We have a community of over 40 membership, charity and non-profit organisations for whom we’ve developed a plethora of web projects and a question we’re asked quite frequently is ‘how can we reduce our membership churn’. Having provided various clients with advice on how to achieve this objective, we felt more organisations could benefit from such advice. Below I’ve provided a few tips on how to reduce membership churn that you can implement in your own organisation.
To ensure you have a constant stream of new members, look to where your future members are currently.
Senior Internet
Understand the current membership environment
There is no denying that in today’s digital age information has become widely available and cheap, consequently the perceived value of being a member of an association has been diminished and individuals have become less willing to pay for subscriptions. Appreciating how to address this challenge is directly related to how to best reduce membership churn.
Provide a clear-cut value proposition and re-instate
Any successful membership organisation must effectively communicate its value proposition to existing members, as this group can at times to be overlooked in favour of new members.
The value proposition should accurately reflect the benefits of membership; why it’s better to be a member of your organisation than one of your competitors. To do this simply ask yourself what your organisation’s unique selling point is. If you provide different levels of membership to different groups you will need to communicate this information separately to each group. To ensure this information communicated simply and effectively use an e-shot or a dedicated members’ area.
If your membership base is large and you’re looking for a partner to provide extra membership benefits check out the services offered by Parliament Hill.
Experiment with different membership types
To ensure you have a constant stream of new members, look to where your future members are currently. Maybe they’re at university or college doing a specific course, or based in a specific location? Once you find this information why not create a tailored membership category for this group enabling them to receive some of the benefits of becoming a member, providing them with a taste of what’s to come once they upgrade to full membership. Offering a discounted ‘return’ membership rate for lapsed members can assist in re-gaining lost members.
New technologies allow you to better understand your members by analysing their online behaviour on your website.
Technology is your best friend
The internet is a powerful tool and our research leads us to conclude membership organisations don’t harness that power nearly enough. New technologies allow you to better understand your members by analysing their online behaviour on your website. Review user behaviour to understand if and where members are experiencing difficulties in using your website or accessing extra member benefits. Use this data to enhance website usability.
New technologies allow you to better understand your members by analysing their online behaviour on your website.
Senior Internet
The most important action you can take to reduce membership churn is to make the process of being a member, from the moment they join, to every renewal as easy and intuitive as possible. Encourage members to renew before their membership runs out. Employ a future-proof CMS that will make the user-journey a smooth, natural process. You need a flexible CRM designed specifically for membership organisations that will enable the automating of renewals (which will instantly reduce lapsed membership rate) and empower users to set-up direct debits online to make renewals as hassle-free as possible. You also need a CRM that is secure so your users can be confident that their details are safe. If your website and CRM don’t enable this now speak to us and we can provide you with more information on how our products will.
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