How to Sell Membership Online: The Ultimate Guide

Selling memberships is a growing trend shaping engagement, customer retention and relationship-building in businesses today. So, if you’re struggling to make your desired revenue with your traditional sales model, memberships might turn out to be your silver bullet!

99% of membership sites reported an increased customer retention of 3 months. Whether selling memberships for recurring revenue, nurturing an engaging community, or branding, membership is the right strategy to propel your business!

In this blog, we break down how to sell memberships online with our detailed guide and some stellar examples to skyrocket your journey! 

Key Statistics of Membership Economy

Memberships are a great way to build a thriving community, showcase your expertise and drive engagement. The global subscription market is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2025, compared to $650 billion in 2020. 

Before embarking on how to sell memberships online, we’ve combed the internet for some key statistics. So, let’s crunch some numbers!

Key Statistics

• The popular niches for membership sites are business and entrepreneurship (22.8%), education (22.7%), and health and fitness(12.4%).
• 67.6% membership sites are B2C, while 32.4% are from the B2B industry.
• Generating recurring revenue is one of the crucial reasons to sell memberships online.
• Customer retention and engagement are the primary concerns for membership sites.
• 45.2% of membership sites drive 6-figure revenue, and 6.9% of sites bring 7-figure revenue per year.
• An average member’s lifespan is about 12.3 months.
• Subscription-based businesses have expanded 3.7x faster than S&P 500 companies over the last 11 years.

(Sources: Zuora, Membership Geeks, GrowthZone)

What are the Benefits of Selling Memberships Online?

The membership is revolutionizing every niche you name—from education to fitness! Although the customer is the center of the universe here, it is also immensely helpful for website owners!

On that note, let’s get acquainted with the benefits of selling memberships online!

Benefit #1: Recurring Revenue

Whether you’re a course creator or a business owner, membership is a predictable source of income that drives your business. 73% of membership sites reported an increase in their revenue. You can earn consistent revenue with monthly or yearly membership fees or a freemium pricing model.

Benefit #2: Customer Retention

With a membership model, you offer continuous value to your customers through course content, podcasts, or resources. Thus, customers enjoy a complete learning experience at one place! This creates a lock-in effect,  where customers are reluctant to leave and join a competitor’s website.

Benefit #3: Upselling and Retargeted Marketing Campaigns

If your customers enjoy your membership experience, they are more likely to purchase other programs. You could try upselling one-to-one coaching programs, evergreen webinars, downloadable digital products, etc.

Benefit # 4: Community-Building

Memberships help foster a network of niche members through forums, groups, messaging, and activity walls. They create a stage for testing ideas, engaging and interacting with like-minded members, getting feedback, and building a resilient community.

Benefit #5: Reduced Churn Rate & Retention Costs

Churn rate and customer lifetime value are essential metrics for business performance. Memberships focus on reviving customer relationships and reducing overall churn. Besides, focusing on existing customers reduces the overall marketing cost.

💡 Learn more about the benefits of membership site with this courses vs. membership site comparison

How to Sell Memberships Online in 10 Easy Steps: Membership 101

Acquainted with the benefits of the membership model? Let’s dig into the meat of this article — how to sell memberships and grow your business!

Step # 1: Choose Your Niche & Membership Idea

The first step is to discover your niche and breakthrough ideas to sell memberships online. Figure what you’re going to sell and how it would help to elevate your business! 

While starting out, it might be challenging to find membership ideas for your business. But analyzing your knowledge, interests, and target audience could get you enough inspiration!

Yes, you would need a lot of research until that revolutionary idea strikes! So, how do you choose the right idea?

Ask the following questions before settling on your final idea:

• Do you have any unique skills, talents, and expertise? 
• Are you passionate about a specific membership idea?
• Does your idea solve an existential problem gap in your niche?
• Is your marketing idea in demand and profitable?
• What are the possible revenue streams for monetizing your idea? Would you sell courses, digital downloads, or community forums?
• Are your membership ideas scalable?

Finding your unique business proposition is the ardent fire that helps you stand out! Lastly, validate the profitability of your idea with a minimum viable product(MVP).

Step # 2: Identify Your Target Market and Ideal Audience

Remember the old marketing adage, “if you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.” This holds true when finding your ideal audience. So, let’s ask the key question: Who is the person buying the offer? 

Now that you have clearly defined your niche, it’s time you find your ideal target audience.

First, research your business…

Think about your business. What does it do? What problems does it address? This will give you your first set of broad audiences!

