How to Promote Your Membership Site
If you're trying to promote your membership site, you've come to the right place. I've got all the tips and tricks you need to get the word out about your site and get new members rolling in.
First things first: what kind of content do you have? If you're just starting out, or if you don't have much content yet, I recommend that you start small.
Try making a list of 10 topics related to your niche that would be useful for readers. Then write a blog post on each topic, complete with helpful information and links back to your membership site (so they know where they can find more info).
The goal here is to build up a body of work and create one-stop-shop content that will keep people coming back for more.
Once you've done that, it's time to promote!
Promoting your membership site with SEO
The use of SEO marketing strategies is a very effective way to increase traffic to your membership website. However, it can be challenging to know where to begin if you've never done it before.
Here are some tips:
Make sure your site is mobile-friendly (use Google's mobile-friendly test)
Include your keyword in the title of each page on your site
Optimize your pages for search engines by adding relevant content and links
Use Google Analytics to track your site's traffic and SEO performance (and see what keywords people are using to find your site)
Use Google AdWords to promote your site in the search engines (this is more expensive
Create a blog and fill it with relevant, high-quality content that uses keywords that people are searching for.
Write a press release and submit it to local newspapers and blogs that cover your industry.
Find forums related to your business and participate in them.
Put your website in syndication using services such as FeedBurner.
Create a YouTube channel, upload videos, and link to them from your website. You can also embed YouTube videos on your site so that people can watch them directly there.
That last tip is highly underestimated. When you want information about anything, what search engine is your go to? If you said Google, then you'll understand why I said that YouTube channels are underrated.
You see, Google owns them so when someone looks up a topic that you've created a video for, it tends to rank high on the Google search engines. They can also help you gain more exposure because many people will link to your videos from their site, which will increase its popularity on Google.
If you have a website that targets a specific audience then it's important to make sure it ranks high in search engines for their keywords. You can do this by using SEO plugins such as Yoast or All In One SEO to make sure you're using the right keywords in your content.
Social media marketing for membership sites
Ahhh, the only form of marketing most people think exists these days. However, it is another way to get more traffic.
Social media is another way to get more traffic to your membership site. Social media is one of the best ways to get traffic because it's free and doesn't require any technical knowledge. You can use social media to promote your content, but also to build relationships with your target audience.
The more engaged they are with you on social media, the more likely they will be interested in joining your membership site when you launch it.
You can also use social media to drive traffic to your membership site by creating content that people want to share on their own pages.
For example, if you create a guide that helps people save money on groceries, they may link back to it from their own website or share it with their friends. This will expose your content to new audiences who might not have found it otherwise.
Once people sign up to your membership site, you can use social media to help them get the most out of it. You should have a clear call-to-action on each post so that your audience knows how to access the content they’re interested in.
For example, if you create a guide that teaches people how to create lead magnets that convert, then they might want to download it as soon as they finish reading it.
Using email marketing for your membership website
Email marketing can be a great way to increase your revenue and improve the experience of your membership site. Not only do you get access to people who may not have heard of your site yet, but you can also use email marketing as an opportunity to continue to build a relationship with people who are already familiar with what you offer.
If you don't have a list to email just yet, you can start by offering free content on your website and social media channels. You would ask users to enter their name and email address for access to this valuable and FREE content, and voila! Now you have a list of people that you can use email marketing to help you convert readers into paying customers.
You can also write an email newsletter (I recommend MailChimp), send it out once a week/month as needed, and make sure it's engaging and personal. Insert suggestions within the newsletter about how much more value they would get by becoming a member.
That "value" would depend on what type of business you have. You'd want to create offers, services, discounts, products, etc. that are exclusive to members only.
Think about what would interest people who have signed up for your membership site because that's who this newsletter is going out to!
Measuring the growth of your membership site
Once you're membership site is up and running and you have your marketing efforts in order, measuring its success isn't easy. It takes time and effort, but there are a few things you can do to keep track of how well it's doing and ensure its growth:
Repeat purchases from members.
