A membership model can be the best way to create a business, but do you know how to grow your business from there?

Membership sites and businesses are among the fastest growing business models available. Whether you are just getting started or have been around for a while, if you don’t have the numbers you want, it’s time to look at how to grow your business effectively.

Thanks to COVID-19, more organizations are focusing on the subscription method of running their businesses. This includes companies from all industries. In fact, 70% of senior business leaders from a wide variety of industries, including retail and finance, feel that subscription models are the key to better business growth. It’s not surprising then that this is the wave of the future and will not be going anywhere soon.

Subscription businesses are popular for a few reasons. First, it’s easier for most consumers to pay a monthly fee rather than paying a higher price for a year or more of software, lessons, or whatever you offer. Second, people want to learn new skills and add to their education, and a membership site is an ever-expanding way of doing this.

Finally, particularly now, people are looking for a community where they can network with others who are interested in the same things. Membership sites provide that, and the sense of belonging can often be even more valuable than the actual information provided.

So how do you increase your numbers to become a successful subscription business? It’s not just one thing; there are several actions you can take.

Keep your existing members

It’s essential that you prevent high turnover. It’s natural that some people will leave the membership, but your churn rate should not be more than 10%. It’s far simpler to keep your existing members than to find new ones, so it’s worth it to focus your attention on them. You spend roughly 7% to 10% more bringing in a new member than you do keeping an existing one.

Keep your members interested and engaged by:

Being present. Don’t just create your site and then leave it alone to run itself. You need to keep showing up and interacting with the members. This will keep a good vibe going and ensure that members don’t feel abandoned or tricked. You don’t need to be overly involved, but staying on top of things on a consistent basis is essential.

Giving them a transformation. Everyone joins a membership site for a reason. People want something to change in their lives, and that means you need to give them an objective that will help them. This can be anything related to their needs, such as learning how to write better copy to increase sales or obtaining access to better quality website templates.

Provide a high-quality onboarding experience. When people first explore a membership site, they’ll quickly leave if they find it too confusing or overwhelming. This is why you need to ensure their early experiences are good ones. Offer personalized welcome messages and give a tour that will let newcomers find their way around the site.

Keep the site relevant. New members all need the same type of information, but what happens after someone has been a member for a year or two? Is there any reason for people to stick around? Providing updated information and plenty of peer networking will help keep older members active and interested.

Narrow your niche. People want extreme relevancy. You can find general information anywhere online, but the really specific stuff is what customers will pay for. Provide them with insider information, coaches, or other types of support for their niche to help them feel satisfied.

Make it easy to pay. The simpler it is for your members to pay, the more likely they are to stay around. This means using high-risk credit card processing merchant services. Ideally, you’ll use high-risk payments experts to ensure you can keep up the great service and maintain those members. NMA is a good option for payments made personal.

Provide case studies and testimonials

People like to see proof of what they’re getting, so if you want to grow your membership site, the simplest method is to have existing members share their stories. Post their testimonials and share their case studies, so new potential members can learn exactly why they should join. Some membership businesses actually enroll a few free members at first to help build up testimonials before offering the paid version.

Scale your business

As soon as you get started with memberships and want to know how to grow your business, it’s time to look into scaling. This means taking the basic membership site and turning it into something that will continue to build.

For example, you may offer higher-level memberships for more money. You could also offer extra coaching or resources that your members would pay for if they wanted to explore those additional options. The idea is to build on the existing offer. You can do this by adding more value.

Consider affiliate marketing

Marketing campaigns can be expensive and don’t always give you the return on investment that you want. However, one thing that has always done well and is tried and true is word-of-mouth advertising.

Word of mouth is when people who have experienced your program share it with others. By describing their experiences, existing members can encourage new people to join. We trust our friends and family members and in many cases, we also trust influencers. So having members share their experiences is a strong way to grow your membership site.

To encourage people to share, look into affiliate marketing, where members earn a percentage of the sale for sharing with someone who then joins the membership site. This is a commonly used method throughout the industry, and it means you’re only paying for actual results since you pay out the affiliate income only if someone signs up.

Talking with NMA high-risk payments experts in your niche will make it easier for you to build your membership business. We offer a merchant account that works for you, and our experts are available in any area, so you can talk to someone who actually understands your industry. We Work For You™.Are you interested in learning how you can help your customers? Learn more about how to grow your business with our merchant services by contacting NMA today and finding out how we can give you a boost. We’re a merchant account that Works For You™!