If you’re running a membership platform your primary goals should be attracting loyal customers to your service or product and securing a regular monthly income. You could even take your basic strategy one step further by testing new ideas on these loyal customers.
But what if you could create unique, powerful and insightful content and also get paid for it? Well, you don’t have to think of this as a ‘what if’ situation. Besides the services and products that you regularly provide to customers you can also offer exclusive content and the opportunity for members to interact with one-another through your private website. All for a modest monthly fee.
But how do you encourage visitors to become full members? Simple. By leveraging ‘engagement touchpoints’ (sharable content). According to HubSpot, 2015 was the year of video marketing. Over 55% of online users watch online videos every-day and 78% watch videos every week. Furthermore, videos on landing pages are reported to increase average conversion rate by 86%.
Video content is expected to become the most popular form of content in the digital world, so it makes perfect sense to incorporate it in your membership platform promotion strategy. Also, from my experience with membership platforms, the types of content that always performed well were webinars (with guest speakers), video courses and weekly video series (like Moz’s White Board Friday).
Using video for your membership platform doesn’t mean that you can skip the other basic steps, though. In this article I will focus on the applications of video for building membership platforms and suggest video services that you can use. Nevertheless, if you’re serious about building a membership site you should also check out the basic tips covered by CopyBlogger.
Using Video to Build a Membership Platform
If you already have a WordPress site you can quickly set up membership permissions using a specialized software (like Memberful). The next step is to add protected videos for members. This can be done through various platforms, which we will present later. Once your videos are uploaded simply edit their privacy and embedding permissions.
Not a huge fan of Wordpress? Another option would be to use a specialized video software to create your subscription site and upload your videos. Here are five online platforms that will help you reach out to global audiences:
#1. Uscreen
Uscreen is a 100% white-label video platform that you can use to upload, edit, or optimize videos and create a subscription site. Because it uses a unique business model, Uscreen makes it possible for video creators to maintain full control over their brand. And this is but one of the platform’s many features.
With this video on demand service you can promote digital products, set-up payments, manage users, monitor performance, create courses and distribute PDFs, eBooks, Audio and Video content. The service that claims to ‘do it all’ also integrates with third party applications such as MailChimp, InfusionSoft, PayPal, Wordpress, Shopify, Google Analytics etc. to help you grow your membership business.
Pivotshare is a video service that will allow you to combine content & audiences with other tools to help you build an industry-leading membership video channel. Filling an entire subscription channel on your own is difficult. Pivotshare makes it easier for talented individuals to collaborate and thrive. With this software you can create video membership platforms, manage subscriptions, view detailed reports about playbacks, earnings and traffic, manage your channel & more.
#3. Kajabi
This is another video platform that allows users to create membership platforms and sell content online. Again, you will have all the features you need in one place, thus removing the need to juggle between multiple systems. The only problem with Kajabi right now is the fact that registrations are closed, so if you want to benefit from the platform’s full range of features you will have to join the waiting list.
#4. Teachable
Teachable works similarly to other video software mentioned above. Like Uscreen, it is also a white-label marketplace where users can create and sell their content. Videos can be imported easily, then edited to fit a target audience. Short course descriptions are made available, but in order to view the video one must make a one-time payment or a monthly payment. Membership options are controlled by users.
#5. GumRoad
GumRoad provides a plethora of features that will make it easier for you to sell your video content to the right audience. With GumRoad you can customize your landing page to your heart’s content, add follow forms, manage subscriptions and memberships, share videos on social media channels & more. GumRoad also offers a rental option so that users can view the videos they want for a limited time.
How to Encourage Subscriptions with Video
Most online users don’t read and this makes marketing increasingly difficult for companies. Of course, if you’re reading this right now you are an exception. But what about the others? Before you can benefit from your membership platform you must ensure that prospects are receiving the information they need in order to take action. One of the best way to increase engagement and encourage subscriptions is through video. Here are a few tips that will help you attract new members with video:
Create an organizational intro
This is the basic of the basic. If you want people to subscribe to your platform you have to let them know who you are, what you do and, most importantly, how you can help them. An organizational intro is generally a 2-3 minutes long video that will make people remember you, so you have to think really hard about how you want to present yourself and what emotions you want to convey.
Tutorial or Course Previews
If you’re planning on selling educational material through your membership platform you should invest in 1-2 minute long previews or summaries that will let the prospect know exactly what he will be getting. It is recommended to showcase the most important elements of your tutorial or course and to end a video with a call to action or shocking revelation. This will significantly increase your conversion rate.
Reach out to prospects and customers
You have to ensure that subscribers continue to renew their memberships. In order for this to happen you should reach out to them from time to time, either through mail or social media. Reward them with free materials, offer them discounts or let them know about upcoming videos. Also, if one or more of your prospects abandoned before completing the payment, you can follow-up with a friendly reminder. The goal is to make your prospects and members feel special and to nurture meaningful relationships.
Participant Point-of-View
Requesting feedback from members represents a great way to win new ones. You can create video testimonials, case-studies or interviews and feature them on your landing page. Just make sure you don’t go overboard.
Add short-descriptions or table of contents for your videos & materials
Never expect prospects to buy something just because it looks like it could help. Nobody will spend money on something uncertain. One of the best ways to encourage membership subscriptions for your platform and materials is by sharing short descriptions of your course/tutorial/vide/book etc. You can even add a few screenshots for the extra wow factor.
Create Awesome Videos
Needless to say, all your marketing efforts will be for naught if your videos are dull. If you want people to come, you have to build something worth their time. Elaine Rogers shared some very useful tips on creating engaging video content, so make sure to check them out.
Like most things in the digital world, building a membership platform isn’t easy. However, video can make your job a lot less difficult and, if successful, secure a generous revenue for years to come.
This concludes the brief guide to building a membership platform with video. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to comment. Also, for more in-depth information on membership platform creation, I suggest watching this video.
[youtube width=”560″ height=”420″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKsqaYQ3GlQ[/youtube]
Image: Featured Image
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