Next, narrow your audience with buyer personas…

A fictional representation of your ideal audience covering demographics,  interests, pain points, motivators, etc. Your persona is a mix of information from your existing and potential customers.

It helps you target the right marketing strategies, craft the right message, and capture the right leads. Interviews, surveys, and research of industry data could help you build effective personas.

Drill down your competitor strategy…

When you don’t have an existing audience, examine your competitor strategy. Understand the services they offer, their reviews, age, preferences, etc.

Step # 3: Determine Your Membership Model

Figuring the right membership type is essential in the entire process of how to sell memberships online. Are you leveraging the organized drip feed model? Or does the accessible all-in-one membership model seem right for your business?

The success of your membership model also depends on how well it aligns with your business. 

Here are the popular membership types you’ll observe:

• Drip Feed

This is a popular and engaging membership model. Here the content is released as small digestible nuggets of information, rather than all at once. Classic drip (based on when the member joined), activity-based, or a scheduled date are the different types of drip feed model.

• “All-in-One” membership

This is the opposite of the drip feed model. Here, all the content is made accessible at once rather than clearing the air of mystery! The members make an upfront payment or a monthly fee.

• Online Courses

Another common membership model is where members get access to premium courses on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, Daily Burn is a classic example of this model.

• The Online Community

Do you wish your members would stay long? Build a community that offers access to forums, member directories, masterminds, etc.

• Discount Model

This model focuses on attracting members with discounts and deals on offerings. Tiered clubs or instant-saving clubs are the two popular discount model examples. In tiered clubs, the top tier offers the highest discounts.

Step # 4: Choose Your Platform

Now, you have a stellar membership idea, ideal audience and membership model, you’re going good. But, what about a dedicated platform to host your memberships. 

Look for the following features when choosing your ideal platform:

• A solid community to engage and bring your members together
• User registration & profile management
• Features, such as live streaming, forums, direct messaging system, courses, interactive polls
• Course creation & management module
• Integrated payment gateway
• Membership Management
• Content Access Control

Here’s a quick rundown of the popular platforms :

Platform	Examples
Content management platforms	WordPress with plugins like MemberPress
All-in-one membership platforms	Kajabi, Podia, Teachable
Community Platforms	Mighty Networks, Circle
Ecommerce Platforms	Shopify,Magneto

Step # 5: Designing Your Landing Page or Website

Once you select your membership platform, it’s time to craft a stellar design!  Your design speaks volumes about your business branding, voice, and unique value proposition. 

Identify the core features and functionalities that are crucial for your business.

Listed below are the key components for your membership site:

• HomePage or Landing Page with clear CTAs, quick navigation, and a unique selling proposition
• Log in Page & Dashboard Page

• Membership Levels and Pricing Plan Page

• Checkout and Registration Page 

• About Us & Contact Us Page

• Niche-specific pages like courses, communities, and directories

Step # 6: Create Content for Your Membership Site

High-quality and exclusive content is the heart of your website. After all, your customers are paying a price to consume content!  

Content planning includes the following aspects:

Tips to create content for your site

• Collaborate with industry experts to bring expertise into your content.
• Plan your content 3-6 months in advance. Create loose cluster topics on specific keywords.
• Repurpose your blogs, videos and podcasts into different formats like worksheets, infographics, and slides.

Pro Tip: Add progress tracking to track how far they have completed their learning.

Step # 7: Decide Your Pricing Strategy

A membership model is a great way to earn recurring income. A solid pricing strategy helps determine the long-term success of your offer. Hence, it is a key step in this comprehensive: how to sell membership online strategy.

Here are the three different membership pricing models:

Fixed Pricing

This is the most common pricing model. Here members pay a fixed monthly, yearly or quarterly fee to avail the services.  Steady revenue is the advantage of this model, while it offers limited flexibility in the evolving market.

Tiered Pricing

In this model, you define different membership levels or tiers, with each tier offering different benefits or perks. Businesses with tiered pricing observe a 25% increase in revenue. This model also benefits, such as increased revenue stream, broader audience reach, and upselling.

Freemium Pricing

The freemium model offers the basic features of the product or service for free, while the premium features demand a fee. A lower entry barrier appeals and attracts a larger user base.

Practical Tips for Membership Pricing

• Start membership pricing with three tiers, segmenting the audience based on the benefits
• Implement psychological pricing, such as pricing below the round number of Rs.99 or Rs.199.
• Offer special-occasion or annual discounts to boost your sales.
• Adjust your pricing based on the problem you’re solving and the competition.
• Monitor and tweak your pricing based on feedback and performance.

