Imagine your membership site is full of members, but your revenue isn’t growing.
It’s frustrating, right?
I understand that you’ve worked hard and constantly posted your content, welcomed new members, and answered questions, but the money isn’t following!
Here’s the twist most creators miss. Your biggest revenue comes from the existing members, not the new ones. That’s why upselling is the secret weapon. It boosts income and increases customer satisfaction without the high cost of acquiring new leads.
In this guide, you’ll discover 10 proven membership upsell strategies for 2026. These are simple, smart, and designed to increase your sales while keeping your community engaged and excited.
So why wait? Let’s dive in.
What is Upselling?
Upselling is a marketing strategy where you encourage your customers to consider purchasing a higher-priced product, an upgraded version of a product, or adding similar items to their initial purchase.
Note: Upselling is different from Cross-selling.
Cross-selling suggests other similar products (You bought a camera; do you want a tripod?).
Upselling focuses on improving the product they picked (You bought the Basic Plan; why not upgrade to Pro for VIP support?).
To upsell the right way, you must know what your customers like. When you understand their needs, you can offer upgrades that make sense to them.
If you upsell the right way, you can earn more money, and your customers will feel happier. Many businesses give a small discount on the upgrade. This works well because you make extra money without spending anything to find a new customer.
Benefits of Using The Upselling Strategy
Using upsell strategies will help you get some valuable benefits that will surely align with your business goals.
Here you’ll get the idea of how profitable the upselling is in your business.
Boosts Revenue & Profit Margins: Upselling pushes customers toward higher-priced or premium items. It’s easier to sell to customers who already trust your brand. And even selling more to them costs less than acquiring new customers.
Improves Customer Satisfaction: When you offer relevant upsells, customers feel understood. This improves their overall experience and encourages repeat purchases. Post-purchase upselling (after someone buys something) helps continue the relationship and keeps customers engaged.
Makes Marketing More Cost-Efficient: Since upselling works with existing customers, you spend less on customer acquisition but still grow your revenue. Upselling through data and CRM lets you target more precisely, which increases ROI.
Higher AOV (Average Order Value): AOV tells you how much money customers spend on average each time they place an order.
Formula: AOV = Total Revenue ÷ Number of Orders.
Example: If your store earned $1,000 from 20 orders, your AOV = $50.
Increases Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Upselling helps generate more total revenue from a customer over time instead of relying only on new customer acquisition. According to Kimon Services, effective upselling can boost CLV by 20–40% when done with personalization and data-driven recommendations.
👉If you haven’t created a membership plan yet, check out our guide: How to Create a Membership Program.
10 Powerful Membership Upsell strategies in 2026
You will be able to sell more if your strategy is smarter. For this reason, we put together a list of the top ten membership upsell strategies that will boost your earnings and encourage customers to come back.
Let’s break them down:
1. Email Marketing: This is Your Best Friend
One of the most effective methods for upselling within your membership program is email marketing. Why?
Because your current members are more likely to react to your offers. They are familiar with your brand and have faith in your products and services. Thus, selling upgrades to the existing clients is less expensive than getting new clients.
Moreover, personalized messages make your buyers feel more valued and understood.
How to Use Email Marketing for Upselling: Step-by-Step
1. Segment Your Audience
Divide your customers into groups based on their behavior, purchase history, or engagement level. Use RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) analysis to find customers most likely to buy more.
Recency: How recently a customer made a purchase (in days, weeks, or months).
Frequency: How often a customer purchases within a specific timeframe.
Monetary Value: How much money the customer spends over that period.
2. Set Up Automated Emails (Drip Campaigns)
Create automated “drip” emails that go out based on specific behaviors, such as a user completing a purchase. You can use high-conversion marketing funnel templates for this. Then send an automated upsell email when a user hits a usage limit or completes a milestone “You've finished the beginner course! Ready for the Pro level?”
3. Write Personal and Clear Emails
Focus on value, not just features. Add urgency expressions like “Limited-time discount” or “Bonus ends soon,” and also include a clear button or link: “Upgrade Now” or “Get Premium.”
4. Make It Easy to Opt-Out or Give Feedback
Always offer a clear unsubscribe link so people can opt out of upsell emails without leaving your entire list. Ask for feedback from customers if they decline the upsell. This helps you understand their objections and improve future offers.
5. Test Your Emails (A/B Testing)
Test different subject lines, email designs, and CTAs to find what works best. Use your email software or CRM to run these tests and track which email versions convert more users into upgrades.
