Archives: Content

How much content do I need to go live?

You’d like to launch your site, but you’re not sure that you have enough content to supplement the value of your membership offer.

While it is nice to be able to launch quickly and sign members, it is essential that you have enough content to keep them around.

1. Develop a Subscriber Referral Program
The first and most obvious method for getting referral traffic is to get referrals.

Refer-a-friend marketing is perfect for the subscription model because you’re leveraging already happy customers to create new ones.

Loyal customers can drive huge amounts of referral traffic to your site, and referral programs are fairly easy to create.
Referral programs can look however you want. Fitness subscription businesses, like Anytime Fitness, often offer free months for members that refer a friend.

But that doesn’t mean your referral program has to be financially motivated. Dropbox gives referrals an extra 16GB worth of storage space.

However you set it up, referrals are a driver of traffic and leads.

They also have the added benefit of leveraging your subscribers as your marketing team, which saves you heaps of time and money in the long run.

2. Stay Active on Your Best Performing Social Platforms
Of course, actual referrals aren’t the only way to drive traffic to your site.

You can also drive traffic through social engagement. And you really should be active on social media anyway.

Using social media for referrals does take a bit of practice, however. If you’re new to social engagement and/or you’re not sure how to draw in referrals from social posts, start small.

Be selective when choosing which social media platforms to prioritize. Focus on the ones with the highest ROI for your target audience. This may require testing the waters with a few posts.

Use a free tool like BuzzSumo to find your most shared posts or pages on your site to see which platforms perform well.

Google Analytics will also give you insights into which social channels are currently bringing in the most traffic (Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals).

You can then decide whether or not you want to focus on these channels or if you want to try to drum up referrals from other channels outside of the list.

Just remember to go where your audience goes.
If you really, really want traffic from Instagram but your audience just isn’t on Instagram, you’ll be wasting time.

For the most part, stick with the top performing sites for your audience.

Identify the platform(s) where:

Your audience spends most of their time
Your content gets the most engagement (BuzzSumo)
You have the highest conversion rates or current referral traffic (Google Analytics)
To grow referral traffic from your top social sites, consider the following:

Create shareable images. Studies show that social posts with images have an 85% interaction rate (on average) and can increase shares of content by 35%.
Ask for feedback and reviews. Ask your followers to share their thoughts. Don’t just ask about your product or business, either. Ask about industry trends and hot-button topics.
Share something valuable. Sharing statistics, facts or practical tips can increase engagement, particularly for data-driven industries (SaaS, ecommerce, etc.).
Sponsor a giveaway or hashtag contest. People love getting things for free. Giveaways and other promotions, like hashtag contests, are great ways to get your followers involved and get your content in front of new eyes. Use a tool like Wishpond to quickly create engagement.
Use social media sites like Quora to answer questions. Quora, Reddit and other forums are great or directly answering questions and connecting one-on-one with subscribers or potential subscribers. Include a link back to your site for the biggest ROI.

Why Google Analytics Matters

Google analytics will not only help you see how much traffic your site is getting, it can help you figure out where the traffic is coming from, and how long people are spending on your site.

This can help you to determine which parts of the sales funnel are working, and which need to be readjusted for optimal performance.

How do you get more traffic to your site?
That’s the question site owners have been trying to answer since the dawn of the Internet. The answer you’ll likely hear is “SEO” or “PPC.”

But if optimized keywords and paid ads are the be-all end-all to driving traffic, why don’t more people succeed?

SEO and PPC aren’t an exact science, and even if you do everything “right” — target the right keywords at the right volume and level of competition, etc. etc. — it still takes time to see significant results.

That’s where other methods, like referrals traffic, can help boost your results more quickly.

Referral traffic is powerful for subscription and membership businesses, especially those with a loyal and dedicated following, and it can be a great source of regular traffic compared to only using keywords and PPC.

Here are 5 ways to use referrals to increase your site’s visibility (and your subscriber numbers).

Is Your Business Subscription Worthy? Here’s What to Know

Could you build a successful subscription or membership service out of your business?

Today it seems like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of the subscription economy.

Every ecommerce business wants to be the next Amazon Prime, and every content creator wants to be the next Lynda.com.

But for every Amazon that’s pulling it off, others are struggling to create subscription offers that are sustainable and in demand.

Does this mean it’s impossible for every business to take advantage of the subscription model?

Not necessarily.

You just have to know where your business fits into the scheme of things.
Free Consultation
Receive a Free 30-minute consultation to see if your business is ready for the subscription model.

Can Any Business be Turned into a Subscription Business?
Most businesses can use the subscription or membership model in some form or another.

