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Acquisition is often discussed as an essential element of every strategy for business. But Michael Gillespie, who leads Customer Success here at , is aware of an neglected aspect of the membership business, which happens immediately after acquisition the onboarding.

"A large portion of members focus on the sale of the membership. However, after the sale has been made, that's when the hard part commences!" says Michael. Those first interactions with a new customer is more important in the membership due to the element of human interaction you aren't likely to see in other industries.

What is it that you mean by get someone aboard successfully? "Onboarding may be specific to your membership. It may be something that drives a particular event, for example a welcome email - and others may simply stop there," Michael explains. However, he feels that the purpose of onboarding is to establish expectation: it lets members know what they gain from joining your community - not immediately, but over the coming months.

"Onboarding generally is an uninvolved experience that doesn't manage to create a roadmap to members," Michael adds. The best way to approach it is by assuming that, at the initial contact with your community the member is clueless about what to do. Insufficient information can create obstacles that hinder new members from engaging with members in the manner they want to.

Typical onboarding sequences

"In an average membership, I register someone as a member and then send them a welcome email, they receive up to five or three pages of content that I want them to engage with, and then I'm done" Michael says. "Members find themselves overwhelmed or unserved."

The members who do not receive an onboarding guideline will not be engaged and will often turn. On the other hand those who are aware of the actions to make will remain engaged. "It's important to create an atmosphere of commitment among new members," Michael says. "Tell them where you are going to take them on your journey to membership."

"If you're a producer, do you want anyone to be a part of the particular podcast? Would you like people to be engaged with a different kind of content? If you're not explaining to your members the direction you're taking them as well as the reason you're taking them there, they're going to be making an effort to navigate through the members with zero intent," he explains.

If you're a creator of podcasts Your onboarding could motivate people to participate in the particular episode

This is the only event that drives the majority of churn in the early phases of joining. "You've got a window of opportunity of 24-hours. Is there an action you want your member to do? Find out what you require from onboarding, and then what you will do to create a system in order to provide an optimal experience to each customer," he adds.

Remove barriers to ensure the perfect journey

When building your onboarding process, the key consideration is what you want to achieve. "Do you desire a customer to upgrade to a tier with additional advantages? Maybe you've already joined an existing monthly member and you're looking to change the member to a annual one?" Michael asks.

The output might also be completed in completing a course or read a particular article. "Most people in the process of starting their journey, don't lay out intended outputs," he adds. "Make an outline of 3 and 1 desired outputs. Think about 'What is the biggest obstacle that could hinder the realization of these outputs?' there will always be barriers for people engaging with your membership."

Obstacles can be based on time, price, competition, or a combination of all three. "Folks do not have an unlimited amount of time. We're busy people; we are constantly distracted," Michael explains. "Is there a price barrier in the case of upgrading your membership? In the event that you have a comparable product on the market, what's making the customer choose to keep your membership over another?"

Knowledge isn't the only issue. "Members are often not well-informed about 'where they have to be' within the group. What is the goal? What do they hope to be after a period of time?" Michael asks. "The quicker members understand what's in it for them, the more quickly they'll accept the plan and produce the output you're looking for." Engaging early can help. One onboarding output could be to ask members to respond to an welcome email including information about any challenges they're facing.

Make sure you are clear: explain to your members what you want from the onboarding process - and also what advantages they'll receive if they choose to participate. "Don't be afraid to let the members of your organization know what your intent is. Members with a high awareness of your intent will take action at the time you're asking them to. They will be around for the longest amount of time," Michael smiles.

Welcome videos

Welcome emails are simple and efficient onboarding tools. the majority of new members expect the email to arrive shortly after signing up. However, we believe you could go one step further: "You have a small time to surprise your new customer," says Michael. "Memberships which include an introduction video during their onboarding have a 50% reduction in churn rates during the first two months of membership."

A welcome video humanizes your membership. "One of the most exciting possibilities in the current state of joining is the human element," says Michael. "Automation and AI-generated content are great but membership has an element of personalization that is unique to it. If there's an inconsistency between what members think they're lacking in today's members' products, it's the human contact."

Jay Klaus from Creator Science provides a wonderful video on how to get started "In his email to welcome you the company includes a video that greets you. He explains why he's doing what he's doing, and he lays out the things you can expect to see during the next six months," Michael explains.

