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Membership Sites: How do you keep Retention Rates high?

by willyboy104
19 replies
Hey everyone.

I am wondering what's your advice for keeping retention rates high on membership sites.

Obviously after you have gone to the effort of creating content, establishing and marketing a membership site you want to ensure that your members are over-satisfied and content is over-delivered but are there any other tactics/techniques for keeping retention rates high on membership sites?

I only ask this since I am currently in the process of creating a membership site and before I launch I want to ensure that my members are the happiest people in the world =D and having low retention rates would obviously contradict that.

So any advice for keeping retention rates high?

Regards,
Will.

=P
#low #membership #rates #retention #sites
  • Profile picture of the author Chris Grable
    Will,

    Don't you WANT high retention rates?... or am I missing something?
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  • Profile picture of the author CurtisN
    Originally Posted by willyboy104 View Post


    So any advice for keeping retention rates low?
    Yep - stop giving them new content
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    For low retention rates, nothing better than sending them an email with a picture showing them the middle finger. I split tested it and it worked great!
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  • Profile picture of the author dougp
    Originally Posted by willyboy104 View Post

    Hey everyone.

    I am wondering what's your advice for keeping retention rates low on membership sites.

    Obviously after you have gone to the effort of creating content, establishing and marketing a membership site you want to ensure that your members are over-satisfied and content is over-delivered but are there any other tactics/techniques for keeping retention rates low on membership sites?

    I only ask this since I am currently in the process of creating a membership site and before I launch I want to ensure that my members are the happiest people in the world =D and having high retention rates would obviously contradict that.

    So any advice for keeping retention rates low?

    Regards,
    Will.

    Hey Will, retention rate means how many members you retain or keep monthly. If this is a high number then its a good thing, if you have a low retention rate, then this means that you are not retaining many members. It really depends on the product your selling. If its just content then people may feel that they can get that anywhere. However, if you offer something like free hosting as an addituion to your content, then this may help retain members.

    Doug
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  • Profile picture of the author willyboy104
    Ha sorry guys, yeah high retention rates...ok, ok so its 2.45am and I have been working for the past 14 hours =P

    So please proceed, how do I maintain HIGH HIGH HIGH retention rates =P
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    Other than insanely good content (which is always a good idea), try to tie their membership to some type of software or service that they lose should they cancel their site. For example: a hosting account will close down your website if you don't renew the yearly payment. Another example: your telephone company will shut down your line if you don't renew. Another example: your antivirus software stops updating if you don't renew.

    Informational content is powerful, but a service/software is WAY more so!
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    • Profile picture of the author WikiWarrior
      I agree, offering something that they can't do without (or at least feel they can't do without) is the best way to ensure they stay for a long time. Or longer than the norm which is supposedly about 3 - 4 months. Incidentally, I heard one of the gurus say the average length of time a person stays subscribed to a porn site is 3 months so any longer than this and you are doing pretty good I guess. Not that that's necessarily a good comparison but thought it was interesting to note.

      Anything interactive is good too. For example if you got a lively forum going where people can make friends and be part of a community. Very powerful.

      I'm also just about to launch my membership site and have been researching and thinking a lot about this same concern recently. I imagine people's interest in certain content waxes and wanes over time and want to have a good hook to keep them members even after they've consumed most of the content they originally joined to learn.

      What I've implemented is an affiliate program where members can earn a recurring income from people they invite to the membership. For example if a member introduces 2 or 3 others, their own monthly membership fee is covered plus a bit extra for them (this is just a bonus though, the content being the core of the why they join). So as long as they remain a member paying their monthly fee, they receive recurring passive income from all the members they introduce! In this case staying a member is a no-brainer for them as they are actually making money whilst they enjoy the content.

      Another thing I'm doing is having a low entry cost to the membership site at $7.95 for basic membership. For anyone who is price sensitive, this sum is pretty much a forgettable/negligible amount. Since I'm just starting the site, I'm happy to spend more time answering questions and support by having many members in at that price. If the site is successful after a few months or however long, I can always raise the price if support becomes to time-consuming or it threatens the level of service I can offer.

      So to summarise, I'll be providing:
      a) high quality drip-fed content; text, audio and video plus interviews etc
      b) online courses - you could run any number of courses back to back or that overlap to encourage members to stay longer.
      c) passive recurring income for members who introduce other members (no-one gets bored of making money!)
      d) every member can make affiliate commissions from any products purchased on the site - another small hook to keep their interest
      e) a 'credits' system where members earn these 'members only credits' that can be used to purchase products on the site and or in the membership program.
      f) low entry-level cost - a 'forgettable' monthly amount.

