Holiday Membership Promotion: An Operator’s Guide
Competition for consumer attention and spending skyrockets during the final two months of the year. But membership operators have an edge when it comes to the messaging of their products during the holiday season.
Below we’ll look at how to successfully promote your membership in a way that’s compelling, clear and effective.
The Big Picture:
Consumer appetite for digital products (like membership) is highest during the fourth quarter of each year. This unique timing gives you (the operator) the perfect opportunity to speak about your product on a “looking ahead” basis and lay out a vision for prospective members.
The Statistics:
Conversion rates for membership sales increase by an average of 96% during holiday promotional periods
60% of consumers who purchase memberships during this period say they do so because they’re looking to solve some sort of problem for themselves during the year ahead.
The Action Plan:
Figure out what problems you’re solving for potential members and tell a compelling story about how your product will improve their lives in the year ahead. Then, create an offer that’s too good to be ignored.
The Secret that Sells Memberships
Do you know how to create curiosity?
Curiosity sells. But it must be created from the right perspective in order for it work for your membership product. You see, consumers experience extreme curiosity just before they choose to buy. This curiosity may come from testimonials, product facts, perceived value, etc.
The more curiosity you create about your product, the more product you sell.
As a membership operator, you’re likely providing some combination of the following:
a service
entertainment
in-depth commentary
how-to content
analysis
access to something
All of these elements, in some way, are working to solve a problem for your members - whether you’ve realized it or not.
Consumers are naturally curious about products they think can somehow improve their situation. But consumers become extremely curious about messaging that tells them the problem that will be solved.
Extreme curiosity is the foundation for membership sales - especially during the holiday season.
“The Year Ahead” Story
How are you going to make my life better?
That’s the most important question you must answer for prospective members. It doesn’t matter how great your website is, how you feel about the product you’ve created or how good you think it is - If you can’t connect your offering with a clear problem it solves, you will not gain traction with your membership.
If you already know what you’re solving, then the below guidance is ready to be implemented. If not, spend time answering that question first so you can proceed with confidence when it comes to your messaging.
“In the next twelve months, you’re going to…”
Get smarter on a certain topic? Learn a new skill? Enrich your life through conversations on “insert topic here”…the list goes on.
During the final two months of the year, you have the opportunity to give prospective members a view into what looks different with your membership by their side during the year ahead. At no other time is this conversation possible, so being able to capitalize on this vision is crucial.
This type of product messaging helps build the curiosity needed to sell more memberships.
Example Product Messaging
Below are several examples you can tweak and replicate to help position and message your product from the “year ahead” perspective during your holiday promotional period.
Example 1:
Join now and lock in twelve months of exclusive access to the community that’s helped thousands become more effective and confident public speakers. After your first three months of membership, you’ll possess the confidence you’ve been missing and learn how to navigate your communications with precision, guaranteed. Just twelve months are standing between you and your public speaking aspirations.
Example 2:
Join before year-end and receive an exclusive bonus monthly podcast during the following year that goes even deeper on the most influential trends occurring in the music industry.
Example 3:
All members who join before the end of the year will receive a 12-month exclusive VIP pass to meet with our personal instructors once per month for personalized health coaching and advice.
Key Phrases and Words to Boost Membership Sales
In the above three examples, there are a handful of phrases and words that work to boost conversions.
The following phrases/terms can be worked into your messaging strategy as you work to craft your overall offering.
Join now
Lock in
Exclusive access
The year ahead
12-month exclusive access
Secure your spot
Lock-in your discounted pricing
Join hundreds of others who
You’re personally invited to join a group of…
roduct being provided)
Clothing and Accessories
Regulated and Age-Restricted Products
These terms help create direct, clear and tangible messaging that prospective members will take action on.
Creating a Compelling Offer
Don’t Fear the Discount
Consumers expect to receive discounts during promotional periods - and that’s especially true during the holidays.
While offering discounts on recurring products can feel counterproductive, I want to encourage you to be open to discounting for the following reasons.
Discounting builds a durable and profitable foundation for recurring revenue over the long term.
Members retain longer when they feel they’ve gotten a great deal. On average, the lifetime value of a member that has received a recurring discount of 40% or more is 2.6 times higher than a member that paid full price. The economics of that scenario mean that it’s in your best interest to discount aggressively during the holiday promotional season.
Discounting creates scarcity.
Discounts that are limited in nature, create scarcity - which is a key requirement for boosting membership sales. Membership consumers place higher perceived value on discounted products, especially when that discount only appears a few times per year. Membership operators that offer discounts of 20% or more during the holidays acquire 70% more paying members than those who don’t.
Discounting helps find the “would-be” customers.
There will always be a segment of your audience that’s “on the fence” when it comes to purchasing your product. When you discount, you attract those consumers and often provide them with an entry point that’s compelling enough to give your product a try.
And while your product won’t be perfect for every member, it doesn’t have to be. Finding members who will purchase at a 30% discount is still better than not finding them at all. It’s all about the balance between the true utility your product offers for an individual and its perceived value from that individual’s perspective.
Suggested Discount Thresholds
While there’s no perfect discount for every program, there is a set of facts to help guide the discount you offer - assuming you’re looking to boost your acquisition significantly with the discounts chosen.
40 is the magic number in membership.
When it comes to what moves the needle for membership sales, the data is clear. Discounts that are less than 40% don’t provide material gains over the long term.
Why is this?
First, if your members pay monthly, a discount of less than 40% simply doesn’t provide enough of a tangible financial benefit that’s “felt” immediately.
Second, discounts that are less than 40% don’t stand out among the average discount of 37% seen with other products and services during the holiday season. And since you’re competing for the time, attention and dollars of the same consumers as everyone else, your offering needs to be so compelling that it can’t be ignored.
Discounts work best for Quarterly and Annual Plans
The holiday season is the best time of year to lock in members with a financially-attractive incentive for a longer period of time. Quarterly and Annual plans are the clear winners when it comes to discounting. This is because consumers “feel” the savings immediately at the point of purchase. This isn’t the case with monthly-renewing plans since consumers would have to “realize” those savings over twelve months.
If possible, make your best discounts available on longer-dated plans (i.e. quarterly/annual plans).
The Takeaway
If you can define the one problem you’re solving for a potential member, and then lay out your vision of how that problem gets solved in the year ahead - you’ll be successful in selling more memberships this holiday season.
Discounts of at least 40% perform best with recurring membership products during the holidays, especially when they’re applied to plans that renew on a quarterly or annual basis.
On average, such discounts deliver the highest member lifetime value over time, producing a predictable and reliable stream of recurring revenue within your membership.