But certain business types will inevitably have an advantage when it comes to transitioning into the subscription model.

Others might have a harder time due to any number of factors, like niche size, audience demand, pricing issues or any number of reasons outside of your control.

The best place to start when assessing whether or not your business is subscription worthy is to look at the different types of subscription models to see if there is one that naturally fits with your current offerings.

Here’s a quick rundown of the basic subscription models that are out there.

1. The Ecommerce Subscription Model
When people talk about subscription businesses, this is probably the first things to come to mind. It typically revolves around an ecommerce product of some type.

This might include a recurring subscription for a single product, like Amazon’s “Subscribe & Save” service that lets you automatically purchase your favorite products.

But it could also include a subscription to a group of curated products. Some popular subscription box services, like Birchbox or Dollar Shave Club, are good examples.

Who benefits from this model?

If you have a product that lends itself to repeat purchases, you can most likely take advantage of the subscription model.

Who doesn’t benefit from this model?

If you mostly sell “one-time” or “occasionally” purchased products — big-ticket items like furniture or electronics, for example — you probably won’t be able to turn them into subscription products.

2. The Service Subscription Model
Another variation of the ecommerce subscription model is the service subscription model.

Instead of selling products, you’re selling a service.
This might include physical services, like pet sitting, grocery delivery or home cleaning. TIDY, for example, offers subscriptions to home cleaning services for homeowners as well as Airbnb owners that might need daily cleaning.

But this could also include digital services.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies can use this model to either lease out their products to customers on a monthly or annual basis like Microsoft does with their suite of office products (Microsoft 365).

Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) companies or other content management systems — those that give the opportunity for others to build their own apps or databases using their platform — might also use this model to offer ongoing support or maintenance to their customers.

Google App Engine, for instance, is a PaaS that lets app developers host and scale their web apps using Google’s cloud-based infrastructure.

Customers are often willing to pay a monthly or annual fee to be able to use or maintain a digital service that adds value to their own businesses.

Who benefits from this model?

Businesses that offer an ongoing service, whether physical or digital, can potentially benefit from a subscription based membership.

Who doesn’t benefit from this model?

If your service doesn’t require ongoing updates, maintenance or support for the customer (you might update it to keep it fresh for new customers, however), it can be difficult to offer a subscription.

3. The Membership Model
The membership model is slightly different than the subscription model.
Rather than focusing on a specific item or service, memberships are formed around value-based offerings.

Local gym memberships, sports clubs or social clubs (your membership gets you access) are popular examples of this, but other types of online businesses can fall into this category.

Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) businesses — where members pay a fee to access unlimited content from an online library — are included in this model.

Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu are examples, but this also includes sites like Lynda.com or New Masters Academy, which offer access to online videos and training tools for paying members.

The membership model also applies to an online community or exclusive club.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is one example of an online society that offers things like HR certifications, conferences, webinars and other content for members only.

Whereas ecommerce or service subscription models appeal to convenience, the membership model appeals to value, whether it’s in the form of access or exclusive content.

Who benefits from this model?

Businesses that have something exclusive to offer, whether it’s access to a physical or digital community or specialized content, can form a membership around this model.

Who doesn’t benefit from this model?

The membership model falls apart if customers don’t perceive ongoing value. When content can’t (or isn’t) updated or created, or community members don’t stay engaged, it can be difficult to maintain a membership business.

Bonus: The Hybrid Model
The hybrid model is a combination of any of the above offerings.

HubSpot, for example, is a SaaS business with a subscription model for using their software, but they also have an online community called HubSpot Academy which offers certifications in things like inbound marketing.

HubSpot members get access to HubSpot Academy automatically, but you can also sign up for HubSpot Academy without being a HubSpot member.

If your business doesn’t fit into any of the models above, you might consider using the hybrid model to offer some type of add-on product, service or content that will create value for your business.

Amazon is another example of the hybrid model in action.
Amazon.com isn’t subscription-based, but Amazon Prime gives you free shipping and access to exclusive content. You don’t have to become an Amazon Prime members to shop at Amazon.com, though.

Alternatively, you can just sign up for “Subscribe & Save” and get the best of both worlds.

Who benefits from this model?

Any business that could add a subscription or membership offering at some level.

Who doesn’t benefit from this model?

Businesses that don’t have a strong community element or that have little to no recurring market demand for their product, service or content might not be able to gain anything from offering an additional subscription service.

How to Choose the Right Subscription Model
At this point, you should be able to identify whether or not there’s a model listed that will work for your business.

But if nothing is jumping out at you, here are a few things to consider.

1. Is there market demand for an ongoing service or membership?
The success of a subscription or membership model depends on demand.