6. Track and Improve Results
Track key metrics such as open rate, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate (how many people upgrade), and revenue from upsell emails. Analyze which segments respond best to offers over time. Try to use data to improve, and test again if a certain offer or email tone isn’t working.
Watch this video & learn how easy it is to do email marketing…..
2. Offer Free Trials to Premium Memberships
One of the easiest ways to upsell your membership in 2026 is to offer a free trial of your premium plans. People feel safe, curious, and excited to explore more when they can try your premium features without paying first. This warms them up for an upgrade naturally.
Free trials also help new members understand why your higher plans are better. Instead of guessing what they’ll get, they can feel the benefits themselves.
Example:
Spotify: It often offers a free trial period of its Premium plan, giving users full access to ad‑free streaming, offline playback, and better audio. This lets users experience the full value before deciding to pay.
Adobe Creative Cloud: Adobe gives new users a free trial of its Creative Cloud suite (all premium tools/features) for a limited time. This allows users to test all features and understand the value before subscribing.
Notion: This offers new business/team accounts a full-featured trial of premium tools. After seeing the full power (collaboration tools, advanced controls, etc.), many convert to paid plans.
How you can set this up:
Decide what premium benefits members will get during the trial. This could be VIP support, exclusive content, or advanced tools. Keep the trial short but meaningful, like 3, 7, or 14 days.
Avoid long forms. A one-click signup works best for more members to join the trial.
Let members know exactly what they’ll get with the premium trial: “Enjoy all premium membership benefits for 7 days, free.” or “Try everything risk-free and see how it improves your experience.”
Keep members engaged and active with messages like “Try this premium feature today!” “Only 3 days left; don’t miss your perks!”
Show a clear “Upgrade to Premium” button so members can continue their premium membership easily.
Give a discount, extra trial days, or a bonus item to make upgrading even easier. Small incentives help members say yes faster.
3. Bulk Deals & Bundles
Bulk deals and bundle upgrades are one of the easiest upsell techniques because people love getting more value for a better price. Instead of selling one product at a time, you offer a bigger package that looks more useful and more affordable. The key is to understand what your members want and give them a deal that feels worth it.
For example, if you run an online course business, you can offer a “3-course bundle” at 20% off instead of selling each course separately at full price. Most learners will pick the bundle because it saves money and gives them more content to learn from. Once they start learning more, they’re more likely to continue buying from you in the future.
You can also add extra perks to your bundles, like a free workbook, cheat sheet, or bonus video. These small gifts create excitement and make customers feel they’re getting something special. By offering bundles or bulk deals, you help members get more value, and you naturally increase your sales at the same time. It’s simple, smart, and works for almost every type of membership.
4. Use FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Tactics
FOMO is a strong upselling tool because it makes people feel they need to act fast before an offer disappears. When people think they might miss something valuable, they are more likely to upgrade or buy.
But you should use FOMO carefully. If you push too many “limited-time offers,” members can feel stressed or annoyed, and they may stop engaging or even cancel their memberships. So the goal is to create urgency, not pressure.
FOMO in membership upsell strategies works well when it’s used with clear communication. You can send reminders through email, SMS, or social media so members have enough time to decide. For faster action, use pop-ups or quick notifications. It's just like how food delivery apps send flash sale alerts.
You can also add countdown timers on your landing pages, sales pages, or emails. A simple message like “Offer ends in 3 hours” is enough to encourage action without feeling too pushy.
Most successful marketing campaigns use FOMO in some form because it works.
Here an FOMO email example for you
[Your Company Logo] 
Your opportunity to grab the White-Label Mobile App at a MASSIVE cut-off is in its final hours! In just a few hours, you'd have to pay $200 more to get the app! If you act now, you could still grab the app and secure the ongoing deal. Remember that you can pay in installments too. So, don't worry about a big one-off payment.  Not ready to have a mobile app yet? Eventually, all creators need one! So, why don't you grab it on this once-in-a-lifetime offer? You can still use it later when the need comes. Because the white-label mobile app at this price will never come back! So, why wait and miss out on this big save? Get the app before the prices go up! Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube [Your Company Location] |
👉 Here you’ll get the, 10 Best Email Marketing Tips & Strategies for Course Creators
5. Brand Higher Tiers With Exclusivity & Luxury
If you want more members to upgrade to your higher plans, you need to make those plans feel special. People love things that feel premium, limited, or VIP. When your top tiers look exclusive, members feel proud to join them.
You can start by giving your tiers meaningful names like Silver, Gold, or Platinum. These names already signal quality. But you can make them even stronger by adding a sense of rarity. For example:
“Only 100 spots available.”
“First 50 members get priority access.”
