Congratulations on taking the first few steps into the world of membership sites! Now that you've launched your first one, it's time to start focusing on some super crucial elements of growing and keeping the site alive. 

Basically, it's about refining your membership marketing strategies!

This element can truly make or break your venture and is undeniably one of the most influential factors affecting both revenue and retention rates.

Recent studies reveal that a significant 78% of membership sites have a hard time keeping up with the pace. Shockingly, only a mere 22.03% remain active after a year or two, with an even smaller 14.2% crossing the five-year mark.

But then again, don’t let these statistics discourage you!

Instead, see them as reminders of the digital landscape's demands and the need to tap into its full potential through effective marketing.

In this guide, we'll cover 11 on-trend strategies for promoting your membership site, recommended by experts. Each holds the highest potential of transforming your membership site into a 6 digit revenue-generating business in no time!

11 Proven Membership Marketing Strategy to Boost Your Membership Site

How can you promote your membership so it reaches your target audience? And afterward, it actually converts them into prospects or even better, paid members? 

Well, consider focusing on these strategies:

• Launch an affiliate program with the best referral process for word-of-mouth marketing through rewards for referrals done by existing members.

• Work on reducing cart abandonment by streamlining the checkout process. For example, you can provide multiple payments, retarget ads, and implement abandoned cart email sequences.

• Segment your email list for targeted campaigns, work on compelling subject lines to increase email open rates, and focus on curating personalized email content.

• Plan to offer an overdelivering free trial to attract new members.

• Organize in-person events to build personal connections.

• Promote your membership program on social media by running challenges that generate buzz and excitement.

• Invest in paid ads on platforms that most of your membership site's target audience is supposed to use.

• Offer splinter products as smaller, standalone pieces of your membership to target subscribers that take zero actions.

• Use live Q&A sessions, webinars, and live chat support to provide a peek behind the scenes.

• Establish credibility by being transparent and trustworthy from the start through flexible refunds, strong cancellation policies, and immediate response to feedback/concerns.

We will cover all the given ideas while discussing 11 strong marketing tactics you must include in your membership promotion campaign.

1. Launch an Affiliate Program

Here’s a quick question. Who would you trust more for a suggestion on joining a training program? 

Your friend who recommended it? Or a coaching center distributing leaflets with its benefits and ten-point reasons to get it?

It’s quite an obvious guess. 

You are more likely to join a course based on a friend’s experience than a claim shared by an organization. That’s where the idea of member marketing strategy comes from. So, what is the member-get-member marketing strategy basically?

A member marketing strategy is convincing existing members to bring in new members by promising an advantage or benefit. The existing member acts as a promoter, and in return, they receive recognition, a discount, a coupon, or even a gift.

This is why creating a referral program can be an excellent membership marketing strategy. 

There are 3 Direct Benefits For Your Membership From Creating a Referral Program:

• You can connect to your existing members on a deeper level by giving them monetary incentives.

• It increases your total revenue and boosts sales.

• New members will feel confident and convinced about joining because a trusted friend recommended it.

To Create A Referral Program, Consider:

1. Decide on which individuals you’d like to handle the referral program. The person advocating or recommending your membership must be a suitable bridge who has the potential lead to help.

2. Figure out the type of advantage you’d allow for a referral. It could be a coupon, discount, commission, free webinar, digital & physical products, online certificate and so much more.

3. Don’t be quiet about the referral program. Make sure you have enough guidelines available on your membership site, social media pages, hosted events, and even emails.

4. Make sure the referral program is easy and nothing too complicated.

5. Always track to know where the new members are coming from and the total numbers. Based on that make adjustments and keep going.

2. Work On Your Cart Abandonment Strategy

You've done all the hard work to attract new members. From proper marketing, SEO, and social media campaigns to maybe even some paid ads.

People are coming to your membership site, browsing your information, adding items to their carts, and then... leaving. 

That’s what we call cart abandonment. And it’s pretty bad news that can hamper your whole membership campaign.

Also, this is a pretty common scenario in the digital industry. The numbers are quite concerning and some reports back it up. 

For example, recent data presented by Baymart consisting of 49 different studies, states that the average cart abandonment rate is a confounding 70.19%.

