Are you looking for a way to get new members once the initial buzz around your membership launch is over?
As a membership site owner, promoting your membership content constantly is essential, especially after the initial launch buzz dies. This is because while the initial burst of new registrations is done, there is still potential to gain new members.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into some of the main ways to get new members after launch.
#1. Create an engaging community
One of the most critical parts of any successful membership business is the online community it fosters. Creating an engaging online community for your members is essential for keeping them interested in your content and offers a great way to ensure members stick with your brand long-term.
An online community also allows members to interact with each other and discuss your membership content. It keeps them engaged with your content and makes it easier for members to connect with people like them. In addition to this, it’s also an excellent way for business owners to connect with their audience on a deeper, more personal level. As a result, it helps improve your business’s brand image and customer loyalty.
You can also create “moderators” for your online community as a way to offer a sense of exclusivity to regular community members. For instance, regularly active members in the online community can be assigned the “Moderators” user role on your membership site. You can let them edit or approve forum comments or posts.
An engaging online community might be a key deciding factor for new members. This is because they not only get access to premium content but also get to engage with other users who have similar interests using the online community forums.
#2. Gather social proof
After your membership launch, there is much more you can do to gain new members and leverage registered members. Start by gathering social proof from existing members and satisfied customers.
For example, you can ask questions like “How did our premium content help you?” or “Hass subscribing to our membership program been worth it for you?” to registered members and users who decide to renew their subscriptions. Since your members are already satisfied with your brand, you can ask them more questions about their experience with your brand as a way to gather social proof.
Once you have enough social proof, you can create a testimonials page for your membership site. This makes it easier for your brand to attract and convince new users to trust your brand and nudge them toward your membership subscription plan. In addition to this, it’s an effective way to improve your brand image and encourage new subscriptions on your membership site.
#3. Organize an event
Organizing an online event is another great way to create “buzz” in your industry and showcase your business as an expert in your membership topic. Let’s say you organize a live seminar and invite all the big names in your industry. This not only helps grab the attention of new users but also helps your business tap into other brands’ markets and audiences.
Another big reason events work great for getting new members is that they allow new users to “test” out your brand and your content without committing fully. This makes highlighting the “value” your membership content and subscription offers to prospective customers more accessible.
Only users who are interested in your membership content or topic will be joining your online event anyways. This gives you a perfect chance to promote your premium membership plans as the ultimate solution and successfully gain new members for your business.
#4. Offer free content
Offer free, premium content to grab more people’s attention and encourage them to subscribe to your membership plans. It’s a great way to cater to all types of users, including those interested in your content but who don’t want to commit their money fully.
For example, you can offer free downloadable PDFs and shorter versions of your premium content on your membership site. This essentially gives your users a “test drive” of what they can expect after subscribing to your membership plan. Similarly, you can also offer free trials to encourage more users to subscribe to your membership plan.
Offering free content to users also helps create a sense of security for users who are new to your brand. This gives them more confidence to trust your brand with their hard-earned money and helps your business gain new members.
#5. Use affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a great way of letting existing members do the hard work of promoting your membership subscription plans. The only catch is that your brand will pay a small commission to members who bring in new members to your membership site.
For instance, you can offer a $20 bonus for every new member that joins through the affiliate program. This encourages registered members to contact their friends or family and promote your membership content. For each new member an affiliate user brings to your membership site, you must pay a one-time $20 commission or 20% of the first month’s membership fee.
While it may seem like your business is losing money in giving away small referral rewards, in reality, you’re gaining new members without putting in any marketing or promotional effort.
#6. Run contests and challenges
Another great way to create hype on your membership site after your initial launch is done is by creating contests and challenges. People love a great challenge, especially if it’s rewarding for them to compete for the top spot.
You can host contests and challenges on your membership site to draw attention to your brand and create buzz around your premium content. You can also organize a quick quiz or an MCQ’s challenge on your membership site. This way, you can encourage all types of users to absorb more of your content to prepare better for the quiz while building a connection with prospective members.
In addition, you can create a “Top Competitors” page on your membership site and showcase the winners from previous contests and challenges. This encourages new users to join your upcoming contests as a way to get their name on top of the page or appear on your membership site.
#7. Gather feedback from members who don’t join
While your business may classify members who don’t join as “lost sales”, you can still take advantage of them and gather helpful feedback before they leave your membership site forever.
For example, you can include a “Leave feedback” or “Tell us what we can improve” section on the subscription page of your membership site. To do this, you’ll need to create a feedback form. This way, users who visit your pricing page and leave without subscribing can at least leave a reason why your membership site isn’t ideal for them.
While it’s pretty evident that you can’t please everyone who visits your membership site, you can still use their feedback to improve and fix potential problems with your membership business. This is a great way to make your membership subscription plan desirable for more types of users.
You can also ask users to leave their email with their feedback. This way, you can reach out to interested users once you add the feature they requested or made the improvements they were looking for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the topic of this FAQ?
A: The topic of this FAQ is “7 Ways To Get New Members Once Your Membership Launch”.
Q: What is a membership site?
A: A membership site is a website that provides exclusive content to its members, who pay a recurring fee to access that content.
Q: How do I grow my membership?
A: There are many ways to grow your membership, including using effective marketing strategies, targeting the right audience, providing high-quality content, and engaging with your members.
Q: Who is Mike Morrison?
A: Mike Morrison is the co-founder of Membership Academy, a membership site that provides expert advice and resources for people who are running a membership site.
Q: What is the “Membership Geeks” podcast?
A: “Membership Geeks” is a podcast hosted by Mike Morrison and Callie Willows, where they discuss topics related to running a successful membership site.
Q: What is “The Vault”?
A: “The Vault” is a resource library provided by Membership Academy, which includes templates, guides, and tutorials to help people running a membership site.
Q: What does “remarket to ‘almost'” mean?
A: “Remarket to ‘almost'” means targeting people who have shown an interest in your membership site but haven’t joined yet.
Q: How can I reduce the churn rate of my membership site?
A: You can reduce the churn rate of your membership site by improving the quality of your content, providing excellent customer service, and offering incentives for members to stay.
Q: What are the 7 effective ways to get new members?
A: The 7 effective ways to get new members are: using the easiest marketing strategy, making the most of your sales page, offering an incentive, using social proof, remarketing, targeting your warning list, and creating a better onboarding experience.
Q: How can I continue to make sales for my membership site?
A: You can continue to make sales for your membership site by consistently providing high-quality content, actively engaging with your members, and regularly promoting your site through various marketing channels.
Q: What is conversion in the context of a membership site?
A: Conversion in the context of a membership site refers to the percentage of people who visit your site and become paying members.
Conclusion
While gaining new members might seem like a steep climb after all the work required to launch your membership site, it’s still not impossible if you have the right strategy in mind.
Let’s quickly recap the different ways you can use to get new members:
For starters, you want to give subscribed members a place to engage and interact with each other by creating an online community. This also encourages new users to join your membership site so they can be a part of a growing community of like-minded people.
Another great way to create hype around your membership site is by organizing events and hosting contests and challenges. It allows new users to give your brand a shot and see if your membership content is the ideal solution for them.
In addition, you can always set up affiliate programs and offer free high-quality content on your membership site to gain new members. It’s also important to make sure you always gather feedback from users who aren’t satisfied with your membership program so it’s easier to identify problems.
Do you know of any other ways to get new members once the initial membership launch is done? Let us know in the comments box below.