This makes the tier feel valuable and more attractive.
To make your higher tiers truly stand out, offer perks that feel personal and useful. These don’t have to be expensive; they just need to make the member feel special.
such as:
Faster or VIP support
Exclusive content or lessons
Welcome gifts or bonus materials
Priority booking or early access
A “skip-the-wait” line for specific features
Members-only events or Q&A sessions
These little benefits make your top tiers feel like a VIP room. When people see the extra value, they naturally want to upgrade.
6. Friendly Competition & Leaderboards
One of the most fun and effective ways to upsell your members is through friendly competition, a powerful form of gamification. Gamification adds game-like elements to your membership, making activities more engaging and motivating members to take action.
Leaderboards are perfect for this. People love seeing their progress, comparing with others, and aiming to climb higher. You can create rankings based on anything that fits your goals: points earned, lessons completed, badges unlocked, or activity streaks. Rankings can be local (friends or city), national, or even global.
For example, in an online course membership, your leaderboard might show:
Top learners with the longest streaks
Members who completed the most lessons
Highest points earned from quizzes or challenges
When members see they’re “just a few points away” from the next level, they naturally engage more. That extra engagement often leads to higher-tier upgrades or unlocking premium features.
Using leaderboards as gamification keeps your members active, motivated, and moving toward premium membership.
7. Post-Purchase Follow-Up or One-Click Upsells
One-click upsells are one of the easiest membership upsell strategies in 2026 that help to increase sales from your existing customers. Because they make the offer super easy to accept, and research shows it really works.
How to do it:
Send follow-up emails: Automatically email members after an order is placed or completed. Include discounts or special offers for related products or upgrades.
Personalize offers: Tailor suggestions based on previous purchases. For example, someone who bought a T-shirt can get a 20% discount on matching shorts or hoodies.
Add urgency carefully: Phrases like “Limited-time offer” or “Only today” can boost conversions.
Use one-click upsells: After checkout, show a related offer that can be accepted with a single click; no extra payment info is needed. For example, if someone buys a course, offer an advanced module or a bundle of related courses immediately.
Example: A member buys a basic online course. Right after checkout, a one-click offer appears: “Upgrade to the Premium course bundle for just $29 extra.” If they skip it, a follow-up email a few hours later can offer the same bundle with a small discount to encourage conversion.
You can set up these one-click upsells easily using EzyCourse, which lets you create upsell offers directly in your membership or course checkout.
8. Provide Reasonable Alternatives
Did you ever notice why people upgrade their plan only when it feels right? It’s because the new option looks familiar, affordable, and close to what they already want. That’s exactly why providing reasonable alternatives works like magic.
For example, if someone buys a beginner course, offer a “Beginner + Intermediate Bundle.” It matches their level and helps them grow.
But keep in mind that you do not suggest an Enterprise plan that costs hundreds. It’s too big of a jump. Always try to suggest a plan that is as close to the purchased price. So it can feel natural and easy to accept.
How You Can Provide Reasonable Alternatives (Easy Steps)
1. Start with what they already have
Look at the product or plan your customer is currently using. Your upsell should feel like the next natural step, not a giant leap.
Example: If someone buys a basic online course, offer
A workbook
A course bundle
A private Q&A session
Not something random like branded mugs or a coaching package that costs 10x more.
2. Keep the upgrade close in price
Don’t keep too higher price than prior price because if the jump is too big, the customer backs off immediately. A small price increase feels safe and worth trying.
Get idea for your membership pricing plan here:
Basic plan: $15/month
Better plan: $25/month
Premium plan: $40/month (only after they check the middle one)
3. Make the value crystal clear
Tell them exactly what they gain by upgrading. Use simple, punchy lines.
Example: Upgrade for just $10 more and unlock:
✔ Extra templates
✔ Priority support
✔ Unlimited downloads
4. Show the alternative right when they’re ready
Place your upsell where the customer is already buying, including checkout pages, thank-you pages, and inside dashboards.
That’s when their “yes mindset” is the strongest.
You may need to sell membership cards. So, here are your 10 proven strategies that will help you sell more membership cards with confidence.
9. Spending Target Rewards
Remember your school days when you secured first place in your class and got an award that made your parents proud.
Yes, Everyone loves hitting goals. So, why not reward your customers for spending their monthly/yearly targets?
When they know that spending a certain amount will give them a bonus, discount, or special offer, they are motivated to reach the next level and keep coming back.
Set Up Spending Target Rewards:
Set clear spending goals: For example, spend $100, $250, or $500 in a month.