If no one is asking for a repeat purchase of your product, or if your customers don’t really want access to your content because they’re getting it elsewhere, then developing a membership or subscription service might be difficult.

The first thing you should do is assess your market.
Ask:

Is there a demand for this?
Have customers or potential customers asked me about this in the past?
Would customers appreciate something like this, even if they haven’t asked for it?
Would it add value to their lives or businesses?
Are my competitors already doing this?
Before you dive in, take some time to talk to customers, create surveys and get a general consensus from your current base as to whether or not they would be interested in a subscription.

You can also look at the questions people are asking in other online communities, like Quora, or research search terms related to your business.

Look for trends that might indicate that your product or service is worth turning into a subscription.

2. Can you handle a subscription or membership business?
Running a subscription business isn’t the easiest thing in the world. There’s a lot involved in the process.

First, you have to set up a new website or update your current website with tools that will help you process subscriptions and memberships in a reliable, secure way.

If you’re looking at the ecommerce subscription model, you’ll most likely have to contact manufacturers or shippers to ensure that you can offer what you want at an affordable rate.

If you’re offering a service, you have to ensure that you have a workflow in place that will provide consistent service and value to those that sign up, whenever they sign up.

If you’re offering evergreen content, you have to create that content and have a plan to update or generate new content over time.

In other words, there’s a lot that goes into the development process. Are you in a good enough financial and emotional state to handle those transitions?

If not, your business won’t be subscription worthy no matter how well it fits into any model.

3. Is there a pricing model that is self-sustaining for your subscription business?
According to Jameson Morris, founder of Conscious Box, the number one reason subscription businesses fail is they don’t have enough of a profit margin.

The bottom line is that a subscription model has to be profitable for your business, but not so expensive that customers balk at the idea of giving you their hard-earned dollars.

There are different pricing models that can be applied to any of the above subscription models.

Some might give you more sustainable than others, but you have to choose one that’s right for your business type and for your ideal membership.

So how do you choose?
Almost any business can become a subscription or membership business, or, at the very least, find a way to add-on a subscription service to their current offerings.

So it’s not so much a matter of “can we do this?” as it is of “how should we do this?”
Your approach will vary depending on what type of subscription model you want to use, what your customers want, whether or not there is a demand for it, and how it will be priced.

Those are the areas you want to think about when considering adding subscriptions to your business.

If you feel confident that you can come up with a solution for each of those areas, then yes, your business is subscription worthy.

Free Consultation
Receive a Free 30-minute consultation to see if your business is ready for the subscription model.

Final Thoughts
Once you’ve figured out that you want to pursue using a subscription or membership model, you’ll want to get started on the research process.

We’ve developed a quick start guide here that will walk you through the initial process.

But don’t be afraid to take your time to suss out any other concerns you have about the process first. Talk to customers. Talk to your team, if you have one. Get people’s opinions.

The worst thing you can do is go into not feeling confident that you have something truly great to offer.

Because chances are good that you do.

Tips to Providing a Good User Experience

The MemberDev platform is easy to navigate, which is just one key in cultivating an elevated user experience.

Here are some other essential elements in enhancing the customer’s time on your site.

We believe that anyone can build a WordPress membership website. Yes, anyone.

There are plenty of good reasons to DIY your membership site (and good reasons not to), but for those who have a basic knowledge of WordPress, you can definitely do it.

The key to success is ensuring that your website is both functional and beautiful.
Member sites must absolutely work like member sites (we’ll get to that in a bit), but they also need to look good, too.

Design plays an important role in how potential members perceive you. Here’s what to know about making the best looking DIY WordPress membership site out there.

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The Fundamentals of WordPress Design for DIYers

Why Design Matters for Membership Sites
Whether you consciously realize it or not, design impacts a lot about the user experience (UX).

Statistics show that the majority of Internet users prefer to browse a pretty site than an “ugly” one, even if there’s nothing there of real substance.

It’s not too difficult to make something look good.

The foundation of good website design can be boiled down to a few basic “checklist” items:

Responsive design — It should look and act the same on every screen (mobile, desktop, etc.)
Call-to-action (CTA) buttons — There should be actionable ways for visitors to “buy-in”
Readable fonts — It has to be readable!
High-quality images — Images should be clear and enhance the emotional appeal of your message
Easy navigation — Users should know where to go to find what they need
Clear branding — People should be able to tell who you are and what you do
Fast loading speeds — Your site needs to load in a reasonable amount of time
A decent WordPress theme and access to some good tutorials can get you to that point.

The real trick is to make sure your site looks good while still providing a genuine experience for members. Membership sites are a lot different than traditional sites in this area.