This basically means that for every 10 potential customers, about 7 of them are leaving without making a purchase.

That’s an alarmingly high cart abandonment rate! No doubt it could be a massive loss in revenue opportunities for membership sites as well.

You see, membership marketing campaigns flourish on retaining customers and building a loyal fanbase. However, if a significant percentage of your target consumers abandon their carts, you're clearly missing out on gathering long-term members.

So, Make Sure You Include Some Solid Cart Abandonment Strategy For Your Membership Marketing!

• Make The Checkout Process Easy –  A complicated or lengthy checkout process can frustrate potential members. So, you must make it as easy and straightforward as possible. Focus on reducing the number of steps. It’s also best to not ask for unnecessary information.

• Arrange Multiple Payment Options – Each one of us won’t prefer the exact same payment method. So, it’s important you stick to offering a variety of payment options. This way you are able to serve a wider audience.

• Use Retargeting Ads When Needed – When a potential member abandons their cart, you should use retargeting ads instead of simply giving up. Try ad campaigns based on real-time statistics from EzyCourse.

• Implement Abandoned Cart Sequences – You can also utilize email reminders. EzyCourse’s abandoned cart sequence not only allows you to send a series of reminder emails but also lets you offer a discount code, and create a sense of urgency with a deadline. Make sure to encourage them to return and complete their sign-up consistently. 

• Focus On Membership Site’s Performance: Slow loading times are a cursed first impression that can almost immediately bore your potential members.  Work on making your website fast and responsive.

• Try To Add A Few Trust Signals – By this, we mean displaying some security badges, member testimonials, and return policies prominently to build a sense of reliability with your target member. Such information displays security and assurance of refunds when needed so that you can encourage hesitant buyers.

• Be Crystal Clear About Membership Fees – To build trust, it’s significant that you mention all costs upfront. Hidden fees can not only lead to abandoned sign-ups but also negatively present your whole brand image.
  

3. Implementing Strong Email Marketing Plans

For any business right now, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to cherish existing contacts with the purpose of converting them into loyal consumers.

To do that, you need to focus on sending out targeted and personalized emails with an email marketing tool. This way you are reaching out and guiding your prospective members towards joining your organization.

Here’s how to make the most of email marketing as a marketing strategy for your membership site!

Divide Your Email List By Factors

Consider segmenting your email list. Let’s say you have email lists with almost 4000 people. If you plan to send the same email to everyone, it’s quite likely to leave a poor impression and effect negatively in terms of conversion.

Consider Narrowing Your List by 2 Things:

• The engagement levels

• Their demographics.

This way you should be able to target prospective members more specifically. For instance, you can create separate email campaigns for highly engaged contacts and those who have shown less interest.

Focus on Capturing Subject Lines

The subject line is the first thing your recipients see. So clearly the significance it holds to influence whether or not they open your email is high.

It’s important that you create subject lines that stand out and clearly communicate the value your membership has to offer.

Go for memorable and relevant language. Something powerful enough to resonate with your potential members.

Engaging Email Copy

So, the target decided to open your email. What comes next? Well, at this point, there’s some curiosity but perhaps not enough to hold the attention for too long. 

So, your email body must be a mix of elements that preserve that attention.

You can go for visuals, storytelling, and clear calls to action. Keep in mind that the goal is to lead recipients to take their next step. 

For example, you could suggest attending a Q&A where you're discussing something related to your membership site. Or perhaps you can arrange for a membership marketing conference and offer a free signup.

These visuals and stories are going to make your emails more engaging and relatable. At the same time, providing distinct calls to action will guide recipients towards your membership.

Add Personal Touch To Your Emails

There’s no alternative to personalization when it comes to making emails feel relevant. Always include the recipient’s name. 

If given the chance, try to curate the email body according to their interests. You can keep such records through previous interactions of them with your membership site.

Personalized recommendations and messages showcase a sense of understanding and value towards each individual. As a result, there’s more chance of them becoming a member.

Consistent and Frequent Emails Wins The Race

Consistency is key when it comes to email marketing. Always consider scheduling your emails at a frequency that targets two goals:

• It keeps recipients sufficiently informed,

• It does not overwhelm them with too much to digest.

You should keep up with regular updates to maintain interest and trust. Also, focus on tracking your email open rates. 

