Three must-dos (and what not to do) when running a membership site
If you’ve just started, or are thinking of starting a membership site, you might have a few questions about best practices. Which strategies work, and which pitfalls should you avoid?
The good news is that you’re off to a good start – creating a membership site is one of the top three ways to turn your expertise into a lucrative online business.
However, that kind of success doesn’t happen overnight. Memberships rely on recurring revenue and significant time investment for long-term success.
Whether you’re worried about revenue, member engagement, or the way content is delivered, keep in mind that its way you run your site day-to-day that matters.
Below, we share the tips we’ve seen on what makes membership sites thrive – and what doesn’t – to make sure you’re set up for long-term success to run your membership site.
Do create a great member onboarding experience
It can be super rewarding to see a membership site grow, but you’ll need to provide a top-notch onboarding experience first if your site is expected to thrive.
If your onboarding process is daunting or complicated, you’re likely to experience higher member churn and shrink your member community before it gets off the ground.
At the very least, take the time to create a member onboarding email sequence that welcomes new members to your site, lets them know where they can find important information, and gives them an easy way to contact you if they need help. We recommend a sequence of 7-8 emails to guide a new member from sign-up to their first post on your community pages.
Setting up a solid and seamless onboarding process is a one-time project that will pay off with every new member who signs up and maintains their membership.
But don’t neglect your existing members
It can be really exciting to convert new sales and onboard new members – and you should treat new members with care! But, not at the expense of your existing members.
You should understand the long-term value of your members in order to nurture a membership that lasts. Since memberships can be canceled at any time, you’ll need to provide ongoing value to keep your recurring revenue high.
You can keep memberships active by also providing community spaces for folks to interact. Growing a community is one of the best ways to keep members active and interested. Consider creating an exclusive Facebook group, a Slack channel, or an online forum for your members. It might also lessen your support load by allowing members to answer each other’s questions and learn from one another.
Finally, listen to your customers. Solicit their feedback often. Ask them to respond to newsletters or posts on your site. You can use their feedback to keep improving your membership site by working to provide top-requested features.
In the long run, it simply costs less to retain members than acquire new ones, so nurturing these relationships is key.
Do gamify your memberships
Making your membership site one that folks love returning to is one of the best things you can do for member engagement. The more engaged your members are, the more likely they’ll keep their membership up.
You can inspire members to return to your site on a regular basis through gamification.
Game-like elements have been a part of the business world for years. Think of the popular McDonald’s Monopoly game or even simple loyalty punch cards. Small wins and achievements compel the customer to keep coming back to reap their rewards.
Here are a few simple ways you can implement gamification on your membership site:
- Members can unlock new content by completing prerequisites, like a member quiz.
- Members win achievement badges and awards by posting in forums or keeping their subscriptions active for a long time.
- Members can find and collect points around your site to win rewards for an exclusive swag shop.
These are a few ideas to get you started – there are so many unique ways to infuse gamification, so try a few and see what your customers respond to.
But don’t stop producing new content
At some point, games get old if they feel too familiar. You can’t rest on your laurels with your baseline content. You’ll need to keep producing and updating content on a regular schedule to keep engagement high.
To make this process less daunting, embrace the work smarter not harder model. Make your content production engine efficient by creating content in batches or repurposing and repackaging content in new ways. For example, you could create a batch of content on a single topic and drip-feed it as a series over a month or two. A webinar can become video shorts, blog posts, email campaigns, and more!
Creating a content strategy is also an important piece of the puzzle. A solid strategy will allow you to zoom out and consider bigger goals for your site. This can be an inspiring process that can direct your content creation process in an organized way. It’ll also remove some of the decision-making burden that piles up when you feel lost on ideas.
As a part of your content strategy, schedule your topics and publish dates far in advance, and stick to them! That’ll give you the breathing room to focus on quality over quantity.
Do create a membership site because you’re passionate about it – not purely because of the profits
Paid memberships can help you make a living off your hard work and bring value to your niche. But make no mistake: the membership model is not a passive business model. It requires ongoing work that must be fueled with passion. Money can’t be your only motivating factor. It will show in your copy, content, and delivery that you’re only in it to make a buck.
So, it’s important to create a membership site because you really want to.
Solving problems for your members and providing real-world value and solutions should be your focus. Community and relationships around a member community are formed when you have a genuine passion for what you do.
Ready to see how a membership site works? Tour our membership demo site to see Restrict Content Pro in action. See how a membership site can create the community you’ve been after.