Members will spend more time interacting with your site than the average visitor.
In addition to worrying about what images to use on your homepage or how to set up your site in a way that generates leads, you also have to worry about things like logins and member areas.

This makes it doubly important to ensure it’s an aesthetically pleasing experience.

Here are a few best practices to follow to ensure it’s a good experience for members in both function and design.

1. Use Common Design Patterns as a Foundation
If you’ve spent any time on the Internet you’ve probably noticed that the majority of sites all look the same.

It’s just different iterations of one basic formula: Logo in the upper left-hand corner, navigation bar following the logo, CTA following the nav bar, headline (and sometimes additional text) underneath, followed by a big CTA button.

Here’s Mailchimp’s homepage:

Here’s Birchbox’s homepage:

Here’s YogaWorks’ homepage:

Why are they all so alike?

Simply put, designers have figured out what works over the years and developed templates that quickly and easily give users the same experience.

Psychologically speaking, people don’t love variety as much as they think they do. They want consistency.

Having similar websites lets people know what they can expect, where they can find the most information quickly. It’s good user experience (UX).

When it comes to design best practices, don’t overthink it. Go with what works.
Basic, user-friendly design gives visitors a common experience while also giving you freedom in the areas that count (e.g. do you want a video behind your banner or just an image?).

You can add any and all custom elements over a common layout without confusing the user.

2. Make Every Page Sales-Worthy
Traditional design advice would tell you to focus on making your homepage look as amazing as possible, and many designers (pro and novice alike) do end up spending the bulk of their time on the homepage.

The trouble with this is that the homepage isn’t the only place where you get leads. In fact, it might not be your highest traffic-producing page.

Unless you have one of those single-page scrolling sites, more people will spend time on your pricing page or your services page than they will on your homepage.

Take a look at Chris Ducker’s (Youpreneur) homepage:

It’s a basic layout, but one that’s also designed to sell. Now look at his About page:

There’s another strong CTA at the bottom, which is also designed to sell. His blog also has a CTA for becoming a Youpreneur member:

Even his contact page is designed to sell.

Every page is designed with a purpose. It’s not there to just exist.
This is how you want to think when it comes to building a cohesive (and converting) design throughout your site.

Use as many opportunities as you can to move people throughout the funnel, because they might not ever come to your homepage to see your CTA.

Use. Every. Page.
3. Explain How Your Membership Works Up Front
Studies show that 86% of visitors will want to see information about your products or services in the first few seconds after they land on your site.

Unlike traditional sites, not all memberships work the same way.

There are different pricing strategies, different benefits, and even different online experiences — let’s be honest that some sites have member areas that are more robust than others.

Having the details about how your membership works front and center can make all the difference when it comes to conversions.
Dollar Shave Club has their “how it works” section as a part of their main navigation and linked to a few of their CTAs throughout the site.

Same for Reflexion Yoga (they also include it as a secondary CTA under their headline).

Angle of Attack uses a “Start Here” link instead of a “How It Works” links, but the basic principle is still the same.

Each example applies the same principle: Give users a clear-cut way of understanding what it is that you do and how they can participate.

Don’t make them dig through your site to find out how your membership works.
4. Showcase Your Pricing Strategy Clearly (But Creatively)
Your pricing page will be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) selling point for non-members looking to sign-up.

Because there are so many different ways you can price out your membership, you want to make your pricing strategy as clear as possible.

The average pricing page looks something like this (if you have a tiered membership, for example):

But you’re certainly not stuck with that as your only option. Consider your audience and the overall “tone” and feel of your website.

Could you do something more creative, like MailChimp used to do?

Or do you want a more streamlined version like they have now?

How about something like Geeks Life?

They list out each membership level as a separate box, starting with their free membership working down to their most expensive level.

The most important thing to remember is to clearly indicate what benefits users are getting for their money.

Aside from that, the sky’s the limit in terms of displaying your pricing creatively.
5. Focus on Good Sign-In UX
A major differentiator between traditional WordPress sites and WordPress membership sites is the sign-in factor.

Users need to login to a member area of your site. Afterward, they’re typically directed to a members-only dashboard or separate section of your site with different content available.

But there are two things you need to consider when designing for the sign-in experience:

The sign-in CTA needs to be plainly visible from every page
It needs to be quick and easy for users to input their login information
Here’s an example of a basic sign-in CTA from Paleo Plan:

The CTA button is located in the main navigation in the upper right-hand corner, as well as the footer. This is accessible from every page of the site.

Once you click the CTA, you’re led to a separate login page.

Even though the page itself isn’t much to look at, it’s still branded.