There are some other metrics to gauge your email campaign’s effectiveness as well. Take all into account and make necessary adjustments.

Experiment & Learn

There are several membership marketing examples that you can experiment with for an effective email marketing campaign. 

You can actually try different types of email bodies to see what works best for your target members.

Let’s say, your metrics show that emails with short video explainers perform significantly better than those the ones with just images. 

You should note this data and refine your email content planning strategy based on it. This way you put your focus on matters that drive maximum engagement and conversions.

Keep the Spark Alive with Your New Subscribers

You should take your new subscribers very seriously. Once they sign up, keep in mind that they are in a receptive state.

At this point, make sure you leave no stone unturned to take complete advantage out of it. Try to clearly outline their next steps.

For example, you could simply show gratitude by throwing a message like “Thanks for subscribing.” 

But to make them close to signing up, you should already decide on their next step by adding instructions on what they should do. 

Suggest they join your free online learning community or even your Facebook group. Perhaps your membership site has a popular blog post, show that, and encourage them to give it a read. 

This keeps their attention on your membership program and makes additional value out of their attention.

It's Always The Exclusive Offers

Optimizing the thank-you page for optimal funnel building that supports conversion is crucial. You should offer new subscribers a tempting exclusive deal. 

This could be a free trial or even a limited-time discount. Perhaps a small sample of what your full membership entails.

So that you can leverage their initial interest. And take them further along the path to becoming a paid member.

Also, make sure you take the DMARC record seriously to confirm the emails are landing in the inboxes properly.  

These are some of the best membership marketing campaigns that you can use for effective email marketing to raise your leads and convert them into loyal members.

4. Make Sure Your Content Promote Itself

When it comes to creating your membership site and marketing it for maximum reach, focusing on high-quality content is an absolute must. And you want this from day one. 

Focus on fostering a reputation for publishing valuable resources. Out of which, you can build trust and increase membership naturally over time. 

This is actually one of the few effective ideas of membership marketing that does not rely on direct advertising.

Consistently offer useful and well-researched content!

People start to see you as a trustworthy source. As a result, such credibility can make them more likely to join as members. 

However, keep in mind that this approach will take some time to work. 

Keep up with the latest news/trends in your niche!

As a membership site owner, you must have a broader view of your expertise or industry. You should be well aware of your sector’s news and trends. 

Building content on those updates showcases that you take things happening in your sector seriously. Try to share the most relevant updates with your members every now and then. 

You Should:

• Write detailed posts on some big stories happening right now on your news feed and add your own insights to showcase your consistent involvement.

• Go for smaller stories to share any interesting news or updates on your membership community without commentary.

Invest in producing unique resources!

It is important that you place yourself as a thoughtful expert in your industry to bring in more potential members. And that’s where it’s important to create some original content. 

Such original curation will allow you to boost your membership site’s brand recognition and at the same time attract new members.

Here are some great membership marketing ideas for creating content:

• While researching topics for original content, ask existing members about the challenges they face.

• Make sure you are targeting SEO friendly approach to writing and use helpful keywords in your titles and headings to reach people better.

• Having a content schedule will help you consistently post 6-12 times every month consistently.

• Determine some actionable goals for readers and members such as subscribing or inviting others.

• Identify some topics suited for audio or video-type content.

• Arrange content that covers interviews of your existing members or other industry leaders.

• Consider turning popular blog content into podcast episodes.

  
  
  

5. There’s No Excuse To Building A Strong Social Presence

Social media is often the first stop where people research anything before making a decision. It could be an organization they’re unfamiliar with. Or even the membership program that you are marketing.

This is why having a strong, on-brand social media presence is absolutely unignorable right now. Especially, if you want to consistently keep attracting new members.

For instance, there’s My Trainer Phil, a membership site that uses an outstanding social media marketing strategy to attract new learners. 

Phil Hynes, the membership site owner drives potential students to his “Beginner Workout Program” using Instagram, a popular social media platform. 

Starting with a few thousand Instagram followers, he grew his audience to hundreds of thousands by focusing on targeted content creation that strongly resonates with fitness beginners. 

