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 Welcome to our quarterly look into the current state of membership where we uncover patterns, trends and highlights as well as what's moving.

The start of 2022 is proving to be a continuation of clear trending in membership that began at the end of 2021. In an environment that is evolving rapidly, membership continues to provide an solid and steady revenue generator and we've seen the model of membership change its stability during recent weeks.

Highlights

The growth of members continues

The fourth quarter of 2021 witnessed a dramatic increase in new member acquisition. The trend continued to grow and increased into Q1 2022, even as consumers were coming off break for the holidays, and returning to school, work as well as other regular routines. A time of time when consumer interest is usually more difficult to compete for there was a notable increase for new member acquisition across all major categories of membership - particularly in the months of January to February.

Resilience during headwinds

In the month of March, we witnessed significant amounts of uncertainty injected into the broader economic landscape that had a noticeable impact on consumer behavior. The war in Ukraine were the two main reasons that caused consumers to become more prudent. These developments have moderated the growth areas we noted in January in February.

While these macro developments have certainly impacted the membership landscape, we've seen the reliability of the membership business model truly shine as these headwinds have developed.

As of now, the majority of the change we've witnessed has been strictly focused on new member acquisition. Member retention has remained steady, highlighting the resilience of membership as well as its importance within a larger company's strategy.

This also underscores the significance of structuring benefits for members to ensure that the benefit keeps members engaged frequently. Memberships that are able to establish benefits into a member's every day or weekly routine are able to experience less loss of members and more retention in times of increased uncertainty - making it possible to sustain income and member growth.

What's going on?

A fresh scene

The landscape for membership is constantly changing. The digital landscape is changing even more quickly. Our customers are exploring ways to grow, the importance of diversifying their member acquisition strategies has never been more evident. Ad costs are growing. The engagement on social media has hit an unsustainable level. Consumers are becoming less receptive to traditional marketing and acquisition methods.

Why is this? In the last two years, all of us were online more than we ever thought possible. This has been a fantastic time for discovering content as well as membership generally. However, this extended web-based experience has led to the perception of ad fatigue in customers (your potential clients).

People have been subjected to poorly targeted ads for so long that they hardly ever notice them - or even take any action from them. Is advertising dead? No. However, given the current environment, the economics and expenses are not in favor of the advertiser.

Member-driven growth

We see the next chapter of membership growth being driven significantly by existing members. Genuine messages, trustworthy opinions and direct experiences help build trust that drives action.

The recent launch of Referrals is the first step toward creating evergreen solutions which can leverage the satisfaction and loyalty of your member base to generate new sales.

Customers using referral strategies are not only seeing lower member acquisition costs but more members staying. The increase in retention is being driven by referring members being offered discounts for membership once they achieve a successful referral.

The members who are rewarded regularly when they refer others to them are much less likely to churn and are always inspired to refer more members. Incentivizing your customers with referral rewards allows them go out and start discussions with the most relevant people. This leads to higher sales and lower cost.

The Takeaway

The changing landscape we've seen in Q1 clearly demonstrates the necessity of continuous building solid bases within your membership. These foundations become the safest place to be during periods of uncertainty and allow you to carry on doing what you do best - run your membership in confidence.

The membership market grows and changes it will be an ongoing factor that can be leveraged to increase your membership, and that's the foundation of your existing members. The continued focus on helping them first will create a level of trust that ultimately translates to them becoming your biggest advocates.

Be aware of those seemingly insignificant foundations that are within your group. These tiny foundations that can bring you the biggest wins.