If you have your member sign-in page load separately, make sure that it’s branded with your information. Yes, members should know that they’re signing into your site already. But branding still helps.

You should also make sure it’s clear that your sign-in CTA is for members to login, not for new members to sign-up. If you have both CTAs on one page, like your homepage, be sure there’s a difference.

Paleo Plan does a good job of this on their homepage:

You also have the option of including a non-member CTA in your login area, like Copyblogger does.

Just make sure all sign-in CTA buttons are noticeable.

Again, you don’t want members wandering around your site wondering where to go.

6. Design Your Member Areas for Ease of Use
The member area after sign-in is just as important as the rest of your site, if not more so.

Depending on the type of content or information you have in your member area, it will look different.

If your membership area is just to access account information or set preferences for your product or service, for example, it’s fine for it to look more technical.

Here’s an example of the Coursera member area:

You can find details about registered courses, updates your settings and browse for new courses, but there’s no specific content displayed in the member area (unless you’re already active in a course or two).

Ipsy’s member area is a little different, as it displays links to account details, links to specific product pages (their “Glam Bag”) as well as additional content (blogs, events, etc.).

In the Ipsy member area images, videos, and other learning resources are the main focus.

Whereas Copyblogger is entirely content focused, with minimal emphasis on account settings.

Each member areas plays to the specific needs of its members. If your membership is primarily content driven, having a membership area that skips the technicalities might be better.

If members will need details about your products or their account, then you might save the content for a different area of your site.

Or, like Ipsy, you can do both.

7. Use Plugins to Fill in the UX Gaps
If you’re panicking about how you will add all of these design elements and features to your site as a DIYer, don’t worry… there are WordPress membership plugins for that.

We highly recommend MemberMouse as a starting point, especially if you’re DIYing.

MemberMouse lets you create both membership levels and bundles as well as membership areas (with different types of sign-in CTAs) which are customizable to your needs.

They also have templates available to make your designs bespoke to your brand, or you can use it alongside another membership-friendly WordPress theme.

You can also create test accounts to experience your site the way members do, which makes it great for designers who want to make sure members are having the best UX possible.

But even if you don’t use MemberMouse, consider adding more functionality and UX with plugins.

Plugins make your life easier and your website better.
Grab Our Free Download
The Fundamentals of WordPress Design for DIYers

Final Thoughts
There are a lot of components to good design, so if you’re not sure where to start, brush up on your WordPress design knowledge first (here’s a good place to start).

Just follow some design best practices and you should be fine. And use templates where needed.

When it comes to member-specific design elements, like member logins and member areas, find a decent plugin to take care of the heavy load for you.

If you get stuck, don’t feel like you have to do it all on your own.

Feel free to let someone else take the designing off your hands so you can focus on making members happy.

When is it okay to have repeat content?

Imagine that you have extremely important information that you don’t want your members to miss.  Is it okay to place this information in more than one place on your website?

How will this affect your SEO, if at all?

 

 

More and more subscription based membership sites are popping up these days. Entrepreneurs in every niche, from crafts to real estate, are finding ways to monetize their content behind member based websites.

Here’s a few essentials tips for crafting a great membership website.

1) Premium Content
The first and most important aspect of a great membership site is providing great content. After all, that’s what people are paying for, so make sure you deliver. People can get free content all over the web, so great membership sites go the extra mile by offering premium content.

For example, if you’re offering video content put some time into the extras, like professional intros and good audio. Or if you offer courses make sure you give users more than one way to learn – i.e. text instructions and video follow alongs. The “extra” effort you put into your content could be the deciding factor on why people choose your site over your competitors.

2) Great Design & User Experience
I’ve seen tons of membership sites that were quickly thrown together by someone non-technical using a free WordPress theme. Sure, they saved some money by not hiring a developer or an agency… but their site looks and works like a primitive blog.

Unless you have technical knowledge, or a high interest in learning web design, find a technology partner to help you build your vision. The cost will be well worth it in the long run, especially if you find someone with knowledge and experience building sites in your industry. Having a site experience that looks great and works well is critical to customer acquisition and engagement.

3) Seamless On-boarding Process
Aside from having great content and user experience, you’ve got to put effort into a great on-boarding process – how a user goes from site visitor to member. This typically involves the following flow:

User lands on homepage or other landing page.
User clicks around until they reach a “Sign Up” page.
User chooses a membership level and proceeds to checkout (pay).
User completes payment/sign-up and gains access to your site.
That’s sounds pretty smooth and simple, but the mechanics of that process are very important. It needs to be fast, easy, and trustworthy. The second you confuse users is the second they bail, so put some effort into a great on-boarding process for your specific audience. This is also something that needs to be nurtured and optimized over time, since there’s always opportunity to improve conversion rates.

