So, are membership sites even profitable?
The short answer is that, yes, membership sites can be very profitable, but their success depends on several factors.
In this article, we’ll explore how membership sites can work and provide insights to help you make your membership site profitable.
Are Membership Sites Profitable?
Membership sites can be very profitable but each one needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
Firstly, there are different types of membership sites. Paid membership sites generate revenue through membership fees, but you can also make money through free membership websites with affiliate marketing, special offers, and paid advertising.
However, any profitable membership site requires similar input. This includes identifying your niche market, providing great content, offering value for money and value to your members.
The main ways to increase your membership site’s profitability come down to:
- Having an offer that converts to sales
- Targeting a market that is hungry enough to buy what you’re offering
- Getting your offer out in front of relevant people through solid marketing
Let’s take a more detailed look.
An Offer That Converts To Sales
The first step here is having an offer at all. What are you offering your prospect in exchange for their money?
To create an offer that converts to sales, you need to ensure that whatever you are offering is specific, clear, offers compelling value, and addresses your specific customer needs. Even better if it satisfies a pain point that your target market has.
Using informative descriptions that highlight the benefits of what you’re offering, and make them specific and outcome based. Also, consider including a time limit on your offer to increase urgency.
It’s also recommended to provide social proof, like customer reviews to build trust. In addition, you need to make the purchase process safe and simple.
A strong call-to-action is crucial as this will help to guide customers through the purchasing process. You can also continuously improve your offer based on data and customer feedback to maximize your conversion rates.
Target A Market That Is Hungry
Are the prospects in your niche a bit peckish, or starving for a solution? It makes a big difference for your sales.
A niche with peckish buyers either has a lot of offerings already or has a few that really satisfy the customer’s challenges or pain points. Maybe the outcome is just not that important to them, or they’re the type of people who would walk a mile to save a dollar.
By contrast, a niche with starving prospects is one where the prospects are willing and able to spend money and want to achieve something important to them, but where there’s also a lack of offerings.
A number of offerings and thriving sites is not necessarily a bad thing, though. If there are a number of successful competitors in your niche, then it suggests that people in the niche are willing and able to spend money and that achieving their aims is reasonably important to them. In this case, you just need an appealing differentiated offer.
The important thing here is to do your research and to make sure that there is a market for what you want to offer. If there is competition for your niche, make sure you can offer a solution that stands out as different.
Getting Your Offer In Front Of People
No offer will sell if you don’t get it out in front of your target market.
How you go about bringing your offer to market comes down to where your prospects hang out.
- Social media: If your target market mostly hangs out on social media, you’ll want to make sure you have a really tight social media marketing strategy. You want content that engages with your prospects in a fun way. People are on social to connect and relax, so being entertaining is a good way to go.
- Inbound marketing: This is all about attracting people to your website through crafting SEO optimized articles. Most niches have prospects who look things up… so be there for them with the answer.
- Other Communities: The highest concentration of interested prospects in any group is in paid membership communities. Could you interact with them there? If you can provide value to that community while offering your wears, then you’d definitely bring in some interested prospects.
- Other niche websites: Sometimes you can get other people to sell your membership for you via referral programs. These agreements provide some fee for each prospect a website administrator directs to you that results in a sale.
What do you do once you connect with them?
Well, you encourage them to read more content, sign up for your mailing list for more information or some free download, or even direct them right to your sales page.
Read next: How Do Membership Sites Make Money?
