Let's say you start a book club.
A few friends join, and things run pretty smoothly.
But eventually you start to repeat the same recommendations, you run out of tried-and-true authors to read, and you need fresh ideas coming in to keep the book club alive.
Which means you have to start finding new members.
Your membership community works the same way, except instead of finding your next binge-read, it's your income on the line, and those recruits are customers.
So you have to market. You have to get more people in the door so your site doesn't stagnate and take your revenue down with it.
But take heart. If you've already got your membership software figured out, you've done the stressful part. The marketing is much more approachable, and we'll walk through it together today.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- How to think about your membership marketing big-picture
- 5 membership marketing ideas to use in your online business
- Examples from real creators who are using these marketing strategies successfully
First, let's have a quick fireside chat so we're all on the same page.
(If you’re still looking for a place to build your membership, you can start a 30-day free trial of Podia today. Podia has your community, products, website, online store, and email all in one place so you can give your members an amazing experience.)
How do you market a membership subscription?
Marketing your membership community isn’t that different from marketing your online courses, but with any marketing plan, it’s important to remember that the best marketing strategies work together.
There's nothing wrong with focusing on just one thing, like blogging and SEO, but you'll get the most out of your effort when you tie a few strategies together so they support each other.
- Your blog post points people to your lead magnet.
- Your lead magnet feeds your email list.
- Your email list reminds subscribers about your membership.
- A happy member leaves a testimonial that you can use in your next blog post.
That might sound like a lot, but you don't have to do all of it at once. You can start with the five basic steps below to build a strong foundation, whether you’re launching something brand new or looking to find more subscribers for a membership community you already run.
So, how do you market your community membership? Here are five of my favorite methods.
1. Build a sales page with real testimonials
At Podia, we love showing off our creators and their wins. We have a full page of Podia testimonials on our website, and we regularly share inspiring Podia case studies on our blog. Beyond the fact that they're genuinely wonderful people, when happy customers talk about their experience, they give Podia social proof.
Testimonials help humanize what you're offering. They get the person on the other side of the screen to trust you enough to take the leap, and when you add them to a detailed product sales page, they can help people see the facts about your membership (how much it costs, what’s included, FAQs) as well as the results they can expect to get.
When you sell membership access, you need to get prospective buyers excited to take the first step with your business, but also to stick around long term. You're not only promising to help someone right now, but you're also making the case that it will keep being worth it month after month.
Matt Easton is a great example of this. He spent more than thirty years in sales, then built Easton University, an on-demand sales coaching membership, almost entirely on his own using Podia. Over time, his students have sent him thousands of unprompted video testimonials.
"We have 2,600 video testimonials from people who went through the prospecting course, people who closed $200,000 deals based on what we taught," Matt says.
If someone’s on the fence about joining Matt’s membership, those testimonials give them a glimpse at what their life could look like if they took the plunge. They give Matt a constant supply of proof that his membership delivers real results, not just at signup, but again and again.
Of course, you don't need thousands of video testimonials to start. If you only have one or two, you can add them to your membership sales page where people are deciding. If you can, include a photo or a short video of the member. A face resonates far more than text alone.
In addition to social proof, you should also make sure your sales page includes a description of what’s inside your membership, who it is for, and what outcome people can expect to see when they become members (supported by your testimonials).
Podia's website builder makes it simple to add testimonials and other helpful information to any sales page, so your social proof lives right where people need it most.
2. Create a lead magnet from your membership content
Most people don't buy a membership the first time they hear about it. They want to get a feel for you first. A lead magnet gives them that low-risk test run, and it gets them onto your email list so you can tell them about your membership in the future.
Your lead magnet can be almost anything, as long as it's useful and closely tied to what your membership is about. We’ve seen Podia customers make free webinars, PDF ebooks, mini courses, printables, template bundles, and video trainings. The key is that it solves a real problem for the exact people you want inside your membership, so the ones who sign up for it are also likely to join.
Bill Henry is a great example of how powerful this can be. Bill is an elementary music teacher who runs Mr. Henry's Music World, where he sells curriculum and resources to other music teachers through a monthly membership.
When one of his videos, a Halloween rap for kids, took off on YouTube and hit 80,000 views in a couple of days, Bill decided to test something.
"I decided to make a lead magnet that goes along with this Halloween rap video," he says. "I just wanted to test it out, and I already had the platform, so I wanted to see if it would get people on my list."
Teachers who watched the video could click through to the description, enter their email, and grab a free resource Bill had built on Podia. It worked, and he leaned in.
"I gave free stuff away for a while and didn't even think about creating a product for sale until three or four months later," he says. "At that point I was just trying to build up my email list."
That patience paid off. By the time Bill launched his membership, he already had a list full of teachers who knew him, liked his work, and were ready to hear what else he had to offer. As he puts it, "You either pay for promotion, or you create resources that people can get access to."
That's the whole idea behind a lead magnet, whichever format you choose. Give people a real, useful piece of what you do for free. If they enjoy it, they’ll want more from you, and now you have a way to stay in touch and invite them in.
