Terms
The common discussion is about acquisition as a crucial part of every business plan. However, Michael Gillespie, who leads Customer Success here at , is aware of an neglected aspect of the Membership business that occurs right after the acquisition process: uponboarding.
"A lot of folks focus on the sale of the membership. But after the sale has been made, that's when the hard part starts!" says Michael. Initial interactions with new customers is more important in the membership due to the element of human interaction you might not see in other sectors.
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 action, such as a welcome email - and certain members may stop at that point," Michael explains. But he believes it is designed to establish expectation: it lets members know what they gain from joining the community, not immediately, but over the months to come.
"Onboarding is typically delivered as a passive experience that fails to create a roadmap for members," Michael adds. We should assume that, at the initial contact with your community, your member knows nothing about what to do. Lack of knowledge creates hurdles that stop new members from engaging with your membership in the way you want.
The typical onboarding process
"In the average member, I sign someone up and then send them an email welcoming them which includes three to five links to content I want users to be engaged with then I'm done" Michael says. "Members find themselves overwhelmed or unserved."
Members who don't receive an onboarding plan will seldom take part in the process and are often left to churn. However, members who know what actions to take remain invested. "It's important to create an atmosphere of commitment among newly joined members" Michael says. "Tell the new members where you're leading them through the membership journey."
"If you're a creator of podcasts Do you wish for someone to engage with a specific podcast? Do you want users to interact with another form of content? If you're not able to explain to members where you're taking them as well as the reason you're taking them, they'll make their way through your membership in a vacuum," he explains.
CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn In the case of a creator of podcasts and your onboarding may motivate people to participate in an episode in particular
This is the single event that causes the most turnover in the initial stage of membership. "You've been given an time of just 24-hours. Are there any actions you want your member to perform? Determine what you want to get out of the process and the way you can design your process in order to provide an enjoyable experience to every participant," he adds.
Eliminating barriers to provide the best travel experience
In the process of establishing your onboarding procedure The most important thing to consider is the intended output. "Do you desire a customer to move up to a higher tier with more advantages? Or maybe you have onboarded an existing monthly member and you're looking to change into a yearly membership?" Michael asks.
This output could also be to complete a course or read a particular article. "Most people, when it comes to beginning their onboarding process, do not lay out intended outputs," he adds. "Make a list of between one and three desired outputs. Think about 'What might be the obstacles that be preventing you from achieving those outputs?' - there will always be barriers for people engaging with your membership."
The barriers could be the cost of time, prices, competition as well as a mix of each of the three. "Folks are limited in their period of time. People are busy and have countless distractions," Michael explains. "Is there a price barrier when it comes to upgrades? If you have a comparable product on the market, what's making the customer choose to keep the membership instead of another?"
The lack of knowledge can be a issue. "Members are often not educated on 'where they need to be' within the group. What's the objective? What do they hope to be after one year?" Michael asks. "The faster members can grasp the upside, the quicker they'll accept the plan and help you achieve the results that you'd like to see." Early engagement could be helpful: an onboarding output could be to ask members to respond to an email welcoming them, including information about any challenges they're facing.
Be transparent: tell members what you want from the onboarding process - and also what advantages they'll receive if they choose to participate. "Don't feel bad about letting your members know your intentions. People who are in high awareness of your intent will take action at the time you're asking them to. These members are going to be around for the longest period of time." Michael smiles.
Welcome videos
The welcome emails are easy and efficient onboarding tools. many new members are expecting the email to arrive shortly after signing up. But at we think you could go one step further: "You have a small time to impress your customer," says Michael. "Memberships that include the video of welcome during onboarding have a 50% reduction in churn rates during the initial two months of membership."
A welcome video humanizes your membership. "One of the greatest possibilities in the current state of joining is the human element," says Michael. "Automation as well as AI-generated content are fantastic, but membership offers an element of personalization to it. There is a gap in what consumers think they're lacking in today's members' products, it's the human interaction."
Jay Klaus from Creator Science offers a fantastic onboarding video "In the welcome email he sends to new employees, he puts a video and he greets you. He tells you why the way he's working and then lays out what you can expect in the coming 6 months," Michael explains.
CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn Jay Klaus from Creator Science provides a wonderful video of the onboarding process.
