It’s that time of year again…

Inboxes flood with deals, countdown timers, and “biggest sale ever” subject lines.

I’ve received several questions over the last two weeks about holiday membership promotions - specifically, if they’re still effective in today’s landscape.

It’s a question worth asking.

And yes, promotions work.

But there is a substantial risk to operators and teams planning these deals : If you lean on discounts as your top-level strategy, you’re training people to value the deal more than the membership.

It’s consistent: that kind of buyer will not stay for the long haul. They’ll churn the moment the price feels too high, because the relationship was never built on value, it was built on a bargain.

Remember, you’re in the business of recurring revenue - your buyers not only need to buy, they need to buy again…and again.

Widget buyers crave discounts.

But membership buyers crave value and connection.

And that’s precisely what needs to be dealt with in order to design and execute a campaign that truly serves your membership business.

Let’s dive in.

Most operators reach for discounts because they’re easy. A quick percentage-off code feels like the obvious lever to pull during crowded sales seasons.

And in the short term, it works - you’ll see a spike in sign-ups.

And things start feeling good.

But unfortunately, I’ve watched this play out too many times: Two to four months later, churn rockets higher, engagement dives, and your acquisition feels dead.

Why?

Because discounts alone condition your audience to wait for the next deal. They train prospects to think, “This isn’t worth full price.”

And here’s the worst part: When memberships see a large influx of members through promotion-driven events, the downstream signals (like churn, engagement and refunds) become skewed by characteristics that do not represent your ideal buyer.

Those signals and metrics get polluted because buyers arrived with the wrong intent: Chasing a good deal vs. the desire for long-term, transformational value.

And when your metrics get polluted by misaligned buyers, you’ll likely take miscalculated action that doesn’t serve the buyers who are aligned.

See the slippery slope here?

The irony is that the very thing you’re using to drive growth in the short-term can quietly erode the foundation of your membership in the long-term.

Promotions don’t have to mean aggressive price cuts.

In fact, the strongest operators design campaigns that feel generous and compelling without undercutting value.

Here are five approaches that work - and most importantly, maintain alignment between the value of your offering and the buyer you attract.

These strategies do more than bring people in the door. They bring in people who are primed to stay, because they’re attracted to the value of the experience - not just the bargain.

Discounts are easy, but they rarely build durable growth.

Your promotions should never train people to wait for a deal: they should reinforce the worth of the membership itself.

Interestingly, the operators who win during this season aren’t the loudest discounters.

They’re the ones who frame promotions as extensions of their core value: bonuses that delight, access that feels special, and experiences that strengthen the story they’re telling all year long.

So here’s the question worth asking before you run that next promotion:

Are your promotions building long-term members or just bargain hunters waiting for the next sale?

Think about it.