Terms
Acquisition is often discussed as a crucial part of every strategy for business. But Michael Gillespie, who leads Customer Success here at , is aware of an overlooked element of Membership business that occurs right after the acquisition process and onboarding.
"A lot of folks concentrate on selling the membership, but after the sale has been made, that's when the hard phase starts!" says Michael. Those first interactions with the new member is more important in the membership due to the component of human interaction that might not see in other industries.
What exactly does it mean to get someone aboard successfully? "Onboarding may be specific to your membership. It may be something that drives a particular event, for example a welcome email - and some people may just end their journey there," Michael explains. However, he feels that onboarding is meant to set expectations: it let a member be aware of the benefits gained from joining your community - not immediately, but over the months to come.
"Onboarding generally is an inactive experience, which fails to create a roadmap to members," Michael adds. It's better to assume that at the first touchpoint with your community, your member knows nothing about what to do. Lack of knowledge creates barriers that prevent new members from engaging with members in the manner you would like them to.
The typical onboarding process
"In an average membership I register someone as a member, I send that person a welcome email and they get up to five or three hyperlinks to the content I would like for them to read, and then I'm done" Michael says. "Members feel overwhelmed or underserved."
The members who do not receive an onboarding plan will seldom engage and often churn. On the other hand those who are aware of the actions to take remain invested. "It's crucial to establish an atmosphere of commitment among newly joined members" Michael says. "Tell them where you are going to take them on your journey to membership."
"If you're a creator of podcasts Are you looking for people to listen to one particular show? Do you want people to be engaged with a different kind of content? If you're not telling members where you're taking them, and more importantly why you're taking them, they'll make their way through your membership with zero intent," he explains.
CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn If you're a creator of podcasts Your onboarding could inspire people to listen to an episode in particular
It is this single thing that causes the most turnover in the initial phases of joining. "You've been given an time of just 24 hours. Do you have a specific action that you would like your customer to do? Determine what you want from onboarding, and then the way you can design your process so that you provide the right experience for each customer," he adds.
Eliminating barriers to provide the best travel experience
When designing your onboarding process The most important thing to consider is what you want to achieve. "Do you want a member to upgrade to a tier with more advantages? Perhaps you've joined a monthly member, and your desire is to convert them to a yearly member?" Michael asks.
This output could also be to complete a course or read a specific article. "Most individuals in the process of onboarding, have not laid out intended outputs," he adds. "Make a list of between 3 and 1 expected outputs. Ask yourself, 'What might be the obstacles that exist to realizing these outputs?' There are always obstacles to those who are interested in your members."
Obstacles can be based on cost, time as well as a mix of each of the three. "Folks do not have an unlimited amount of time. We're busy people; we have countless distractions," Michael explains. "Is there a cost barrier for upgrades? In the event that you have a comparable product on the market, what is it that makes this member choose your membership over the other?"
Knowledge isn't the only obstacle. "Members are often not educated on 'where they need to be' within the organization. What's the objective? Where would they like to be in the next calendar year?" Michael asks. "The faster members can grasp the benefits, the faster they'll accept the plan and produce the output you're looking for." Engagement early on could be helpful: an of the onboarding activities could be for members to be asked to respond to an welcome email with information such as any difficulties they're having.
Be transparent: tell members what you want from the onboarding process - and the benefits they can get if they decide to take the initiative. "Don't be afraid to let your members know what your intent is. People who are in high awareness of your intent will take action whenever you require them to. These members are going to stay around for the longest time," Michael smiles.
Welcome videos
Emails to welcome members are straightforward and effective onboarding tools; most new members will expect the email to arrive shortly following their registration. However, we believe you can go one better: "You have a small window of opportunity to really wow that customer," says Michael. "Memberships with the video of welcome during onboarding have a 50% lower churn rate in the first two months of the membership."
Welcome videos can enhance your membership. "One of the greatest opportunities right now in joining is the human element," says Michael. "Automation and AI-generated content is fantastic, but membership offers a more personal side that is unique to it. There is a gap in what consumers believe they're lacking today in the membership industry, it's human contact."
Jay Klaus from Creator Science has a great introduction video "In his email to welcome you, he puts a video on the screen and welcomes you. He tells you why the way he's working and also outlines the things you can expect to see in the coming 6 months," Michael explains.
CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn Jay Klaus from Creator Science provides a wonderful introduction video
This is a great opportunity to spark engagement in the first stages of initial beginning the process of onboarding. In the case of video content, the click rate inside an email for video content is 17 times greater than text hyperlinks. "Put your message in the forefront, whatever you're trying to accomplish, and humanize your message to appeal to the people you're trying to reach. Build it once, deliver it a million times," he adds.
Roadmaps
A welcome email should contain a road map. Establish expectations: how do members access benefits? Do they have a timetable for those benefits, perhaps weekly? Where do they find those benefits? Do they require to check their email? Do they have to sign into their account?
"This is an easily neglected aspect of membership however, letting members know the exact details of what you're offering will help you limit churn rate during the initial 2 months," Michael explains. "Members should not be left to come up with a solution by themselves."
We've seen plenty of examples recently. "The initial email that you send out contains links to lots of great content, but members get lost. In the event of this it's either members who aren't engaged and you're left with a person who's lost and won't make an effort to visit your site to find out more," he continues.
It's not possible to put too much information before a member in the form of an outline. It's common to believe that your users are aware of how they can consume your content but it's safer to think a member knows little or nothing about it. "Explicitly outline everything in front of your members as you'll notice a lower churn rate," Michael adds.
Upsells
Most people don't think about upselling immediately after signing up as a new customer. But upselling when done right is an extremely effective element of onboarding. It are able to secure significantly more revenues.
Michael has noted that new members are most likely to be receptive to sales within the first 24hrs to 1 week after having purchased the membership. "It's easier to convert an existing member in the first few days because they already have the necessary context around the membership. The member is already "one foot in'" He explains.
Onboarding offers that are upsells have distinct positioning from those that you have on your site. They typically don't display on your website as they're only available exclusively for onboarding. "Once someone is in your membership and feels like they are part of something. Upsells are a great way to provide them with a better satisfaction by offering additional benefits," he states.
"Let's say you have a paid newsletter that's $6 per month. You offer a subscriber the chance to upgrade to a year-long option, which provides more value for an incrementally smaller price on a monthly basis. People who have been educated upon onboarding are more likely to buy an upgrade on their annual membership. The typical conversion rate is between 30 and 40 percentage for these promotions," Michael reports.
In addition, members receive an entire year of time to enjoy the content you provide. When members avail of these kinds of deals, the lifetime value of the members will be anywhere about four or five times greater than that of those who did not respond to the upsell.
"Think about how you can enhance the experience of your members. You could do this by adding other benefits you could create an exclusive plan for," Michael adds. "Every member has a portion of customers who are involved, and these members tend to be the ones most likely to be converted by an upsell in the early times. But you have to put the opportunity in front them."
The text in the welcome email you receive could read something like: 'This week only, we're extending the opportunity to all new members to purchase an exclusive pass. You'll receive three personalized member coaching calls each month for an entire year. There are two aspects to the offer: it's limited, with an exact date the day it will expire; It also comes with a huge savings.
The possibility of upselling reduces the likelihood of churn in the near future. "Members who lock in such a 60% savings off an annual membership in the first week of membership will be 80% more likely to become a member two years after now," Michael reports. "The increase in price only needs to increase incrementally in cost. But statistically those members who convert will be long-term members, and that will mean more income for your company."
The conversion rates of upsells for the onboarding program are 7 to 10 times more than first-time purchases. "If you've got a 3 percent conversion rate for your regular membership, once you get these folks into your membership, you could expect a 30% conversion rate," Michael explains. With upsells during initial onboarding, new members generate five times the revenue from your membership over those who don't make a profit on an upsell.
Pricing
In terms of pricing, we would recommend not exceeding 50% when it comes to the incremental difference.
"For example, I'm a yearly member. I've signed up for $50 a year. I'm presented with an offer to upsell that gives me access to four or five different products for $75 per year. This is a jump of 50% but it's also 50% more income you've already earned from the customer during the initial year," Michael explains. In the coming years, the customer will generate five to seven times more income.
"Think about the ways you can tack on to existing benefits for a better experience. The best upsells will generate amazing amounts of revenue that would otherwise go to be spent. You will have members in your group who have a desire for deeper experiences," Michael concludes.
The great part about upsells is the fact that it permits the user to instantly locate those folks at the opportune date and take that benefit. It will be possible to keep those gains over the coming years and months if the member does choose to convert.
We hope that this will help in your strategies for onboarding. Please feel free to contact us to us on social media should you have any questions. Have fun!