4) Member Engagement
The last part of a great membership site is keeping your members engaged. In other words, what’s bringing them back for more AND preventing them from cancelling their membership? Because believe me, members will cancel at the first chance you give them!

Some tips for high member engagement:

Ongoing Content
It’s important to put out new content on a regular basis. This keeps the site fresh and your members intrigued to know “what’s coming next.” Stale content is one of the main reasons members cancel their membership.

Personalization
Make your members feel like they’re real people, not robots. For example, use friendly tones, refer to them by first name, provide fun “welcome messages,” etc. Making a personalize connection can be the small difference in someone’s day that makes them realize, “I’m glad I signed up for this.”

Marketing Automation
It’s not enough to email your members login info and then call it a day. You need to maintain regular communication, which is easily done via marketing automation – i.e. scheduling sequenced emails and/or text messages. There are some great tools like Autopilot and Active Campaign that can help with this automation.

Feedback Loops
The most engaged members are the ones that feel like their voice is being heard. Not only will they use your site more, but they’ll be your best ambassadors as well. And there’s no better acquisition channel than a free referral. So put some effort into regular feedback loops that encourage members to share their thoughts, both good and bad. More often than not it’s the bad feedback that pushes your product forward.

Those are just a few tips to help you on your membership site adventure! Feel free to contact us with any questions or a free project quote.

How to Plan Library Content

One of the benefits of a website membership is gaining access to a library full of  content.

Rather than just flooding this area with filler, it is important to be strategic about what you’re adding and how it will enhance the value of each membership.

 

Whether you want to generate leads, increase sales, or raise awareness for your brand, or all of the above — a well-defined content strategy is essential.

Creating a content strategy can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you don’t know what to include. But having a plan in place will help you create valuable content that provides solutions to your members and potential members.

While each membership business is unique, there are some common elements to include in any content strategy. In this post, we’ll explain what goes into creating a solid content strategy.

Know your audience
One of the most essential steps in creating a content strategy is understanding your audience. Knowing what motivates your members will allow you to develop useful, engaging content.

Ideally, your business solves a problem or provides a solution to your members. So likewise, your content should help educate your members and provide them with helpful information and answers to address their needs.

Consider creating content personas. A persona is a detailed description of someone who represents your target audience. This is not a real person but a fictional person who embodies your best potential members’ characteristics.

When creating personas, some areas you should define are:

How old are they and where do they live?
What is their lifestyle?
What are their interests?
Where do they spend time online?
What are their pain points?
What is their desired outcome?
Your persona questions might look different, but hopefully the list above gives you some ideas.

FREE PLATFORM QUOTE
MemberDev offers a free platform quote for your fitness membership website, with plans starting at $99/month!

Decide what types of content to create
Helpful content will educate existing and potential members on your services and offerings, and show them how your business can help them.

One of the many benefits of having a membership website is that you can publish content in multiple formats. Your options are seemingly limitless. As part of your content strategy, you will need to decide what content formats you’ll use.

There are many options. We’ll just briefly go over some of the most popular content formats.

Courses
Courses are one of the most common forms of content on a membership website. Lessons or classes can provide structure to your website and allow you to break your content into smaller, focused topic areas. They also open up new revenue streams! We have a post outlining key considerations for launching online courses.

Live webinars
Live webinars are a great way of connecting to your members. Plus, after the live event, the webinar can be added to an archive of accessible content for future members or current members who couldn’t join the live session.

Tutorials
Tutorials or mini-lessons are a great way to supplement your courses with supporting material. These instructional videos can show members how to do something specific or to accomplish a particular goal.

Downloads
Providing quick reference materials like checklists or guides can help your members to quickly refer back to information when they need it.

Blogs
Publishing blogs regularly can increase brand awareness and attract new visitors to your website. Also, blogs can convert readers into members and strengthen brand loyalty with your existing members.

Determine what content will be public vs. member-only
Having free content that is available to the general public is a smart marketing tactic. This lets you showcase select content and give people a sneak peek of what your business has to offer.

In addition to your free content, you’ll want to set up gated content. This premium content can be placed behind a paywall and made accessible to members only.

Don’t forget about SEO
Organic search traffic from Google

Another thing to consider is search engine optimization (SEO). In a nutshell, SEO is the process of optimizing your online content so that search engines like Google show your content near the top of the page.

Suppose you want to learn more about SEO. In that case, we have a SEO 101 introduction and strategy guide that goes over the basics with practical tips to optimize your membership website.