Phil has successfully built a thriving online membership that generates more than $100k with a program that costs just $6.99/month. It’s a great example to take inspiration from! These are examples of association membership marketing strategies.

An Amazing Membership Campaign Idea on Social Media That You Can Try!

One of the best ways to generate buzz and excitement is running a social media challenge. You can expect the participants to invite their friends.

A great idea would be asking followers to share photos or an important announcement of your membership site with a specific hashtag. Encourage them to tag you.

This is not only great for creating a sense of community but also fantastic for providing new prospects for your membership site. Consider giving rewards for participation.

You can go for physical prizes, giveaways, or even digital rewards such as coupons or discounts. Make sure you celebrate the challenge's end by recognizing all the participants and then announcing the deserving winners. 

Don’t forget to use this chance as a great time to pitch your membership offer.

Celebrate Your Existing Member's Success Openly

You should be regularly posting engaging content on your social media handles. One fantastic type of engaging content could be about successful existing members of your membership program.

And in this regard, Memberwise makes an excellent point! While discussing the importance of showcasing member stories as an excellent membership marketing trend, they emphasized the power of authentic narratives. These can truly strike a chord with potential members and paint them a picture of the real-world advantages of joining your community.

You can take the chance to highlight your existing member’s positive experiences and how they helped them reach their goals. Make sure to add photos and quotes or even video content with their permission.

Consider having a segment such as Member Spotlights where you shout out the most active members and their contributions. 

This way you are validating your existing members while giving a hint of what happens within your program to the potential members.

Frequent & Fun Interactive Sessions Like “Ask Me Anything” Or Polls

You can throw in some interactive sessions where you get a chance to talk and spread more about your membership program. 

For example, you can use the “Ask Me Anything” story on Instagram or Facebook where you can answer people’s questions on your membership site. 

This could be a great opportunity to build connections, show the power of your membership community, and cleverly pitch your program.

Target For Both Organic & Paid Reach

For some social media platforms, organic reach could be slightly challenging to attain. For example, platforms like Facebook and Twitter have started to prioritize paid content. 

But there are still some effective organic tactics that can help you market your membership site:

• Share detailed posts or insights on your membership program with longer Twitter threads, as those do well in the algorithm.

• Try creating some Infographics with visuals and industry statistics that are more likely to be shared.

• Host live videos from industry events or conferences to show your membership site’s consistent involvement.

• For Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, always use relevant hashtags to increase visibility.

• Utilize strong SEO practices and optimize your content for search engines to reach prospective member with keyword-rich content that addresses their needs.

If you can afford it, consider paid social media marketing as this can be highly effective. You can target platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn that are great at focused advertising options for reaching specific audiences based on interests, behavior, and demographics.

Use Paid Promotion On Facebook For Your Membership Site If:

• Your potential members are more likely to be on Facebook where nearly 2 billion people spend their time every day.

• You want to use the extensive user data that allows for precise audience targeting.

• There’s minimal budget for creating a membership site and advertising it.

• Easy-to-start and stop campaigns are needed.

• You want to obtain some valuable audience insights.
  

Use Paid Promotion On LinkedIn For Your Membership Site If:

• Your membership program targets professionals who are more likely to make decisions on LinkedIn.

• Choosing from a wide variety of ad types (from sponsored content and messaging to text and dynamic ads) is what you prefer.

• You want broader international reach as 3 out of 4 users are outside the US.

• You need to run an objective prominent membership campaign for an audience based on industry types, job titles, and interests.

Like these, you have to go through category membership marketing promotions for particular requirements.

6. Offer A Value-Packed Free Trial

One of the best ways to attract potential members is to offer a limited-time free trial membership. The best ones offer the first 30 days to be completely free. This way you give the potential members a taste of what your site or program has to offer.

A free trial will let the potential members explore all your features without any financial commitment. This is a big thing for those who are not yet sure about the quality of your content and community.

A few things to do during this trial period:

• Make sure the onboarding experience is smooth.

• Your membership site must be laid out in a way that the new members can quickly claim it and navigate.

• Showcase the value of their membership right away through success stories and testimonials.

• Focus on creating significant benefits that give the impression of 'big wins' within those 1st 30 days.

The likelihood of whether they remain active and continue their membership after the trial ends depends on several things but mainly the value you provide. 

