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This post is part of a series, based on the book 'Top 21 Marketing methods for membership websites', written by The Subscription Coach Amanda Northcutt.

 Download the entire series in an eBook

I hope 3-6 of these acquisition channels resonated with you . I hope you're prepared to run some tests for marketing in the coming months. Follow the steps outlined in the first paragraph of this book to identify the channels that are feasible (both profitable & reliable) in your program. Follow the steps outlined at the start of this document to identify the channels that are suitable (both profitable & reliable) for your membership.

Effective marketing is vital to the lifeblood of your business, but it's not the be-all and end-all answer to long term achievement. First you must have a viable membership product. You must then attract through your smart marketing efforts the people with the potential to become the most powerful members. If you already know the secret sauce of the actions that users take on your site in order to be powerful users, then you're already half way there!

Once armed with the knowledge of what your power users appreciate most about you and the issues you address to their satisfaction, you're in a position to explore marketing channels for ways to bring on more members that resemble those power members.

Whatever the medium that you choose to use, your message must direct potential customers to the aspects of your membership website that your power users love the most. If you start by attracting those types of people initially instead of trying to get as many sales as possible, you're setting yourself to be profitable and expandable. In addition that your customers are more satisfied, prosperous, and will be raving about you online!

After you've identified 2-4 viable acquisition channels that best target people who have the potential to be power users and have a lead nurture sequence in place (emails + retargeting ads), all you have to do is maintain those members around. Easy, right? I'm afraid not. The phenomenon of churn, also known as cancellations by members is the main cause of decline of membership-based businesses in general In many instances, it will lead to their eventual demise.

According to Harvard Business Review, it costs between five and 25 times the amount to find a new customer rather than keeping an existing customer! This is a difficult decision for someone that relies on recurring revenue models such as you.

It's your responsibility as the website owner to keep track of the level of engagement among members and to intervene to ensure that your members' hard-earned money have a tendency to disappear, and eventually become less engaged. If you've got the right people paying for the membership, it's also your responsibility to assist them realize the value that they're paying for.

Ready to take your membership to the highest level? Take a look at our consultation and coaching services to get one-on-one insights to accountability and all else you require to be successful.