6 Membership Management Page Best Practices
Empowering customers to manage membership preferences, shipping frequencies, and product selections offers both them and your business several advantages:
Enhanced customer satisfaction: Customization fosters a sense of ownership and satisfaction, as customers can tailor their subscriptions to align with their specific requirements.
Flexibility and convenience: Customers can easily adjust their shipping frequencies based on their consumption patterns, change their product selections to try new items, or accommodate changing preferences. This level of control eliminates the need for customer support interactions and allows customers to make changes at their convenience.
Increased engagement and retention: Customers who customize and control their subscriptions will likely remain active and committed to the program.
Reduced customer support burden: Customers can independently make changes, update information, or resolve issues related to their memberships without relying on support interactions. This frees up resources and allows support to focus on more complex customer service inquiries.
Improved member data insights: Managing member profiles generates valuable data insights. By tracking customers’ changes to their shipping frequencies, product selections, or other preferences, you can better understand their behavior and preferences. These data insights can inform your marketing strategies, product offerings, and overall business decisions.
Revenue opportunities: Giving customers the ability to manage their product selections can lead to additional revenue opportunities. For example, you can showcase related or recommended products during the selection process, encouraging customers to add more items to their shipments. You can entice customers to increase spending or upgrade to higher-priced tiers by offering easy upgrade options or exclusive member offers.
Streamlined operations: With customers updating their preferences directly, you can automate order generation, fulfillment, and inventory management processes, thus minimizing errors, saving time, and improving overall operational efficiency.
Here are 6 membership management page best practices for creating a great online customer experience.
Membership Management Page Best Practices
1. Create easy-to-follow links and CTAs for customers to sign up and manage their subscriptions directly from your membership website.
Create easy-to-follow links and CTAs (Call-to-Actions) that guide customers to seamlessly sign up for or manage their subscriptions, resulting in a smoother user experience and increased conversion rates.
Clear and descriptive text: Use clear and concise text for your links and CTAs that communicate the action they will perform instead of vague labels like “Click Here.”
Here are some descriptive examples that you can use on your website:
- “Sign Up Now”: A prominent CTA that directs customers to a dedicated sign-up membership or subscription page.
- “Manage Your Subscription”: A clear link or button that leads customers to a centralized dashboard or account page where they can access and manage their subscription details.
- “Update Your Preferences”: A link or button that takes customers to a page where they can modify their membership preferences, such as shipping frequencies, product selections, or payment processing methods.
- “Customize Your Order”: A CTA that leads customers to a page where they can personalize their subscription by selecting specific products, quantities, or variations to include in their shipments.
- “Adjust Shipping Schedule”: A link that allows customers to easily change their shipping frequency or update the next delivery date to align with their needs.
- “Pause or Cancel Subscription”: Provide a straightforward option for customers who wish to pause or cancel their subscription temporarily. This link should lead to a dedicated cancellation or pause request page.
- “Billing and Invoices”: Include a link that directs customers to their billing and invoice history, allowing them to view past charges and payment dates and download invoices if needed.
- “Contact Support”: A prominent link or button that connects customers to your customer support channels, allowing them to seek assistance or ask questions about their subscription.
- “Exclusive Member Offers”: Highlight a CTA that leads customers to a page showcasing special offers, discounts, or perks available exclusively to your member database. This encourages engagement and promotes the value of their subscription.
- “Upgrade or Downgrade”: If you offer different subscription tiers, provide a clear link or CTA that enables customers to easily upgrade to a higher tier or downgrade to a more suitable plan based on their preferences.
Action-oriented language: Use action-oriented language to create a sense of urgency and motivate users to act. For example, phrases like “Get Started,” “Subscribe Now,” or “Upgrade Today.”
Consistent design language: Maintain a consistent design language for your links and CTAs throughout your website. This consistency helps users recognize and understand the purpose of the links, fostering a seamless user experience.
Distinctive design: Make your links and CTAs visually stand out from the rest of the page by using contrasting colors, bold fonts, or attractive buttons. This visual distinction draws attention and prompts users to act.
Prominent placement: Position your links and CTAs prominently on your website, specifically on relevant pages such as the homepage, product pages, or dedicated subscription pages. Make them easily visible and accessible to visitors, reducing any effort required to find them.
Strategic placement: Consider placing your links and CTAs in multiple locations throughout your website to cater to different user journeys. For example, include them in the navigation menu, in the sidebar, within product descriptions, or at the end of relevant content.
Use of white space: Use ample white space to create a visual separation from other elements on the page. This helps prevent clutter and makes the links and CTAs more visually appealing and easier to click.