Make sure you go above and beyond in delivering this initial value to show your new members that their membership is worth keeping.

Also, work on the transition method from a free trial to a paid membership. It’s often suggested that you collect the payment details in advance during the sign-up for the trial. 

However, if you are still at the starting phase of your membership and don’t have enough existing members to advocate for you, such information gathering could look like a fishy attempt.

You can do this instead. Collect their email address and consider sending them consistent renewal reminders before the trial ends.

Though you are offering a free trial, it’s still great if the potential members can join the paid program right away. Keep that door open as well. 

So, it’s a good practice to offer some extra incentive that could encourage people to skip the trial and become paying members instantly. Perhaps a significant discount for the first month or a reduced yearly payment.

Free trials are a great deal and such overdelivering on value can help you grow your membership base with increased chances of members sticking around for the long term.

7. Don’t Give Up On Hard-to-Budge Subscribers

There might be a particular list of subscribers who haven’t yet become members. Don’t take them as dead ends. Instead, consider them as valuable prospects.

To make them take steps, you must work with the right mix of messages that convince them to turn into paid members.

Perhaps you have tried a bunch of usual strategies already and nothing worked. In that case, go back to the beginning and try breaking down your core offering into splinter products.

The idea of splinter products derives from something that is smaller and a standalone piece of your membership program.

It can mean an individual course, some sort of workshop, valuable bundles, useful downloads, great tutorials, lengthy eBooks, or whatever fits your offering.

You are trying to package smaller parts of your membership and offer them as one-time purchases. 

Here’s why this should work:

• Splinter products will lower the entry barrier for those hesitant subscribers and encourage them to commit to a full membership. You see, a small purchase is always less intimidating instead of a bigger commitment.

• It’s usually the first sale that needs the most time. As soon as a subscriber buys something from your membership program, you’ll find it much easier to convince them to spend again. The initial purchase is a great for building familiarity.

• It holds high upsell value. Once a subscriber has enjoyed a splinter product, it could leave them with a feeling of needing more. And that puts you in a prime position to upsell. They’ll already have an idea of how good your membership program is. As a result, they become more open to upgrading to a full membership.
  

To implement this strategy effectively consider:

• Identifying the key components of your membership that can make smaller, valuable components with the best potential of leaving an impression.

• Create captivating packages that represent your membership’s main agenda while delivering consistent clear value.

• Marketing the splinter products to the non-member's subscribers by highlighting benefits and the limited commitment factors.

• Regularly monitor who makes a purchase of these products and timely follow up with targeted upsell campaigns. Focus on displaying the additional benefits of becoming a full member.
  

To convince those hard-to-budge subscribers, this low-risk approach could be a great marketing hack to experiment with. This is not only beneficial for increasing engagement but also sets the stage for future sales and long-term membership.

8. There’s No Marketing Shortcuts Unless It’s a Well-Planned Paid Ads Campaign

Paid advertising is always a tempting marketing approach for those who need a fast key to unlock new growth for membership sites. 

Nowadays, people tend to only take action if they're given an extra push. Paid ads can convince non-members to make the leap. Paid ads can also be done for the purpose of re-grabbing attention.

Retargeting ads will particularly work for those who:

• Already have a certain extent of interest in your membership program.

• Have forgotten about it despite the initial interest.
  

The main steps to get started with a paid ad strategy:

• Figure out where your potential members spend their time online and decide the paid ad platform based on it.

• Determine the goal of the ads, whether it’s for targeting new potential members or to retarget those who have already interacted with your membership.

• Plan and design your ads in such a way that it clearly portrays the unique benefits of membership while not losing attention with eye-catching visuals and concise lines.

• Have an eye on the ad performance through analytics to determine which type of ads are most effective and adjust your strategy accordingly.

9. On-Spot Marketing & Connection Building with A Physical Event

If you really want your program to connect with real people on a personal level, consider organizing an in-person. 

This is one of the few ways to make people feel a real connection to you. And it holds much value in making them sign up as members. The upfront benefit is you will be able to grow your membership base right on the spot.

Here are some ideas for organizing events for membership marketing:

• Give discounted tickets to members and people accompanying them. This could be a great way to bring in potential members who are already connected to your existing members and turn them into paid members.