Loyalty programs
Rewards for repeat purchases
Rewards for referrals
Lifetime purchases rewards
Referral & lifetime purchase rewards
Loyalty programs are an effective tool to incentivize members to buy more. These can be simple points systems or tiered levels, where you gain additional benefits the more you spend. This type of strategy is used by many of our clients who find it increases revenue significantly!
Renewal rates.
You can use renewal rates as a way to measure customer loyalty. For example, if you have 100 customers and 80 of them renew, you might assume that the service has been well received by your audience. On the other hand, if only 30 of those customers renew their membership, it's an indication that something may be amiss with your product or service.
This is why it is so important to ensure that your signup process is simple, streamlined and easy for users who are signing up for the first time (i.e., new visitors). You don't want to overwhelm users with unnecessary steps or information that could cause them to drop out before they get started with your site/service!
The average revenue per purchase.
While the average revenue per purchase is an important metric for membership sites, it can also be a misleading one.
A customer could buy something very cheap (like $1), and this would increase your average revenue per purchase. But if they only bought one thing, that's not good for you (or them). The better way to measure the success of your site is by looking at how many customers are making purchases on a regular basis versus those who are just buying once in awhile.
The bottom line? If people aren't coming back to buy again and again, then you're doing something wrong!
The churn rate.
The churn rate is the percentage of members who cancel their membership. If a membership site has 1,000 members and 100 of them cancel their membership, then that site has a 10% churn rate (100 / 1,000).
Churn rates are one of the most important metrics to track for membership sites. If you're not measuring your churn rate and comparing it against other similar sites in your niche, you're leaving money on the table! Churn rates vary wildly across different niches—for example, we've seen some subscription boxes with roughly 50% annual churn but also some which have no annual churn at all.
To calculate this number: Divide the number of members who cancelled by total number of paying customers in your system over a certain period (usually 30 days) and then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. For example, if you have 1,000 members and 100 of them cancel during a 30-day period, your monthly churn rate is 10%.
If your monthly churn is 10%, and half of that is from cancellations, and you lose $40 per member who cancels, then you will be losing $400 per month.
The lifetime value of a customer (LTV).
Lifetime value of a customer (LTV) is the amount of money you make from an individual customer over their lifetime. It's calculated by multiplying the number of purchases by the average revenue per purchase.
If you have a recurring membership, LTV can be calculated by multiplying the number of monthly payments by the average monthly payment.
If you don't have an e-commerce store yet and don't know how to calculate it yourself, we recommend using Liftoff or Klaviyo to help with this calculation—they'll automatically pull in data from your customers' invoices so that all you have to do is plug in some numbers!
The cost per acquisition (CPA).
The cost per acquisition (CPA) is a key metric for membership sites. It measures how much every new member costs you, which can help you determine whether your site is profitable and how much it would cost to acquire more members. CPA is also known as "customer acquisition cost" (CAC).
The net promoter score (NPS).
The net promoter score (NPS) is a measure of customer loyalty that you can use to understand how likely your customers are to recommend your product. It’s calculated by asking customers the question “how likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”
The basic idea behind NPS is that promoters are more loyal than passives and detractors, so if you want to grow your business and make more money, finding ways to turn more people from passives into promoters should be one of your top priorities.
What does it all mean!? 😭
If all of your membership math above is said and done and what you're seeing are declining numbers, then it's time to start thinking about how to grow your member base. There are a lot of ways to do that, but the most important thing you can do is make sure that you're offering something valuable and helpful to your members.
It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and forget that the goal of a membership site is to help people, not just make money.
If you want your members to feel like you're truly helping them and that they value what they're getting out of their membership with you, then it's critical that you focus on providing valuable content and building relationships with each one.
Conclusion
Don’t let the word ‘membership site’ scare you off. You can offer so much more than just a membership site to your customers, but the important thing is that they are engaging with you on an ongoing basis.
This will lead to repeat purchases and better customer retention rates. By creating a strong community around your brand with tools like Facebook groups or online forums, you can build loyalty among your customers who will promote your business for free! Remember: Promote yourself before someone else does it for you!