A/B testing: Conduct A/B testing to experiment with different versions of your links and CTAs. Test variations in text, design, placement, or colors to determine which combinations perform best in terms of click-through rates and conversion rates.
Clear feedback: When users interact with your links and CTAs, provide visual feedback. This can be hover effects, button animations, or color changes to assure users that their actions have been registered.
2. Brand identity: Consider mobile responsive design, branding, and white-label membership management solutions.
To enhance the membership experience, ensure your membership management pages are consistently branded and mobile-responsive. Moreover, investing in a private-label app can further increase engagement and strengthen the connection of your online communities.
Mobile responsiveness: Optimizing your membership management pages for mobile screens is essential with the increasing use of mobile devices. This includes using responsive design techniques to ensure the content and functionality adapt smoothly to different screen sizes and orientations.
User-friendly mobile navigation: Simplify the navigation menu and user interface elements specifically for mobile devices. Use mobile-friendly menus, clear icons, and intuitive gestures to make it easy for users to navigate the membership management pages on their mobile devices.
Consistent branding: Maintain consistent branding across your membership management pages, ensuring they align with your website’s design, colors, and typography to create cohesion and establish trust.
Customizable app experience: If you have the resources, investing in a private-label app or mobile responsive account page can offer your customers a more personalized and branded experience. This allows you to tailor the app’s design, layout, and features to match your brand identity and align with your program.
Seamless integration: Integrate your membership management pages and app with your main website and other platforms, such as your e-commerce system or CRM software, enabling a smooth flow of data and interactions and providing a seamless experience for customers across various touchpoints.
Push notifications and in-app messaging: A private-label app allows you to leverage push notifications and in-app messaging to engage with your members and online community directly. You can send personalized notifications about upcoming shipments, special offers, or updates to keep them informed and engaged with your program.
App-exclusive features: Consider offering membership management app-exclusive features or benefits to incentivize customers to download and use your private-label app, such as early access to new products, exclusive discounts, or unique functionality that enhances their membership experience.
App Store Optimization (ASO): If you launch a private-label app, invest in app store optimization to increase its discoverability and reach. Optimize the app’s title, description, keywords, and visuals to improve its visibility in app store search results and attract more downloads.
User feedback and iteration: Regularly collect feedback from app users and analyze usage data to identify areas for improvement. Incorporate user feedback to refine and enhance the app’s functionality, usability, and overall user experience over time.
Security and privacy: Prioritize the security and confidentiality of user data in both your membership management pages and private-label app. Implement robust security measures, encryption protocols, and comply with data protection regulations to instill trust and confidence in your members.
3. Product selection and management.
Personalization and customization can increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and overall program success.
Clear product display: Clearly present the available product options, including images, descriptions, and relevant details. Use visually appealing and high-quality images to help customers make informed decisions about their selections.
Easy product search and filtering: Implement search and filtering functionality to make it easy for customers to find specific products they are interested in. Provide filters based on categories, attributes, or preferences to streamline the selection process.
Customization options: Offer customization options for product selections where possible. For example, offering subscription boxes allows customers to choose specific items or preferences within the box. This level of customization adds value and personalization to their membership experience.
Quantity selection: Enable customers to choose the quantity of each product they want to include in their shipments. Provide intuitive controls such as dropdown menus, plus and minus buttons, or input fields to make quantity selection effortless.
Add-on products: Offer add-on products or upsell opportunities that customers can include in their membership. These can be complementary items or exclusive offers available at a discounted price. Clearly highlight these add-ons and their benefits to encourage additional purchases.
Save selections for future shipments: Customers can save their product selections for future shipments. This feature saves them time and effort repeatedly selecting the same products and streamlines the reordering process.
Easily modify selections: Enable customers to modify their product selections anytime. Provide a straightforward process to add, remove, or replace products within their membership. This flexibility allows customers to adapt their selections as their preferences change.
Transparent pricing and product information: Display pricing details for each product, including discounts or special offers. Clearly communicate the frequency of charges and the total cost associated with the selected products. To aid decision-making, provide comprehensive product information, such as ingredients, sizes, or specifications.
Preview and confirmation: Offer a preview or summary of the customer’s selected products before finalizing the choices. Allow them to review their selections and make any last-minute adjustments. Once confirmed, provide a clear confirmation message to reassure customers that their preferences have been successfully saved.
Feedback and ratings: Allow customers to provide feedback or ratings for the products they have selected. This helps other customers make informed decisions and demonstrates that you value their opinions and continuously strive to improve the product offerings.
4. Provide shipping frequency options.
Providing shipping frequency options on your membership management page is essential to meeting customer preferences.
