Calendar

 We're pleased to present our quarterly deep look into the current state of membership where we uncover trends, highlights and what's going on.

The start of 2022 is proving to be an extension of the clear membership trends that emerged towards the end of 2021. With a world of digital technology evolving rapidly, membership continues to prove a steady and reliable income generator as we've seen the membership business model flex its stability during recent days.

Highlights

The growth of members continues

In Q4 2021, we witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of new members joining. The trend continued to grow and increased into Q1 2022, even when consumers were taking their break for the holidays, and back to work, school and other routine schedules. At a time of time when consumer interest is usually difficult to grab there was a notable increase in the number of new members joining across the major membership categories, particularly in January to February.

Resilience during headwinds

In the month of March, we saw an abundance of uncertainty instilled into the economic landscape and had an impact that was noticeable on consumer behaviour. The rise in inflation and the war in Ukraine are two of the main factors that caused consumers to become more cautious. This has tempered the areas of growth as we saw in January February.

While these macro developments are certainly impacting the membership landscape, we've seen the credibility of the business model truly shine when these headwinds are forming.

At this time, most of the change we've witnessed was limited to the acquisition of new members. The retention of members has been steady, highlighting the resilience of membership along with its role in a business strategy.

It also reinforces the importance of structuring benefits for members so that it actually keeps members engaged on a regular basis. The memberships that can integrate benefits into the member's regular routine are able to experience lower churn and much more retention during periods of increased uncertainty - making it possible to sustain income as well as growth for members.

What's moving

A fresh environment

The landscape of membership changes rapidly. The digital landscape also changes faster. While our clients explore new avenues for continued growth, the importance of an encompassing strategy for acquiring members has never been more evident. Ad costs are growing. Social media engagement has reached the point of no return. Consumers are becoming less receptive to traditional marketing and acquisition tactics.

How come? In the last two years, all of us have spent more time on the internet than we ever thought possible. This was a great period for content discovery and membership generally. But, the extended online experience has resulted in noticeable ad fatigue among users (your possible clients).

The public has been exposed to poorly targeted ads for many years that they don't ever notice them - and even less take steps to remove them. Is advertising dead? No. However, given the current circumstances, the economics and costs are no longer in favor of advertisers.

Member-driven growth

We see the next chapter of membership growth is being driven by the existing members. Genuine messages, trustworthy opinions and direct experiences help build trust that drives action.

The introduction of Referrals is our first step toward creating evergreen solutions that can increase the loyalty and satisfaction of your members base to create additional sales.

Referral strategies of customers do not only see lower member acquisition costs but increased member retention. This increase in retention is due to referring members receiving membership discounts when they succeed in referring.

Members who receive recurring rewards by referring other members are considerably less likely to abandon their membership and are always motivated to refer even more people. Incentivizing your customers with referral rewards allows them go out and start discussions with the most relevant people. This leads to more sales at lower costs.

The Takeaway

The shift in the landscape in the first quarter clearly illustrates the need for constantly building solid foundations within your membership. These foundations become a safe haven during periods that are uncertain and enable you to continue doing your best work and run your organization with confidence.

While the landscape of membership grows and changes it will be a constant factor that can be leveraged to increase your membership as well as the base of your existing members. The continued focus on serving them first will establish the trust of your members that ultimately translates to them becoming your biggest supporters.

Be aware of the seemingly small foundations inside your organization. It's those small foundations that will bring you the biggest wins.