CVX7fG7wFAWbYtUj6dIn Jay Klaus from Creator Science is a fantastic onboarding video

It is an excellent opportunity to spark engagement in the early stages of beginning the process of onboarding. Video content, on the other hand, has a percentage of clicks with video content is seventeen times higher on average than the text of hyperlinks. "Put your message in the forefront, regardless of what you're trying to convey and be sure to humanize what it is you're doing for your audience. Build it once, deliver it many times over," he adds.

Roadmaps

The onboarding email must contain a road map. Establish expectations: how do users access their benefits? Are there any specific times for those benefits, perhaps each week? What is the best place to find these benefits? Do they have to open their email inbox? Do they have to sign in?

"This is a frequently ignored aspect of membership but letting your member know precisely what you're delivering will help you limit the rate of churn during the initial 2 weeks," Michael explains. "Members shouldn't be left to make decisions on their own."

We've seen plenty of examples recently. "The welcome email contains the links to tons of wonderful material, but the members become lost. If that's the case it's either an unengaged member or with a member who's confused and won't make an effort to visit your website to learn more about the subject," he continues.

You cannot put too much details in front of a member with regards to the roadmap. It's easy to assume people know how to use the content, but it's better to think a member knows absolutely nothing. "Explicitly lay out everything for your users to see lower churn rate," Michael adds.

Upsells

The majority of people don't consider upselling immediately after signing up a new member. If done properly, it can be a significant element of onboarding. It can lock in significantly higher profits.

Michael has noted that new members are most likely to be receptive to sales within the first 24 hours up to 1 week after having purchased an account. "It's much easier to convert members within the first couple of days since they've got all the information about the membership. Already, they're 'one foot in'" the author says.

Offers for upsells within onboarding are given distinct positioning from those that you have on your site. Typically these offers don't even display on your website as they are reserved to be used for the onboarding process. "Once someone is part of your program you feel like they're part of some kind of. Upsells are a great way to give them an enhanced experience through additional benefits," He adds.

"Let's suppose you run an e-newsletter that costs $6 per month. You offer a subscriber the chance upgrade to a annual option that gets them lots of value at an incrementally smaller price for a month-long basis. Members that are educated enough during onboarding are more likely to buy an upsell on a yearly subscription. We typically see conversion rates that range from 30-40 percent for these deals," Michael reports.

Additionally, they get all year to enjoy the content you provide. If members take advantage of these kinds of deals their lifetime value for the members will be anywhere between four and five times higher than the member who wasn't responsive to the upsell.

"Think about deepening the experience of your members. This could include extra benefits, which you can make an exclusive membership plan," Michael adds. "Every member has a portion of customers who are active, and they tend to be the ones most likely to convert on an upsell in the early morning hours. You must however, present the opportunity in front the members."

The content of the welcome email you receive could read something like: 'This week only, we're making an offer to new members to purchase a VIP membership. You'll receive three personalized membership coaching calls per month for an entire year. Two elements to this offer: it's limited, with specific dates for when it's due to expire, It also comes with a huge discount.

The possibility of upselling reduces the likelihood of near-term churn. "Members who lock in, for example, 60% savings off the cost of a year's membership in the first week of membership are eighty percent more likely to be members two years from now," Michael reports. "The upsell only has to increase incrementally in cost. But statistically those members who convert will be loyal members for a long time, which is more money for your business."

The conversion rates of upsells for the onboarding program are 7 to 10 times more than first-time purchases. "If you have a 3% conversion rate on the regular membership, after you've enrolled these members into the program, you may anticipate a 30% per cent conversion," Michael explains. When you offer upsells at initial onboarding, new members generate five times more money for the membership over those who don't make a profit on an upsell.

Pricing

In terms of pricing, we would recommend that you do not exceed 50% when it comes to the increment.

"For instance, I'm a yearly member. I've signed up at $50 per year. I'm offered an upsell offer that includes access to four or five different products for $75 per year. This is a jump of 50% however, it's a 50% increase in money you've earned already from this customer within the beginning," Michael explains. In the coming years, the customer will generate up to seven times the revenue.

"Think about what you can tack on to existing benefits for a better experience. Upsells that convert well will result in a huge amount of income that would otherwise go to be spent. You will have members in your organization who longing for more," Michael concludes.

One of the advantages of upsells is that it allows you to immediately find those people at the right date and take that benefit. It will be possible to keep this value for the next years and months if the customer decides to make the switch.

This should help you in your strategies for onboarding. Please feel free to contact us to us on social media should you have any concerns. Have fun!