How marketing’s broken promises are sinking your renewal rates

If we’re all sincere about dwelling and dealing in 2025, then we’d admit we’ve been suckered by a slick pitch — a course, teaching program or SaaS software that promised the moon however delivered moon pies — tons of energy, zero substance. By the point they arrive again for more cash, you’re already out the door, drafting the “see ya” e-mail.

I’ve obtained the “double-shame” of falling for a number of teaching scams. They at all times hype with huge outcomes, however once they attempt to “enroll me into their tremendous incredible supreme wigwam of knowledge,” I fireplace them. Not as a result of the content material sucked and the folks have been jerks (though typically…) It was as a result of their story broke — what they bought me didn’t match what I obtained or what I wanted. And it shattered my belief that they ever may.

This isn’t only a story. It’s taking place in your small business proper now, together with your prospects (particularly in B2B SaaS). And there’s a metric screaming the reality, however I guess it’s not in your advertising dashboard. It’s contract renewals. And no, it’s not simply buyer success’s drawback. It’s yours. 

The second the story breaks

Prospects don’t purchase merchandise. They rent them to make progress — particular outcomes they want. Sooner or later, they hit a second of fact, weighing three issues:

• What they wanted.
• What your advertising and gross sales promised.
• What they really obtained.

If these don’t align, the story breaks and the shopper isn’t simply strolling. They take their money to your rivals and warn others. “Learn the tremendous print.” “Not as promised.” “Rip-off!” Your contract renewal fee tanks, gross sales conversions crash and your popularity is broken. Instantly, your good acquisition technique appears to be like extra like a leaky bucket.

This isn’t a buyer success concern. It’s a advertising concern. The story you craft to get prospects within the door units the inspiration for his or her complete expertise. If it doesn’t maintain up, no shiny options, reductions and AI-driven acquisition instruments can prevent.

Dig deeper: Brand trust is the most valuable asset your company owns

Why advertising owns contract renewals

Advertising and marketing is the optimist in a corporation, chasing the following huge lead. It’s vital. However let’s be actual — too typically, too many groups act like they’ve handed the baton post-close. “Good luck, pal! You’re buyer success’s drawback now.” And albeit, it’s a giant mistake.

As a result of advertising’s job isn’t to herald leads. That’s simply the way it manifests. It’s to speak worth to prospects, right through their journey. At renewal, prospects choose whether or not your product delivered the progress you promised or simply one other moon pie. But what number of advertising groups ask, “Did we make guarantees our product couldn’t maintain?” What number of test if their messaging wrote a test the product couldn’t money? In my expertise, not sufficient. And it’s killing their ROI.

Take a look at it this manner: we obsessively observe ROI to measure our effectiveness. We deal with growing lead quantity as a result of extra leads = extra conversions, proper? However there’s a wiser approach: make every lead price extra. You may attempt to elevate costs, which is hard in a crowded market and you will get extra of your prospects’ cash by way of add-ons, upsells and renewals. It extends their lifetime worth. Each renewal means extra income from the identical advertising spend. That’s a lever advertising can pull, however provided that you’re watching renewals.

Belief is the true KPI

Renewals aren’t nearly income. They’re about belief — the lifeblood of any model, together with yours. Lose it and also you’re not simply dropping a buyer, you’re dropping goodwill and that’s the magic that retains manufacturers alive.

Take Domo, a $317 million B2B SaaS firm with a sales-heavy crew. Its technique has at all times been to outsell its churn, nevertheless it’s failing. Their subscription income and software program billings flatlined for the previous 12 months and contract renewals are solely 71–79%, a lot decrease than the business commonplace, even in robust occasions.

Domo’s product story retains breaking. Prospects purchased the hype, however didn’t get the end result they have been promised, in order that they churned. Advertising and marketing bought a Ferrari, prospects obtained a lawnmower. And new rivals, poor product match and pricing pressures solely expose the damaged story extra. Now, Domo is left with none good choices because it tries to repair its churn drawback. However nothing fixes a damaged promise and advertising solely has themselves accountable for making guarantees the product couldn’t maintain.

Now distinction that with Disney. Their goodwill — accounting converse for belief, popularity and buyer loyalty — was valued at $73.3 billion in September 2024, 37% of the corporate’s whole belongings, which incorporates its theme parks, merchandising and IP. It’s not pocket change, and it’s constructed on advertising tales it could ship. When prospects come again to a Disney park and see a Disney film, they are saying, “I belief you.” And that belief is actually cash.

Each failed contract renewal places a crack in your goodwill. It’s not only a misplaced subscription. It’s one other gap in your popularity, and ultimately you’ll die by a thousand cuts.

Dig deeper: How to build a B2B brand that delivers lasting value

3 methods advertising can personal renewals

What can advertising groups do to personal contract renewals, apart from monitoring it? 

1. Audit your story — ruthlessly

Listing each declare in your campaigns. Then, grill buyer success to seek out the place you’re and aren’t delivering. In the event you’re promoting “straightforward setup” however prospects are at all times calling in for assist, your story has holes and also you’ve obtained to repair the messaging and work with product to shut the hole. DOMO’s churn reveals what occurs when guarantees don’t match actuality.

2. Map the renewal second

Examine when and why prospects renew — or don’t. Use interviews to ask churned prospects, “What fell brief?” Mix that with utilization information like key characteristic adoption to identify patterns. Then, tweak campaigns and messaging to set reasonable expectations matching your product’s strengths. This retains belief intact and may also help increase ROI by prolonging buyer lifespans. 

3. Reinforce messaging post-sale

Create a content material playbook that may let you preserve constructive contact post-sale. I as soon as helped an organization increase retention by 12.7% and scale back post-90-day accounts receivable by 53%, just by following up after the sale and connecting prospects with key sources like onboarding guides and have tutorials. It’s story upkeep, retaining belief alive by way of renewals.

Dig deeper: 3 must-follow marketing copy rules to win your prospects’ trust

Profitable the belief sport

In case your renewal charges suck, your advertising may too, even when you’ve got all of the “proper” metrics. It’s not since you’re dangerous at your job, you’re simply lacking half of the equation and didn’t understand it. Acquisition could also be horny, however retention is the place the cash is. And research present that it’s a minimum of 7 occasions costlier to land new purchasers than maintain current ones.

After high-fiving over lead gen targets, ask: 

• Is our story holding up? 
• Are we promising one thing we are able to’t ship? 

In the event you’re not, leads received’t stick. They’ll churn, trash-talk speak and take their cash to your competitors. In the event you’re hitting your acquisition targets, however nonetheless bleeding income, it could be time to ask more durable questions on what occurs after the shut and your function in it. As a result of when the story breaks, prospects don’t renew — they disappear.