Step # 8: Promote Your Membership Website

You have built your membership site, but is your site getting signups?

To promote it, you need to leverage relevant marketing channels. Chiseling your promotional strategies helps attract new members to your site. Research where your audience usually hangs out online and target potential customers.

Here are the tried-and-tested strategies to market your membership site:

• Curate blog posts on trending topics, ones targeting the users’ pain points, etc.
• Share testimonials and behind-the-scenes content, or promote discounts on social media.
• Host giveaways and contests to engage your audience.
• Create demos and how-to videos to demonstrate how your membership site works.
• Build an email list and send welcome, re-engagement (tips, giveaways, product launches) and promotional emails.
• Leverage Google and Facebook ads to retarget audiences based on interests, people who are interested in your offering, etc.
• Use referral programs to incentivize existing members with a bonus when a new member signs up.
• Partner with affiliates to broaden your reach to a wide audience.

Watch this video for a stellar marketing strategy:

Step # 9: Create an Amazing New Onboarding Member Experience

We often say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but rarely stand by it.  First impressions often play a crucial role in your membership site. The first 30 days are detrimental to decide whether a member would stick around or slip away.

Hence, make their onboarding experience smooth and memorable! A lackluster onboarding could lead to disappointment and drop-offs! 

Here are the best practices for a smooth onboarding experience:

• Use automated email sequences, such as brief walkthroughs, demo tutorials, and a “start here” guide.
• Integrate the community aspect with forums, discussion groups, etc., so that new members can actively participate in discussions.
• Encourage new members to participate in challenges and events and feel like they are a part of the community.
• Reward members with gamification elements like badges, points and leaderboards.
• Track engagement levels, user interaction and content preferences with analytics tools.

Step #10: Evaluate and Scale

Now, your membership site is up and running, you have onboarded new members. So far, so good! But, do you know your numbers? And are they encouraging enough?

Tracking your KPIs defines the complete narrative of your endeavor. Your masterstrokes and bloopers in your offerings so far!

However, 14% of business owners don’t even track their KPIs, and the remaining track only a few of them.

So, which metrics should you focus on?

Churn Rate

The “churn” as it is popularly known is the rate at which your platform is losing members every month. 5%-7% is an acceptable churn rate for membership sites.

Churn Rate = Lost members /  Total members at the beginning period x 100

Minimize the churn rate with a well-crafted onboarding experience, offering updated and engaging content and offering alternatives to canceling.

Revenue & Profits

Evaluate your ARR(Annual Recurring Revenue) and MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) to know about the actual revenue you’re making.

Website Traffic

Use tools like Google Analytics and SEMRush to measure traffic and drill-down where the traffic is coming from. Observe the traffic sources, the peak times and the most-popular content. 

Conversion Rates

Are people taking the desired action when visiting your key pages? Conversion rates determine the effectiveness of your lead generation and sales strategies. You can analyze the key features that are working and those that are not.

Customer Lifetime Value 

A vital metric that calculates the average financial value that a member contributes to your site. It can help to identify high-value and most loyal customers.

Customer Lifetime Value = Customer Value x Average Customer Lifespan

Customer Acquisition Cost

How much are you spending on marketing? The money you spend on acquiring new members is the overall customer acquisition cost. Knowing your customer acquisition cost helps you analyze your ROI and make better decisions.

Well, that’s the end of our detailed guide on how to sell memberships online! Next, we help you get some interesting real-world insights and advice, so read on! 

Inspiring Membership Site Examples

Now that you have gained a good understanding of membership sites let’s get inspired by these amazing examples! 

CopyHackers

What They Do?

CopyHackers is a goldmine for anyone aspiring to step into the world of copywriting. Founded by Joanna Wiebe in 2011, CopySchool is its comprehensive online course and membership site termed as the “Harvard of copywriting.” Recently, the platform transitioned to a membership model offering a complete suite of copywriting courses, a buzzing community and expert trainer.

Benefits

Offers the following features for novice and professional writers:

• Courses & Training
• Free Resources
• AI Tools
• Copywriting Services

Platform

CopyHackers uses the WordPress platform, and MemberPress, its LMS plugin

Pricing

Cashflow-friendly Access – $297 / month

Annual access –  $2997/ year

Mark Manson (Life Coaching)

What They Do?