3. Set up an automated welcome sequence
Once someone grabs your lead magnet and lands on your email list, there’s another step you can take to make the most out of this new connection. This is the moment they're most curious about you, so it's the perfect time to introduce yourself and share information about your membership.
An automated welcome sequence does this for you on autopilot. It's a short series of emails that goes out automatically when someone subscribes, so every new person gets a warm welcome and a proper introduction to what you offer, even if you’re away from your computer or working on other things in your business.
Dani Bruflodt of Thyme is Honey does this in her online business. People find her free printable calendars and planning pages on her website and through Pinterest, and type in their email address to download them.
"I get thousands of new signups a year through those," she says.
From there, an automated welcome series takes over, introducing new subscribers to her world and pointing them toward the rest of her content and products. It means every one of those thousands of signups gets a consistent first impression, whether Dani is at her desk or not.
You can keep your sequence simple. A few emails is plenty. Welcome the person and deliver whatever they signed up for. Tell them a little about who you are and how you help. Share a useful tip or a member testimonial. Then introduce your membership and what's inside, and invite them to join when they're ready.
Because it's automated, you write this series once, and it works for every new subscriber who signs up moving forward. That's the beauty of it. This sequence works behind the scenes to welcome people to your business and make sure they know about your membership program, while you can focus on creating content and experiences for your existing members.
If you’re using Podia for your membership, you can set up your lead magnets and email campaigns here too. See how in this help doc.
4. Launch an affiliate program
Some of your best marketing can come from people who already love what you do. When you set up an affiliate program, your members, past customers, and fellow creators can promote your membership for you, and earn a commission each time someone joins through their link.
It's a win for both sides. They get rewarded for spreading the word, and you reach new audiences you'd never have found on your own.
Andrew Lane, who runs Design Hacker, leans on this heavily. When he maps out how to get more eyes on his work, he lands on three options: pay to get in front of an audience, spend the time to build your own, or borrow someone else's through partnerships and affiliates.
"If I can just sell it to that one person, they can go sell it to 100 people for me, and they get a win out of that," he says. Their audience gets to learn about a new membership, and they earn a commission as an affiliate.
Your existing members are a natural place to start. They already believe in your membership, and they probably have a good idea of who else would enjoy your work. A small commission gives them a reason to tell those people about it.
Podia has affiliate tools built in, so you can create your program and track referrals right alongside everything else. It’s easy for your affiliate members to grab their link and let word of mouth do its thing.
5. Run a limited-time promo with a coupon code
Sometimes people need a nudge. They've been meaning to join, they know it would help them reach a goal or solve a problem, but there's no particular reason to do it today. A limited-time promotion gives them that reason.
One way to add some urgency is to offer a discount with a coupon code, put a clear deadline on it, and let your email list and social followers know. The deadline is what turns "someday" into "now." It's a simple way to give your sales a boost, whether you're celebrating a launch, a holiday, a milestone, or just want to re-energize a quiet month.
Masha Plans is a bullet journaling blogger who sells printables, courses, and bundles on Podia. When she runs a promotion, she appreciates how Podia makes it easy to set up.
"It's very easy to create discount codes," Masha says. "It works well for promotions and my sales funnels."
A few guardrails to keep promos working in your favor:
- Give the discount a theme (Black Friday, New Year special, birthday discount) and an end date, so it feels like an occasion rather than a permanent price cut.
- Tell people clearly what the code is, what it saves them, and when it expires.
- Share your discount code and a link to your landing page so there's no confusion about how to claim it.
In Podia, you can create a coupon code in a couple of minutes, share it, and watch new members come in. Then when the promo ends, you're right back to your usual pricing, with a fresh group of members who might never have joined without that little push.
Membership marketing ideas to grow your business
Building a membership is exciting. It gives you the chance to bring in recurring revenue, forge lasting relationships with your customers, and build a business around a topic you love. But no matter how well you've set up your community membership, you still have to market it.
Keep these five ideas in your back pocket:
- Build a sales page with real testimonials. A membership has to prove it's worth it now and later, and great customer testimonials can help people visualize the impact of joining. Add their words and their faces to your sales page where people are deciding.
- Create a lead magnet from your membership content. Give people a useful, free taste of what you do, whether that's a webinar, a PDF, a mini course, or even a free community space. Your lead magnet builds trust, grows your email list, and warms people up to join your paid program.
- Set up an automated welcome sequence. Write a short series of emails once, and let it welcome new subscribers and introduce your membership on autopilot.
- Launch an affiliate program. Let your members and fellow creators promote your membership for a commission, so you reach warm audiences you couldn't have found alone.
- Run a limited-time promo with a coupon code. Give people a reason to join today with a discount and a clear deadline.
You don’t need a whole marketing department to get new people into your membership. Instead, choose one idea to try this week. The members who are right for you are already out there, and small steps like these are how they find you.
You've got this.
If you need a place to build your membership community, a place that also has your website, email list, courses, and digital products, we’d love to have you at Podia. You can make your sales pages, lead magnets, automated welcome sequences, affiliate program, and coupons all in one spot so your marketing runs on autopilot. Start your 30-day free trial today.
