerce: creating a paid newsletter
Kit Commerce: creating a paid newsletter

How to launch your first paid newsletter (or other subscription-based product) using Kit Commerce.

Updated this week

Launching a paid email newsletter is easier than ever before!

In this article, we'll cover the entire process of setting up and sending a paid newsletter using Kit Commerce. (These steps apply to other types of subscription-based products, as well.)

NOTE: This article focuses on the unique steps associated with subscription-based products.

To start with a more general overview of creating products in Kit Commerce, check out this tutorial first! You can return to this one whenever you're ready.

Creating your paid newsletter product

Paid newsletter products are differentiated from other products by two key settings.

1. Set up a subscription product

First, when you're creating a new product, select Subscription as your product's product type under the Product Details settings:

Create Product - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 1.19.33 PM

This enables recurring billing for your newsletter. Click Next to move to Product Price settings and set up your newsletter's:

  • Price: The amount to be charged at each billing interval

  • Frequency: The billing interval itself

Create Product - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 1.21.15 PM

The billing intervals we support are:

  • Monthly: Customer is charged once per month

  • Quarterly: Customer is charged once per quarter (once per 3-month period)

  • Yearly: Customer is charged once annually

If you want to offer multiple billing intervals (e.g., a monthly subscription and an annual subscription), click Add another pricing plan to set up additional prices and frequencies.

1. Select the "Newsletter" fulfillment type

Second, in the Fulfillment section, select A Newsletter:

Create Product - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 1.25.11 PM

This simply indicates you'll be delivering this product by sending your paid newsletter to your subscribers.

These two settings are the only requirements that differentiate a paid newsletter product!

From here, you're free to customize the remainder of the product's settings to your liking. For guidance on configuring products in general, refer to this tutorial.

NOTE: If you're offering a different subscription-based product that's not a newsletter, select Something Else in the Fulfillment section instead. The rest of this tutorial still applies!

Sending your paid newsletter

Paid newsletters are sent as Broadcasts, filtered to send to only those who are subscribed to your newsletter product. Follow the steps below to set up this filter!

1. Remove the "All Subscribers" recipients filter

After writing your Broadcast, select the Send email option on your Broadcast's Publish page.

Scroll to the "Who would you like to send this to?" section of the send settings and click the X that appears when you hover your cursor over the "All Subscribers" recipients filter.

2. Add your paid newsletter filter

Click Add Filter, followed by select Subscribed to > products.

Broadcast - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 1.40.09 PM

Select your paid newsletter product from the last dropdown menu, and then click Add Filter.

3. Add the Broadcast as a paid post to your newsletter feed

The next step is to add the Broadcast as a paid post to your public newsletter feed.

This gives visitors to your feed a sneak peek of your paid newsletter—so they can subscribe if they want to!

Set this up by enabling the Publish to web option below the send settings and toggling the Only display for paying subscribers setting.

Broadcast - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 1.42.27 PM

5. Send your Broadcast

Finally, send (or schedule) your Broadcast following the rest of the normal process.

The product filter will ensure your Broadcast goes out to only those actively paying for your newsletter at the time of sending.

That means if a customer cancels their subscription, they'll automatically be excluded from receiving your newsletter—no action is needed on your part. 🙌

Reviewing and managing invoices

With recurring billing comes recurring invoices! Here's how to view and resend receipts if needed, as well as review your subscribers' billing history.

First, click the profile of the subscriber whose billing history you want to review. Any invoice emails that have been sent to them will be listed as "Subscription invoice" under the "Email type" column:

<a href="mailto:michael@support.kit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">michael@support.kit</a> 2024-10-10 at 1.49.45 PM.com - Kit - Google Chrome

☝️ TIP: Click the subject line of an invoice email to view the product associated with that invoice.

To view this subscriber's detailed billing history, click the Purchases tab. It'll look something like this for an active subscriber to one of your recurring products:

<a href="mailto:michael@support.kit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">michael@support.kit</a> 2024-10-10 at 1.52.46 PM.com - Kit - Google Chrome

Click the down arrow (⌄) on the right to reveal additional details.

From there, you have the options to cancel the subscriber's subscription as well as view, resend, or refund any specific receipts as needed (denoted by arrows below):

kimberendt@bellsouth 2024-10-10 at 3.59.39 PM.net - Kit - Google Chrome

FAQs

How can I view a list of the subscribers actively subscribed to my recurring product?

You can accomplish this by creating a Segment and using the same criteria as denoted in the "Sending your paid newsletter" section above.

Here's an example of how that might look:

Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 4.04.07 PM

The Segment will keep itself updated based on whose subscriptions are still active!

What if someone purchases a subscription right after I send a paid newsletter and I want to resend it to them?

Duplicate the Broadcast and resend it to just that new customer.

We have a tutorial on how to filter Broadcasts so they go out to only a single subscriber (or a handful of them) here.

Can paid newsletter subscribers be on my list for free content too?

Definitely!

Your subscribers are all on your main list, and then further segmented from there. Naturally, you'll want to send your paid content to only those paying for it! But those paying folks can certainly get your free emails as well (so long as they've consented to this).

Just keep an eye on your sending frequency and volume so you don't inadvertently overload anyone's inbox.

Can I offer discounts on recurring products?

Yes! For recurring products, you can set your discount's duration and it'll be applied to any payments made for the product during that period.

For more details, please check out our dedicated guide on Kit Commerce product discounts here.

Can I make a test purchase?

If you want to preview the checkout experience as a customer, you have two options:

  1. Complete the purchase as usual, and then issue a full refund. You won't get a refund of the transaction's processing fees, though.

    kimberendt@bellsouth 2024-10-10 at 4.05.44 PM.net - Kit - Google Chrome
  2. Apply a 100% discount! Create a discount code for a 100% discount and use the link to your discounted product to "purchase" your product for $0. You'll still need to enter your credit card details to complete the transaction, but you won’t be charged.

    Edit Product - Kit - Google Chrome 2024-10-10 at 4.08.20 PM

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