Mark Manson is a multi-hyphenate — #1 New York bestseller for two times, as well as a podcaster, YouTuber, and personal development consultant. You’re living under a rock if you haven’t heard about his Amazon-bestseller and most-read non-fiction book,  “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck.”

Mark also runs a membership site with a massive 15 million audience, offering exclusive access to his articles, videos, etc. Also, he is one of the few life coaches to test the unchartered waters of the subscription model back then.

Benefits

Members enjoy exclusive access to the following resources:

• Instant access to 40+ premium articles
• 6-Online Video Courses
• Audio Commentaries on his Books
• Ebook Library
• Ask Mark Anything Videos
• Access to Events & Meets

Platform

Mark Manson’s membership site leverages the power of the WordPress platform along with the Memberpress plugin.

Pricing

Monthly Subscription– $9.99

Yearly Subscription – $79.99  

Kesler Science

What They Do?

Kesler Science is a robust educational resource platform for elementary and middle school students. Founded by Chris Kesler, the platform offers several engaging lessons for 4th – 8th grade students. The lessons cover topics on Life, Earth, Life, and Physical Science based on the 5E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate).

Features

• Intuitive Dashboard
• Several Downloadable Resources for 4th-8th grade students
• Interesting Blogs on Science Concepts and Teaching Strategies
• Automated Welcome Emails
• Custom domains with secure sockets layer (SSL)

Platform

Built on PocketLab (cloud-based Science platform)

Pricing

Kesler Science Core($33.99/ monthly or $349/ year) – Downloadable presentations and PDFs for hands-on learning

Kesler Science Pro ($49.99/month or $579/year) – Downloadable resources along with a dashboard to monitor student progress.

7 Steal-Worthy Tips To Maximize Your Membership Sales

Whether you’re selling fitness membership programs or a site for building your baking business, increasing your membership sales could make a huge difference!

Here are some practical tips that could drive your membership sales:

Tip #1: Offer a free trial to potential clients.

New members might be hesitant to purchase the product without getting a hold of it. You can offer a 30-day free trial where customers can actually understand the benefits, features of the product. Request for billing information when the customer signs-up for the trial period. This way, you can remind them about renewal, once the trial expires.

Tip # 2: Integrate a checkout abandonment process.

People often visit a page, reach the checkout, and then drop out from the purchase. Leverage tools like Active Campaign and InfusionSoft to automate your checkout abandonment process.

Tip # 3: Set up a 24×7 live chat to build relationships.

You can introduce a live chat feature that answers FAQs and addresses common concerns about your platform. Offer the live chat service for fixed working hours like 9-7 and automated answers for other times.

Tip # 4: Optimize the sales funnel for the most relevant channels

FOMO is a real thing. Find the top marketing channels with maximum engagement and focus on building a sales funnel for the audience. For instance, if you have a massive audience on Instagram, focus on maximizing your leads from there.

Tip# 5: Leverage upsells to boost revenue and offer higher value

Increase the average spend of your existing audience rather than inviting new members. Upsells like order bumps, upgraders, or bundling are the best way to activate the “buying mood.”

Tip # 6: Bring the social-proof effect with testimonials 

“When you say it is marketing, when your customers say it’s social proof!” Ask members about your product’s most exciting aspect, reasons for sticking around, and how it has helped them to achieve goals.

Tip #7: Increase your membership prices over time

Once you have a thriving community and stellar content, gradually increase your prices. Combine it with psychological triggers like urgency, scarcity, or fear of losing out to bring the emotional aspect into play.

Are You Ready to Sell Your Membership Online?

Well, now you have a well-rounded idea on how to sell memberships online. Whether your aim is to earn a recurring income, increase customer retention, or build an online community, memberships can help you strike gold!

But unlike selling courses, you need to offer extensive value to make your membership program successful! Target the right audience, leverage the right pricing strategy, and create stellar content to make your membership experience worthwhile! So, what’s your membership idea about?

FAQ-Related to How to Sell Memberships Online

1. How to sell my online memberships?

Analyze your niche and target audience, determine your membership model, choose the right platform, create content, promote your target audience, and monitor your membership site.

2. Do membership sites make money?

Yes, membership sites are a great way of earning recurring revenue. A successful site can earn you even a five to six-figure income. Factors such as membership idea, platform, content and promotions influence your platform’s success.

3. What is a membership sale?

A membership sale offers members exclusive access to platform resources for a monthly or yearly subscription fee.

4. How to sell my online membership better?

Trial membership upsells, referral programs, testimonials, and email marketing can drive membership sales.