Offer meaningful rewards: Discounts on future purchases, bonus products, free upgrades, or exclusive access.
Show progress visibly: Use a progress bar in their account dashboard or emails to let them see how close they are to the reward.
Promote rewards in emails and on-site: Reminders like, “You’re only $20 away from your next reward!” keep members engaged.
Make it achievable: Rewards should feel attainable, not impossible, so members stay motivated and feel valued.
Example: A membership site can give
$10 store credit when a member spends $100.
15% off next purchase when a member hits $250.
Free premium upgrade or bonus content when a member reaches $500.
10. Membership One-Click Upsell Pop-Up
Ever wish your members could upgrade instantly without any hassle? That’s exactly what a one-click upsell pop-up works in membership upsell strategies. It’s a simple way to offer an upgrade or add-on right when your members are most ready to say yes. In a real business case, Jenny Bird used one-click upsells to raise their AOV by 58% among customers who accepted the offer.
The key here is to:
Create a strong call to action.
Emphasize the urgency of the deal.
Show them how much they’re going to save.
When should I use upsell popups?
Upsell popups can be used at various stages of the customer journey, such as on product pages, during checkout, or after a purchase, to promote relevant products, upgrades, or limited-time offers.
Example:
A member buys a basic online course. Immediately, a pop-up appears: “Upgrade to the Pro Plan now with 5 bonus lessons for just $10 more!” The member clicks once, and they’re upgraded instantly. A WooCommerce or EzyCourse membership checkout can show a one-click offer for premium content immediately after purchase.
How Can I Create Upsell in My Membership Plan
You’ve learned the top strategies to boost sales and engage your members. Now, let’s see how you can put these ideas into action in your own membership program.
The best part? Membership upsell strategies don’t have to be complicated. With the right platform, upselling can be simple and highly effective. EzyCourse is one of those all-in-one platforms that many creators, coaches, teachers, and digital product sellers rely on. They can create and sell online courses, build membership programs, set up coaching services, manage communities, build their own website, and automate email marketing.
With EzyCourse, setting up upsells is so simple and easy. You can create one-click upgrade offers, bundle premium content, or give limited-time perks, all directly inside your membership dashboard. Members can see the value instantly and upgrade with just a click, which makes it easier for you to increase revenue without extra hassle.
Watch this video and check out how easy it is to create an upsell in your membership plan….
Best EzyCourse Features for Membership Upsells
EzyCourse comes with several powerful features that fit perfectly with every upsell technique you just learned.
1. One-Click The Upsell & Downsell tool makes upgrading easy. When a member buys something, you can instantly show a related offer, and they can add it to their order with just one tap. No extra checkout. No friction.
2. Membership Builder helps you create clear tiers like Basic, Pro, or Premium, so offering higher-value plans feels natural. Members can upgrade anytime, and you can customize each tier with special perks, bonuses, or exclusive access.
3. Create & Sell Course options make upsells even easier. You can turn single courses into bundles, create learning paths, or offer “upgrade to full access” deals that feel useful and affordable.
4. Community Spaces allow you to create free or paid communities. This becomes another upsell opportunity, like offering VIP groups, monthly challenges, or private support communities inside your membership.
5. Built-in Coaching Tools let you sell 1:1 sessions or group coaching programs directly from your membership area. These make excellent add-ons for members who want extra support.
6. Website Builder helps you to create & design upsell pages, thank-you pages, and sales pages without hiring a developer. This helps you place your upsells exactly where they convert best.
7. Email Automation & Marketing does the heavy lifting. You can set emails that
remind users about upgrades, celebrate their milestones, or encourage them to unlock rewards. It keeps your upsell strategy running even when you’re not online.
8. Digital Product Store, you can sell ebooks, PDFs, templates, and digital files through the digital product store, which makes perfect small upsells or bonuses for your members.
9. Payment Integrations & Subscription Management, EzyCourse handles payments smoothly with flexible subscriptions, quick upgrades, and discount options. Making every upsell feel easy and frustration-free for your members.
Final Words: Ready to Implement Upselling Strategies?
Upselling is one of the easiest ways to increase your membership income. The secret is knowing your members’ needs and offering upgrades or add-ons they actually want with recommendations of reasonable products.
When you’ve become a master in membership upsell, the rest of the strategy will involve testing and growth as you go.
So you can experiment with different upsell times (before, during, or after checkout) and try incentives like discounts, bundles, or free trials. This helps you boost sales, improve member satisfaction, and increase your average order value.
Start your membership upselling strategy with a 30-day free trial in EzyCourse and watch your membership site grow faster and smarter.