Develop a promotion strategy
There are many platforms and tools you can use to share your content. The right mix of channels will be unique to your brand or business. That’s why knowing your audience is key to the content development process! But more than likely, you will want to look into promoting your content on social media and email marketing.

Social media
Social media use around the world 2020

For most businesses, social media platforms are an excellent way to share your content and connect with your target audience. Besides, you can increase brand awareness and grow advocates of your membership business. We have a

Part of knowing your audience should include where they spend time online, like which social media channels they frequent the most. This will allow you to focus your marketing efforts on the platforms that make the most sense for your business.

We have a 5-step social media guide for business owners that can help.

Email marketing

ActiveCampaign Email Marketing

eNewsletters are a great way to keep potential and existing members in the loop with website updates, new features, and offerings. Staying in touch with your members can also help encourage them to renew their memberships.

Email marketing tools like ActiveCampaign can also help you acquire and retain new members for your membership business. To learn more, check out our post on email marketing tools to grow your membership.

Create an Editorial Calendar
We strongly encourage you to create an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar will help you publish content consistently. It will also help you map out topics and themes, as well as develop your content cadence.

When creating your editorial calendar, add any conferences or tradeshows that have relevant tie-ins for your business. Or if your industry has promotional months or observances that you should be keeping in mind for content development.

Final thoughts
Developing a content strategy may take a little bit of time and effort upfront, but afterward, it will make your content creation process much more manageable. Follow the tips in this post to help define your content strategy so you can bring focus and purpose to your content creation process.

Want to Host a Live Event?

Your new membership website is the perfect place!

You can host live, paid events.  These will be featured on your calendar and can link to your video host, i.e. Zoom.

Online subscriptions are becoming more and more popular in modern commerce. Even before the spread of COVID-19, live streaming had become a popular form of online content. But now, live streaming has gone from a fun tool to experiment with to a necessary means of connecting with others.

Live streaming continues to gain popularity among audiences. In fact, in 2019, internet users watched 1.1 billion hours of live video. If you want to get in on the action, you don’t need fancy equipment to get started. All you need is a phone or webcam and a good data connection.

Here are 5 examples of LIVE content subscriptions that are killing it.

1. YouTube Live Streaming
YouTube Live

YouTube is the second-most-used website in the world, behind Google. So live-streaming on YouTube could be a great way to maximize a brand’s reach.

YouTube Live is an easy way to reach your community in real-time. Whether you’re streaming an event, teaching a class, or hosting a workshop, YouTube has tools that will help you manage your stream and interact with viewers in real-time.

During a live stream, broadcasters can interact with their audience using live chat and share the live stream link across social media platforms. YouTube Live replays are easy to find and get additional views. Especially if you organize them into playlists.

2. Peloton Interactive
Peloton

Even pre-pandemic, the at-home fitness market was increasingly lucrative. One of the most successful companies is Peloton Interactive Inc. Peloton is the leading interactive fitness platform in the world with a loyal community of more than 3 million members.

Peloton’s subscription gives members unlimited access to high-quality live and on-demand classes anywhere, anytime with a phone, tablet, TV, or web browser. Members are motivated by real-time metrics, instructor shout outs, and a live leaderboard.

Peloton’s stationary bikes, treadmills, and remote fitness classes have been in even higher demand since the coronavirus pandemic began, as gyms closed and people were stuck at home. Peloton makes fitness entertaining while fostering social connections with members.

3. Twitch
Twitch

Twitch.tv is a popular platform for live video streaming. Gamers tune in to a Twitch stream to see a game in action to determine if it’s right for them. In June 2020, Twitch had 15 million unique daily viewers. Mainly known as a video game streaming platform, viewers can also catch cooking, music, art, and more!

Viewers can visit the Twitch website to watch streams or use the app. Live streams are typically accompanied by a live chat, in which viewers can communicate with the streamer and other people watching. Twitch’s platform gives millions of viewers and broadcasters a way to interact and share creative content.

4. LinkedIn Live
LinkedIn

LinkedIn Live is an effective way for B2B brands to reach their target audiences. With nearly 700 million active users in 2020, LinkedIn is one of the top social media platforms.

Recently LinkedIn was voted the most trusted social network. This makes LinkedIn Live invaluable to individuals and organizations as a means to broadcast live video, build deeper connections, and drive more engagement with the professional community.

Hosting a virtual event on LinkedIn can attract the right professional audience. Also, LinkedIn is a great place to announce a new product or partnership. By launching a product during a live stream, broadcasters can get immediate feedback from their audience, answer questions, and conduct live demonstrations.

