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Acquisition is often discussed as a key element in every business plan. But Michael Gillespie, who leads Customer Success here at , has noticed there's a critically overlooked element of membership that happens immediately after acquisition and Onboarding.

"A majority of people focus on the sale of the membership. But when the sale is completed then the difficult phase starts!" says Michael. The first encounters with new customers are more crucial in membership since it involves an aspect of interaction with a human that you might not see in other sectors.

What does it mean to be able to successfully board someone? "Onboarding could be different to your membership. It could be something that drives a particular event, for example a welcome email - and certain members may quit at that point," Michael explains. But he believes it is designed to establish expectations: it let a member know what they gain from joining your group - not only immediately, but also in the coming months.

"Onboarding is typically delivered as an uninvolved experience that doesn't manage to establish a path to members," Michael adds. We should assume that at the first touchpoint with your community the member is clueless about what to do. A lack of information creates hurdles that stop the new member from engaging your community in the manner they want to.

Common onboarding sequences

"In an average membership I register someone as a member, I send that person a welcome email, they receive up to five or three hyperlinks to the content I would like them to engage with, and I'm done," Michael says. "Members are overwhelmed or feel 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 understand the actions to make will remain engaged. "It's important to create the impression of a commitment from the new member," Michael says. "Tell them where you are taking them on the journey of joining."

"If you're a producer Are you looking for someone to engage with the particular podcast? Are you hoping to get them to engage with another type of media? If you're not telling the members what you're doing and, more importantly, why you're taking them there, they're going to be making their way through the membership with zero intent," he explains.

In the case of a producer Your onboarding could motivate people to participate in a specific episode

It is this single thing that drives the majority of turnover in the initial stage of membership. "You've had a window of possibility of up to 24-hours. Do you have a specific action that you want your member to perform? Work out what you need from onboarding, and then the way you can design your process in order to provide an enjoyable experience to every participant," he adds.

Removing barriers for the ideal travel experience

When building your onboarding process first, you must consider the intended output. "Do you desire a customer to upgrade to a tier with additional advantages? Or maybe you have onboarded an existing monthly member and you're looking to change the member to a annual one?" Michael asks.

This output could also be completed in completing a course or to read an article. "Most individuals, when it comes to starting their journey, don't lay out their intended outputs," he adds. "Make the list with between three and one intended outputs. Think about 'What is the biggest obstacle that could hinder the realization of those outputs?' - There are always obstacles to members engaging with your organization."

Barriers could include cost, time as well as a mix of all three. "Folks are limited in their amount of time. People are busy and have many distractions" Michael explains. "Is there a price barrier in the case of upgrades? Or, if there's a similar product in the market, what is it that makes that member stick with the membership instead of another?"

Knowledge isn't the only issue. "Members don't often get informed about where they are supposed to be' within the membership. What's the purpose? Where do they want to be after a period of time?" Michael asks. "The faster members can grasp the upside, the quicker they'll be able to buy in and drive the output you're looking for." Early engagement can help. One onboarding output could be for members to be asked to respond to an email welcoming them, providing details about the issues they're experiencing.

Make sure you are clear: explain to your members what you want to get out of the onboarding process and what benefits they will see if they take action. "Don't feel bad about letting members know what your intent is. Members with a keen understanding of what you are trying to accomplish will be able to take action when you need them to. The members who are aware of your intentions will remain for the longest amount of time." Michael smiles.

Welcome videos

Emails to welcome members are straightforward and powerful onboarding tools. most new members will expect an email immediately after signing up. We think that it's possible to go further: "You have a small window of opportunity to really surprise your new member," says Michael. "Memberships which include a welcome video in their introduction have a 50 percent reduction in churn rates during the initial two months of membership."

The welcome video will make you feel more human in your membership. "One of the biggest opportunities right now in joining is the human element," says Michael. "Automation and AI-generated content are fantastic, but membership offers an element of personalization that is unique to it. There is something that consumers think they're lacking in today's the membership industry, it's human interaction."

Jay Klaus from Creator Science has a great introduction video "In the welcome email he sends to new employees, he puts a video that greets you. He tells you why the way he's working and then lays out what you can expect during the next six months." Michael explains.

CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn Jay Klaus from Creator Science has a great onboarding video

This can be a fantastic method to get people engaged in the first stages of initial onboarding. In the case of video content, the engagement rate in an email on video content is 17 times higher on average than hyperlink texts. "Put on the front page regardless of what you're trying to convey, and humanize the message you're sending to your target audience. Make it one time, and then present it many times over," he adds.

Roadmaps

The onboarding email must include a roadmap. Create expectations about how the members gain access to benefits? Do they have a timetable of these benefits, maybe weekly? What is the best place to find these benefits - do they need to open their email inbox? Do they need to log into their account?

"This is a frequently overlooked part of membership, however, letting members know precisely what you're delivering is essential in capping churn rates within the first two months," Michael explains. "Members should not be left to make decisions by themselves."

We've seen a lot of them in recent times. "The onboarding email includes links to lots of great content, but members get confused. If that's the case it's either a member who's not engaged or with a person who's lost and doesn't want to make an effort to visit your website to learn more about the subject," He continues.

You cannot put too much information before members with regards to the roadmap. It's common to believe that your users are aware of how they can consume your material, however it's more secure to believe that a user knows absolutely nothing. "Explicitly lay out everything for your users to see lower churn rate," Michael adds.

Upsells

Most people don't think about upselling immediately after signing up an new client. If done properly, it can be a significant part of onboarding and you will see a significant increase in profits.

Michael has noted that members who are new to the club are more likely to be receptive to sales within the first 24 hours up to 1 week after having purchased the membership. "It's simpler to convert members within the first couple of days since they've got all the context around the membership. Already, they're 'one foot in'," the author says.

Onboarding offers that are upsells have an entirely different position than the ones that you have on your site. They typically don't display on your website as they are reserved exclusively for onboarding. "Once an individual is enrolled in your membership you feel like they're part of some kind of. Upsells are a great way to give them an enhanced experience through additional benefits," the expert says.

"Let's imagine you've got a paid newsletter that's $6 per month. You provide a user with the option to upgrade to a yearly option that gets them lots more value for an incrementally smaller price per month. Members that are educated enough upon onboarding are more likely to opt for an additional subscription. The typical conversion rate is of 30 to 40 percent for these deals," Michael reports.

Additionally, they get all year to consume your content. If members take advantage of these kinds of deals The lifetime value of these members can be approximately four to five times greater than that of the member who wasn't responsive to the offer.

"Think about deepening your experience as a member. This could include extra benefits, which you can create an exclusive plan for," Michael adds. "Every membership includes a section of members who are highly engaged, and those members will be more likely to be converted by an upsell in the early times. However, you must put the opportunity in front these members."

The message in the welcome email you receive could read"This week, only, we're offering an offer to new members to purchase a VIP membership. The offer includes three personal monthly membership coaching calls throughout the year. Two features to this deal that are: it's limited and has an exact date when it's due to expire, It also comes with a huge discount.

Increased sales reduce the chance of churn in the near future. "Members who lock in the 60 percent savings off of a yearly membership within the first week of membership will be 80% more likely to become an active member in two years' time after now," Michael reports. "The increase in price only needs to be incrementally higher in price. The majority of members who sign up for the upgrade are long-term members, and that means more revenue for your company."

The rates for upsells for the onboarding program are 7 to 10 times more than those for purchases made on the first occasion. "If you have a 3 percent conversion rate for your regular membership, once you have these people in the membership, you can expect a 30% per cent conversion," Michael explains. If you have an upsell during the onboarding process, your members can earn five times more money for your membership than someone who does not get the benefit of an upsell.

Pricing

From a pricing standpoint, we would recommend that you do not exceed 50% in relation to the increment.

"For example, I'm a year-round member. I've signed up for $50 per year. I'm greeted with an offer to upsell that gives me access to a variety of things for $75 a year. That's a 50% jump but it's also 50% more income you've already earned from that customer in the beginning," Michael explains. Within the next couple of years, the member is going to generate up to seven times the revenues.

"Think about how you could add to the existing benefits for a better experience. Upsells that convert well will bring in huge amounts of money that are otherwise money left on the table. You will have members in your organization who desire for deeper experiences," Michael concludes.

One of the advantages of upsells is the fact that it permits the user to instantly locate those individuals at the appropriate time and extract that value. It will be possible to keep this value for the next years, if this person decides to switch.

We hope this helps you in your strategies for onboarding. Feel free to reach out to us on social media should there are any issues. Best of luck!