      Other than that you just have to keep over-delivering.
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      • Profile picture of the author Pradeep Bhagwat
        I think you have got your answer reading above valuable points suggested by other Warriors. I am going to reveal one secret, which I learn from one of the membership site I joined. This website have it's own affiliate program. So, obviously members try to get others to membership site, by promoting. I also did it and got one sale. Affiliate commission starts coming every month into my Paypal account. After remaining member for few months and learning all the things I decided to leave the membership site. I leave the membership site and what happen? My next months commission did not arrive! That means they give certain commission for retaining members! Think about this. It is good or bad? But it is a trick definately.

        - Pradeep
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  • Profile picture of the author CurtisN
    I'm no membership site expert, but here's a couple suggestions to keep your retention rates high:

    1) Have a fixed-term membership so people don't need to commit $97/month until kingdom come. If they don't stay, they don't get the whole enchilada.

    2) Give 'em a taster of next month, so if they drop out, they'll feel like they're missing out big time.

    Curtis
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    Start out charging a lower amount and grandfather anyone that joins... then raise the price 5-6 times in 2 years. Anyone paying $49 and if they leave and decide to come back now have to pay $97... they think twice about leaving. (assuming the content or model of the site is worth the price to begin with.)

    That's a little GL trick. Works on me. I pay $29.95 for a site people sign up on at $97 and is worth every penny of the $97, I'd be a fool to quit.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    The formula is simple: people need to feel they are getting more value back in products, services and information than the value they are giving up in cash. It doesn't hurt if they like you either.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author jzmoore
    I am building a membership site ATM, I am providing valuable extensive content on the site. Each month I will be providing an outstanding video that is worth more than above the membership fee. I will have a Library download area where the content is always being added to. Bottom line, I will continue to add valuable content whereby if the member cancels he/she knows that they will be missing out on great future content.

    If a member cancels they will receive a special offer of more than 1/2 off to continue membership (a little of something is better than a lot of nothing)

    Depending on the membership site, in my niche (internet marketing training site) the average membership stay is 4.5 months.

    Make certain to test and retest the monthly fee, would you rather have 20 members @ $97.00 per month or 200 members @ $14.95 per month? Find the sweet spot.

    Hope this helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author birdie28a
      Originally Posted by jzmoore View Post

      I am building a membership site ATM, I am providing valuable extensive content on the site. Each month I will be providing an outstanding video that is worth more than above the membership fee. I will have a Library download area where the content is always being added to. Bottom line, I will continue to add valuable content whereby if the member cancels he/she knows that they will be missing out on great future content.

      If a member cancels they will receive a special offer of more than 1/2 off to continue membership (a little of something is better than a lot of nothing)

      Depending on the membership site, in my niche (internet marketing training site) the average membership stay is 4.5 months.

      Make certain to test and retest the monthly fee, would you rather have 20 members @ $97.00 per month or 200 members @ $14.95 per month? Find the sweet spot.

      Hope this helps.

      Great information, I start my membership sites low for a trial run and then about a week are so go up in price. That way people can see if the membership site is something that will work for them.

      If you offer good content and keep in contact with your list you should do just fine.

      Frankie
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert Puddy
      Originally Posted by jzmoore View Post


      If a member cancels they will receive a special offer of more than 1/2 off to continue membership (a little of something is better than a lot of nothing)
      Only problem with that is once word gets around, people will join and then cancel to get the discount.
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    • Profile picture of the author DogScout
      Originally Posted by jzmoore View Post

      I am building a membership site ATM, I am providing valuable extensive content on the site. Each month I will be providing an outstanding video that is worth more than above the membership fee. I will have a Library download area where the content is always being added to. Bottom line, I will continue to add valuable content whereby if the member cancels he/she knows that they will be missing out on great future content.

      If a member cancels they will receive a special offer of more than 1/2 off to continue membership (a little of something is better than a lot of nothing)

      Depending on the membership site, in my niche (internet marketing training site) the average membership stay is 4.5 months.

      Make certain to test and retest the monthly fee, would you rather have 20 members @ $97.00 per month or 200 members @ $14.95 per month? Find the sweet spot.

      Hope this helps.
      Using GL's raise the price and grand father, his average retention is unknown as he has only been opened a year and less than 5% have left.
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  • Profile picture of the author willyboy104
    Thanks everyone so far.

    I think the trick with the affiliate program is really clever however what if you had limited membership or members weren't really motivated to get others to join since then they would have to share the content with a wider audience.

    Low entry costs/trial prices is something I have considered and may be implementing the trial price however the low entry cost is something I won't be initiating just because I feel by lowering the price of my membership site it will make people assume the content is not worth as much as it is, plus my overheads are quite high and will only get higher with increased material each month.

    I've also looked in to doing online courses as bonuses as I don't just want to give my members the content that they have become a member for but also I want them to use it and I want to make sure they profit from it, so I will be creating several online courses to try and ensure each and every member makes money with the content.

    Thanks everyone, really good advice.
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