This can be a fantastic opportunity to spark engagement in the early stages of the onboarding process. In the case of video content, the click rate inside an email for video content is 17 times higher on average than text hyperlinks. "Put front and center regardless of what you're trying to convey and make it more human to the message you're sending to appeal to the people you're trying to reach. Make it one time, and then present it over and over again," he adds.
Roadmaps
A welcome email should include a plan. Create expectations about how the members gain access to benefits? Is there a cadence of these benefits, maybe each week? Where do they find those benefits? Do they require to access their email account? Are they required to sign in?
"This is an easily overlooked part of membership, however, letting members know exactly what's being offered will help you limit churn rates within the first two month," Michael explains. "Members should not be left to come up with a solution on their own."
We've seen plenty of examples in recent times. "The initial email that you send out contains links to lots of great information, however members are confused. When that happens, you end up with members who aren't engaged and you're left with a member who's confused and isn't willing to put in an effort to check out your website and learn more about the subject," he continues.
There's no way to overload details in front of a member when it comes to an outline. It's common to believe that your users are aware of how they can consume your content but it's safer to assume that they know little or nothing about it. "Explicitly lay out everything for your customers as you'll notice a lower churn rate," Michael adds.
Upsells
Many people do not think of upselling immediately after signing up as a new customer. However, when it's done correctly, upselling can be a significant part of onboarding and you can lock in significantly higher revenues.
Michael has noticed that members who are new to the club are more likely to be receptive to sales within the first 24 hours up to one week after they've purchased the membership. "It's easier to convert an existing member in the first few days as they have all the required context around the membership. They're already 'one foot in'" He explains.
Upsell offers within onboarding have a different positioning than those that you have on your site. Most of the time, these deals don't appear on your site - they are reserved for onboarding. "Once someone is part of your program you feel like they're part of an organization. Upsells are a great way to give them an enhanced experience through additional benefits," He adds.
"Let's suppose you run the option of a paid monthly newsletter, which costs $ 6 per month, and you provide a user with the option to upgrade to a year-long option that gets them lots more value for an progressively lower cost for a month-long basis. People who have been educated upon onboarding are more likely to buy an upsell on a yearly subscription. The typical conversion rate is between 30 and 40 percent for these deals," Michael reports.
Furthermore, these members get the entire year to enjoy your content. When members avail of these types of offers The lifetime value of the members will be anywhere approximately four to five times higher than those who did not respond to an upsell.
"Think about deepening the experience of your members. This could include other benefits you could develop a special plan," Michael adds. "Every membership has a segment of customers who are engaged, and those members tend to be the ones most likely to be converted by an upsell during the first days. You must however, present the opportunity in front the members."
The message in your welcome email could say something like: 'This week only, we're extending the opportunity to all new members to buy an exclusive pass. The offer includes three personal monthly membership coaching calls all year.' There are two elements to this offer It's limited in duration, and comes with a clear date of when it expires; as well as it comes with a substantial discount.
Upsells reduce the probability of short-term churn. "Members who sign up for the 60% savings off a yearly membership within the first week of joining are 80% more likely to remain a member two years after now," Michael reports. "The increase in price only needs to increase incrementally in cost. But statistically those members who sign up for the upgrade are long-term members, and that will mean more income for your company."
The rates for upsells within the onboarding series can be 7 to 10 times more than those for purchases made on the first occasion. "If you have a 3% conversion rate on the regular membership, after you get these folks into the membership, you can be expecting a 30 percent conversion rate," Michael explains. If you have an upsell during initial onboarding, new members generate five times the revenue from your membership as compared to those who do not convert on the upsell.
Pricing
In terms of pricing, we would recommend that you do not exceed 50% when it comes to the increment.
"For example, I'm a year-round membership. I've signed up for $50 per year. I'm offered an offer to upsell that gives me access to five or four different products for $75 per year. That's a 50% jump however, it's a 50% increase in revenue you've already gained from the customer during the initial year," Michael explains. Within the next couple of years of membership, that member is going to generate between five and seven times more income.
"Think about how you could incorporate into existing advantages to provide a more satisfying experience. The best upsells will generate amazing amounts of revenue that are otherwise money left on the table. You will have members in your group who have a need for more experiences." Michael concludes.
The best part about selling upsells is that it allows you to quickly locate folks at the opportune time and extract that value. It will be possible to keep that value over the coming months and years if that member does choose to convert.
We hope that this will help to improve your approach to onboarding. Please feel free to contact us on social media if you have any questions. Have fun!