• You can also host completely free events, especially if you are launching a membership site at this point.

10. Go Behind The Scenes 

Offering potential customers a sneak peek into your membership can really make a difference.

By showing potential members what goes on behind closed doors, you can reveal that you’re not just selling a course or program but also you care about the journey of those who join.

It’s true that memberships can be pretty tough to sell as they are not regular physical things one can touch to decide. Most of the time, people leave with a confused mind due to not having enough information on what quality the program resources would actually hold.

To help such hesitant non-members you can take them behind the scenes where you show them some special future stuff you’ll be uploading, glimpses into what you're working on and so much more.

Now you may wonder, exactly why should this work, and even if it does are the results good enough to bring people inside your main workshop?

Humans are always careful cautious creatures. And that’s why a membership site or any regular brand with no face, will always feel like a stranger that seems too good to be true.

By showing the messy, real process behind your membership program, you make your brand feel more human.

Here are some ideas to try:

• Organizing live Q&A sessions can be a straightforward approach to give people some hint of the whole membership program.

• Host live webinars where you give prospects a guided tour of what they’ll get. A fantastic tip here would be to throw in a special bonus just for those who attend the webinar. You never know, this could be just what they need to sign up.

• And don't forget about live chat. Especially on your membership sales page. What you are doing here is basically giving them a chance to ask questions right when they're thinking about signing up.

11. Build Creditability From Day One

In today's world, doubts are common and honestly valid. That’s’ why it’s important that your membership brand is ready from day one to gain credibility and reliability.

In fact, there’s no better marketing than showing your trustworthiness from the beginning. 

• Don’t Be Gimmicky With Your Promises -  Always aim to be absolutely clear about what your membership offers without any fake promises. You should let people know exactly what they're signing up for. 

And this should not include just the benefits but also any limitations it holds. You can show progress to combat the little limitations. This will not only make you stand out as a brand of their words but also portray the image of someone who believes in accepting faults and working on constant improvement.

• Avoid Surprising With Hidden Charges – It’s by far the most annoying thing for those looking into your membership program. In fact, it could immediately give them the worst impression of your integrity.

So, make sure you take into account avoiding hidden extra fees seriously. Also, try to leave out any complicated terms. If you let people know in advance what to expect, they're more likely to trust you and not lose interest mid-transaction.

• Strong Refund/Cancellation Systems – Super important! Having flexible options for refunds and cancellations shows that you strongly believe in the value that your membership site provides. 

It’s also a clear indicator that you're not just trying to trap people into staying. You should allow people the freedom to leave if they're not happy with what you’re providing.

• Respond To Feedback & Concerns Daily – If a brand puts its focus on the customer, it gives a sense of strong belonging, no matter if it’s a fitness program or a digital marketing membership. 

Make sure you collect feedback and concerns regularly and go the extra mile by exceeding their expectations with the response if possible.

• Keep Your Promises – If you promise bonus downloadable sheets to the best students, make sure you are uploading them on time. 

Perhaps you want students to join you in a live session for a future course promotion and all attendees or referees are getting a free eBook, make sure the link to download it is working smoothly. You must keep the promises to truly connect with your fans to build a site with a strong membership community.

• Take Data Security Seriously – Lately, data breaches have become an ugly truth and so many people are scared online to join anything due to it. 

You should include some assurance and explanation on how the data of your members are going to be handled with clarification on data protection. Let the prospects feel safe about their information.

Wrapping Up

And there you have it! Our favorite and currently the most effective strategies for membership marketing are that no one aiming for a successful membership site should overlook.

Keep in mind that all types of marketing require some time to yield results. So, patience and consistent efforts are going to be your two BFFs in this journey. 

However, when the right time comes, which is probably quite soon, the conversion rates will make it all worthwhile. 

EzyCourse accelerates this process by bringing such tempting outcomes much sooner. It is the best white level platform for keeping your membership site running smoothly and handling all the important tasks. Its effectiveness goes beyond what only marketing can achieve.

Our comprehensive suite of tools, including Courses, Communities, and Smart Upsell can help you establish a strong online presence while effortlessly capitalizing on your expertise. Discover More About EzyCourse’s Membership Site Features Now!