5. Amazon Live Shopping
Amazon Live Shopping

In recent months US companies have launched live shopping features. Live-streaming commerce is interactive, takes place in real-time, and is creating new and innovative ways for brands and retailers to connect with consumers. Most notably, Amazon Live let’s influencers and celebrities create live video streams on the Amazon platform and earn commissions from product sales.

With Amazon Live, influencers can feature and recommend products, answer questions from viewers, and promote special offers. Products in Amazon live streams appear underneath the video and are highlighted when they are mentioned. Viewers can then click through to product listings to shop directly on Amazon.

The potential for livestream shopping can most clearly be shown in China, where it generated an estimated $61 billion in 2019. Here in the US, in addition to Amazon Live, Facebook and Instagram are now testing out their own live shopping features. So this trend is one to watch.

Benefits of LIVE Subscription Offers
Now that we’ve seen some of the premier LIVE subscription offers on the internet, let’s quickly review why they are effective.

Offering LIVE content has many advantages, including:

Charge a premium for LIVE (on-demand) content
Grow user engagement and usage
Create user-generated content from LIVE broadcasts
Build community around LIVE interactions
LIVE content is also in major demand at the time of this writing (during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic). So if you’ve been contemplating the decision to GO LIVE, now is probably the time to take action.

Your Guide To Email Marketing

You’ve set up the perfect landing page with a great email opt-in section, now what?

How often should you touch base with your subscribers?

How can you check in without generating audience fatigue?

So… to Build or Buy?
The intentions of this article were not to influence you either way, but rather provide some insight on the pros and cons of each option. The decision to build or buy depends greatly on a few key factors:

Funds – What kind of capital do you have access to?
Time – Do you have the time to learn web design and build a quality site?
Resources – What kind of resources and skills do you have?
If you’ve got time on your hands and you’re pretty resourceful, then building yourself is probably a better option. On the flip side, if you have a little money saved and you need a site built ASAP, you should probably hire out and focus on other areas of your business.

Research social media platforms
On social networks, search for keywords and hashtags relevant to your brand to find influencers in your niche. Demographics vary on each social media platform. Based on your service offering and niche, you’ll need to determine which platform to target. If you need help, we have a post that discusses the basic principles of leveraging social media to find the right audience for your business.

Research influencer profiles
When researching influencer profiles, some things to consider:

Are they posting about topics that are similar to your service or product offerings? A relevant influencer will have an audience that aligns with your target market. Look to see if the influencer shares content that is relevant to your business.
Do their posts align with your brand values? It would be best if you found someone who’s producing content that complements your own. That includes tone and the way they present themselves online.
Do their posts garner good engagement and conversations from their followers? A higher follower count could be inflated with bots or fake accounts. Before collaborating with an influencer, check their post to see if they have an engaged audience. Look if their content is being viewed, liked, commented on, and shared.
Give your influencers creative control
Influencers have worked to establish a dedicated follower base. They know their audience. Successful influencers understand what will resonate and what won’t with their audience. So when working with influencers, defer to their creative decisions. It is okay for you to provide brand guidelines and go over your expectations for the campaign; it is your business after all! But give influencers the freedom to do what they do best – create great content.

Spotify Playlist Example

Here’s an example of including a Spotify Playlist in your post content.

1) What kind of content schedule are you committing to?
If you plan to create/offer content with no consistency you should consider annual subscriptions. For example, you may build out various content each quarter in batches. This kind of content schedule is most compatible with an annual subscription so customers know NOT to expect weekly or monthly updates.

Whereas, if you plan to create/offer content every month you should consider monthly subscriptions. Consistent content is the main driver for most purchase decisions and your members will come to expect this.

We’ve seen the most success with monthly subscriptions from MemberDev clients who put out new content every week. Period. You can’t fake this til you make this. Members who purchase a monthly subscription will see the monthly charge on their statement and correlate that with whether or not they saw any updates from you.

2) What are the supply/demand economics for your product offering?
The next factor is supply and demand for content you’re creating. This plays into the relative price points you can demand based on TAM (total addressable market) and supply. This is important because there is an inverse relationship between TAM and supply. Larger TAM and more supply results in lower membership prices. Whereas smaller TAM and low supply results in higher membership prices.

For example, there is a BIG variation in an online yoga membership vs a bitcoin investment membership. Let’s compare the differences:

Search Engine Optimization

Congratulations on your new website!

Now what?

Here are some tips for optimizing your website so that search engines can find your site as well as to help your site rank higher among search results. 

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The importance of updating image tags

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The importance of Blogs 

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How to edit your website so that your content is original, and that your language uses an active voice rather than a passive one. 

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