Table of Contents
Introduction
When it comes to running a membership site, it’s not just about offering a subscription. Members are looking for a solution to their problems, and it’s your job to provide that solution. In order to keep your subscribers engaged and satisfied, you need to offer them results, support, and a sense of belonging. This article will outline five ways to turn your students into loyal fans who will not only stay in your educational membership site but also recommend it to their friends.
Provide Ongoing Value
The key to retaining members in educational membership sites is to continually provide value. It’s important to keep your content fresh and engaging so that your audience sees the benefit of staying. This can be achieved by offering new resources, courses, live calls, or implementing a points system that grants access to new content. If your membership site remains stagnant and the content doesn’t change, members will question why they should continue paying for the same lessons. Therefore, it’s crucial to constantly offer new resources and content that help your members achieve the results they expect.
Don’t focus on quantity; instead, prioritize quality. The content you provide should be tailored to help your members achieve their goals. Additionally, consider adding your free content inside the membership as well. This adds value for paying members and allows you to introduce prospects to your membership, making it easier to upgrade them to a paid product or program.
Welcome Them with Open Arms: Provide a Tour of Your Platform
The onboarding process is the first impression that your members will have of your membership site, and it sets the tone for their entire experience. To make your members feel welcome and create a sense of belonging, provide them with an onboarding email and video that shows them around your membership site. This should include information on how the content is structured, where to start, how to consume the content, and where to go for help. Consider inviting them to your Facebook group or other community platforms and encourage them to introduce themselves. This initial welcome and support will remind your members that there is a real person behind the content they are seeing.
In addition to the initial onboarding process, it’s important to regularly check in with your members. Even if you have a Facebook group or forum, send them automated follow-up emails to find out how their experience is going and if they need any help. This personal touch will help them feel connected and supported throughout their membership journey.
Make Learning Fun and Engaging Through Gamification
To keep your members engaged and motivated, it’s essential to make learning fun and enjoyable. Gone are the days when simply providing videos and PDFs would be enough to keep members interested. Instead, consider implementing gamification techniques to make the learning experience more interactive and rewarding. Some ideas include:
- Breaking down training into bite-sized pieces with measurable results
- Creating an objectives list and progress tracking to encourage members to consume content and see their progress
- Providing different types of media to accommodate different learning styles, such as videos, audio, PDFs, and transcripts
- Running quizzes to make learning more interactive and enjoyable
By making learning a fun and engaging experience, you’ll increase member engagement and help them achieve better results.
Create the Pain of Disconnect
While it’s important to make it easy for members to leave if they choose to do so, you can also create incentives for them to stay. Offer something exclusive or unique that members can only access while they are part of the membership site. This could be a special tool, software, plugin, live call, or access to a private community. By providing something of value that is difficult to find elsewhere, you’ll give members a reason to stay longer and continue benefiting from their membership.
Ongoing Support and Community
One of the most crucial aspects of running a membership site is providing ongoing support and fostering a sense of community. Members want to feel connected to others who share their struggles and can provide support and encouragement. Building a solid community takes time and effort, but it’s well worth it.
Consider creating a private Facebook group or setting up a forum within your membership site. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, but they provide a platform for members to interact, ask questions, and share their experiences. Regularly engage with your members in these communities, offer support, and encourage them to connect with each other. By nurturing your members and creating a supportive community, you’ll increase their loyalty and satisfaction with your membership site.
Run Contests and Challenges
Running periodic challenges or contests is a great way to motivate your members and increase engagement. These challenges can be related to the content of your membership site or specific goals that you want your members to achieve. By providing incentives and recognition for their efforts, you’ll encourage members to actively participate and achieve better results. Additionally, members who have positive experiences and see results are more likely to share their success with others, which can lead to increased exposure and new members.
In conclusion, building a successful membership site requires ongoing effort and a focus on providing value, support, and community. By continually offering new resources, welcoming members with open arms, making learning enjoyable, creating incentives to stay, providing ongoing support, and running contests and challenges, you can create a membership site that your students won’t want to leave. Remember, the key is to focus on delivering results and making your members feel like they belong. By doing so, you’ll have a loyal base of fans who will not only stay but also recommend your membership site to others.
