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Membership Sites - Better to give gradual content delivery/modular or all-at-once with recurring?

by DrewG
17 replies
If any of you have membership site experience, what's a good model to go by?

Definitions:

Gradual Content Delivery - Each month, you deliver new content and older members will get access to not only get the new content, but they will have access to the older content as well. New members will only get access to the newer content, and will not have access to the older content that older members have access to. The goal is to get longer-staying members.

Full Content Delivery - Each month you roll out new content, and older members as well as newer members will have access to all of the content on the site. New members will have access to older content, as well as the new content. Basically, all members in the membership site will have access to all of the content (depending on membership level). Similar to how a blog is set up, only with protected content.

Modular Content Delivery - Once a member joins, they will start at month #1, and receive sequential modules month after month (module #1 on month #1, module #2 on month #2, etc.) no matter when they join. Think of PPC-Coach and how their membership works.

And maybe I'm missing a few as well. What seems to be the best model for this? I realize it largely depends on what niche and what type of content you're rolling out. For training-type sites, the modular delivery method would seem to work the best. But what about for a graphics-type membership site?
#allatonce #content #delivery or modular #give #gradual #membership #recurring #sites
  • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
    Average membership to a site is a tick under 4 months. Want to make it longer? Drip the content.

    Or offer them the choice. Get is all for fee X, get it dripped for Y.
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  • Profile picture of the author vagabondette
    I've just started adding content to my new site and I'll be doing full content. The other methods sound like too much of a PITA for me. I'll just be adding stuff as I get it rather than trying to keep track of who gets access to what and when.
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanRingold
    I personally like full content model. It does seem a little unfair for older members... after all they could leave for 6 months... join again and have all the content without paying the 6 months for it.

    However, I like this model the best and think it is the most simple and straight forward.
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  • Profile picture of the author docmatt
    I think a good approach would be to establish your first six months or so of content, and then a selling point would be that if they stick with you for a minimum of six months, then they will get the special "Insider" access to the "scarce, no-longer-published" out of print etc. info/newsletters, etc. - It also would also be helpful to include at least a couple of testimonials form some original members who did receive that info, and had glowing reviews for it- (Of course, you want to prevent new members from contacting older memebrs for access to the content, but you get the idea-)
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  • Profile picture of the author dmarze
    I did all of the above. At the moment I'm building three micro continuity sites using wordpress and wishlist plugin. I use sequential content delivery. Once a member joins, they will start at month/week #1, and receive sequential updates for few weeks/month no matter when they join.
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  • Profile picture of the author Voasi
    I've done a mixture of most of what you have above and I like dripping the content to the members. It keeps them in the membership the longest and that's what it's all about: retention.

    Having said that, one way you could go is to have new members pay for each additional previous month's content. I've set that up with a site and it worked out well. I'd list what was available previous months and they could pick and choose which ones they wanted to buy. Of course, they'd only see what was available to purchase once they were a 'member'.
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    • Profile picture of the author DrewG
      Originally Posted by Voasi View Post

      I've done a mixture of most of what you have above and I like dripping the content to the members. It keeps them in the membership the longest and that's what it's all about: retention.

      Having said that, one way you could go is to have new members pay for each additional previous month's content. I've set that up with a site and it worked out well. I'd list what was available previous months and they could pick and choose which ones they wanted to buy. Of course, they'd only see what was available to purchase once they were a 'member'.
      Hmmm this definitely sounds interesting...what plugin or membership script would I use to implement something like this? I plan on having a Wordpress membership, with content delivered weekly.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    I do the drip content style and for more then just keeping them on as members. In some niches, (like mine), if I gave them everything at once, they'd be overwhelmed and wouldn't take any action. Paralysis by overanaysis and information overload kicks in which is not good. So by dripping content monthly, they have something to look forward to, they get 4 weeks to master what is showed to them and they still get to see all the other older months they already saw.

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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    Modular content delivery (dripped content) is BY FAR my favorite membership model. Just make sure that the modules are small (easy to digest) and delivered weekly.

    In my experience, stick rates increase if you give them a little bit every week rather than a bunch every month.
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  • Profile picture of the author globalpro
    Hi,

    The two popular ones I get from clients in this order:

    1. Drip Content - Buyer A signs up, gets month 1, month 2, etc. Buyer B signs up, gets month 1, month 2, etc.

    2. Current content - Buyer A signs up, gets this month's content, then gets next month's content and previous month removed or archived (depending on what it is). An option (this is software), they get this months advertised product and last month's produvt is offered at an extremely reduced price available only to members.

    A lot of it will depend on what you are offering.

    Thanks,

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author DrewG
    Thanks everyone for your input, I now have some good ideas brewing in my head
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    Personally, I won't stay with an instructional membership site that drips content. I learn by immersion. I want the whole package, NOW, and *I* will determine how I go about learning it. If you try to feed me 'monthly lessons', I won't be there long, because odds are you're not going to deliver enough to last me for a month.

    If I join a PLR site, periodic updates are fine, it's expected. That's why I pay the member price - to have new material weekly, monthly, whatever.

    I will not, just on general principle, stay with a member site that I know is dripping content just to make sure I stay on. hasta la vista baby. I'll get my info somewhere else.
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  • Profile picture of the author ConnorMRR
    Good topic, personally I remove the old when I add the new, however, that can cause some issues when new members do signup wanting what they missed.

    I don't necessarily agree with Steve Johnson, trust me when I say that once people realize you don't remove content they will leave for a month, come back and download everything again, then leave, then come back and so on. I don't think that's fair on the membership owner, OR those members who have been an active member for a long time who have shown loyalty,
    so I personally try to protect my members, and then myself. Just my opinion of course

    Regards,
    Connor
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg Jacobs
    6 months start to finish sequential/modular content. If not, they will (on average) drop out after 3-4 months- but if you give them something within reach, then they will stick around. at least that is my experience.
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  • Profile picture of the author Voasi
    That specific membership was ran on Membership software - aMember Pro. It's a great script. Once they were a member, I had a links to all the previous months they could purchase. No special script for that, just links to payment.
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  • Profile picture of the author waihon
    For online training type of membership sites, from publishers and members point of view, I prefer a hybrid of Full Content Delivery and Modular Content Delivery.

    When a member joins, they have access to a set of core modules. It meant to cater to members like Steve Johnson who like learn by immersion.

    To encourage members to stay, advanced module(s) will be released on a periodic basis such as weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

    To discourage members from joining, leaving, re-joining, leaving, re-joining, ..., one or more of the following ways may be implemented:

    * Charge an enrollment fee (in addition to periodic membership fee) for joining or re-joining
    * Increase the enrollment fee on a periodic basis
    * Reset the accessible modules upon re-joining, i.e. start from the core modules again
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