What is "time to value" and why should you care?
In the software world (in which I spent a hot minute), "time to value" refers to how long it takes for a customer to feel they've gotten their money's worth for their purchase. For creators building subscription products, this concept is absolutely critical but one that I very rarely see being discussed.
To make the concept a little more tangible:
If you charge $500/month for a monthly membership, your customers need to feel they've gotten $500 worth of value within those first 30 days.
If they don't, you're likely to see them cancel before that second charge hits. 👋
This isn't just about customer satisfaction (although it is that too) – it's about the economic viability of the entire business model, so making sure you understand where and when value is being delivered in your product experience is critical when determining how best to structure your pricing.
A real-world example that nailed it
Gather round, pull up a chair, and I’ll give you an example that really demonstrates how important this concept is: Dr. Becky's Good Inside membership.
As a parenting education platform, they knew something crucial about their audience – implementing new parenting strategies takes time. Parents might not see results in the first 30 days, but by day 45 or 60, they're having breakthrough moments with their kids (any parent who has tried sleep training is nodding sadly right now, maybe even weeping).
So what did they do? They structured their membership as a quarterly membership instead of monthly. This longer window gives parents enough time to implement the strategies, see results, and truly feel the value of their investment, drastically reducing potential churn.
It’s tempting to think this example is about how long to make a subscription window, but it’s really not. The crucial idea isn't just about how much to charge or how long the subscription period should be.
It's about understanding your "aha moment" – that point where your customers truly feel the value of what they've purchased.
Your pricing structure should be designed to ensure customers reach this moment before their next payment. It's that simple (and that complicated).
How you can apply it
As you’re thinking through this for your real and/or theoretical subscription product, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- How long does it typically take for someone to feel that "aha moment"?
- What's the earliest point where they might see tangible results?
- What's a reasonable investment for your audience to make before seeing those results?
The answers should guide not just your pricing, but your entire product structure. And if you don't know the answers, or you haven't launched yet – don't guess.
Ask your audience.
One of the benefits of being a creator is that your audience is much more invested emotionally in your success than they would be with a faceless brand; more often than not, they want to hear from you and help.
Once you have that information in hand, you can start to think through when they will feel the value of your product - as long as you’re overdelivering on that expectation vs. a billing cycle, you should be good.
Here’s a helpful chart based on a theoretical $25/month subscription. If you map out your subscription in a similar way, just stick “aha moment” on this chart and see if you’re in the clear. Ideally, you’re in the yellow section.
If not, call us, we guess? 🤙