Clear and concise descriptions: Clearly communicate the available shipping frequency options and provide succinct descriptions or tooltips to explain each option. For example, you can use terms like “Weekly,” “Monthly,” “Every 2 Weeks,” or “Custom Schedule” to indicate the frequency choices.
Default recommendation: Set a default shipping frequency option that aligns with your products or services’ most common or recommended interval. This can serve as a starting point for customers but allows them to adjust based on their preferences.
Customizable frequencies: Offer shipping frequency options to cater to different customer preferences. Some customers prefer more frequent shipments, while others prefer less frequent ones. Providing various options allows customers to select the frequency that suits their needs best.
Visual representation: Use visual aids such as icons or illustrations to represent each shipping frequency option to help customers quickly understand and compare the different intervals visually, making it easier for them to decide.
Flexible change options: Customers’ needs and preferences may change over time, so make it easy for them to change their shipping frequency preferences at any given time. Provide a user-friendly interface that allows them to modify their preferences with just a few clicks.
Reminder notifications: Keep customers informed and prepared by implementing a system that sends reminder notifications to customers before their upcoming shipments. Reminders can be sent via email marketing, SMS, or mobile app to ensure customers know their scheduled shipments.
Pause or skip options: Avoid unnecessary deliveries by allowing customers to pause or skip shipments for a specific period if they need a temporary break or cannot receive the delivery.
Next shipment date: Prominently displays each customer’s subscription’s next scheduled shipment date to help them plan and anticipate their next delivery, reducing confusion or uncertainty.
Account dashboard visibility: Ensure that customers can easily access their shipping frequency preferences within their account dashboard or profile. Make it a prominent and accessible feature, so customers can conveniently modify their preferences whenever necessary.
5. Enable customers to pause/hold/cancel their membership.
Provide flexible and convenient member management.
Clear and visible options: Make it easy for customers to find and access the pause, hold, or cancel options on your membership management page. Consider placing them prominently within the account dashboard or in a dedicated section labeled “Membership Settings,” “Membership Renewals,” or “Subscription Management.”
Self-service capability: Provide self-service functionality for customers to initiate a pause, hold, or cancellation without assistance from customer support, reducing process friction.
Pause/hold option: Customers can temporarily pause or hold their membership for a specific duration. Clearly communicate the impact of pausing or holding on their account, such as skipped shipments or suspension of benefits during the hold period.
Cancellation option: Include a straightforward cancellation process that customers can initiate if they end their membership. Ensure the cancellation option is clearly labeled and easy to follow.
Clear explanations: Provide clear explanations and any necessary information about the implications of pausing, holding, or canceling a membership. Inform customers about any potential effects on pricing, benefits, or access to exclusive features or content.
Confirmation and reminders: After customers initiate a pause, hold, or cancellation, provide a confirmation message or email to acknowledge their request. Additionally, send reminders before the end of a hold or pause period, reminding customers of the upcoming reactivation of their membership.
Reactivation options: If customers have paused or held their membership, offer a simple reactivation process. This allows customers to easily resume their subscriptions without starting the sign-up process from scratch.
Clear policies and terms: Ensure that the terms and conditions regarding pausing, holding, and canceling a membership are clearly communicated and readily accessible. This helps manage customer expectations and avoids misunderstandings or disputes.
Support availability: Even though self-service options are important, always provide an accessible customer support channel for customers who have questions or require assistance with pausing, holding, or canceling their membership. To cater to customer preferences, offer multiple contact options like live chat, email, or phone support.
6. Optimize your dashboard performance.
Displaying customers’ upcoming orders and shipping information directly in the account dashboard effectively provides transparency and convenience.
Order summary: Provide a clear overview of customers’ upcoming orders, including the expected delivery date, order contents, and any relevant details such as tracking numbers or shipping carriers, enabling customers to review their upcoming shipments at a glance.
Timeline view: Help customers plan and manage their expectations regarding product deliveries by implementing a timeline or calendar view that visually represents their upcoming orders and shipment dates.
Order status updates: Provide real-time order status updates within the account dashboard. Customers should be able to see when an order is confirmed, in progress, or shipped. Including estimated delivery dates or shipping progress, updates add transparency and reduce customer inquiries.
Shipping notifications: Set up automated shipping notifications sent to customers via email or in-app. These notifications should include relevant order and shipping details, such as tracking information, carrier updates, or estimated delivery times.
Shipment history: Include a dedicated section in the account dashboard that displays customers’ shipments. This allows customers to review their past orders, track delivery statuses, and refer to previous shipments if needed.
Reorder options: Customers can easily reorder items from their previous shipments directly from the account dashboard. This feature saves them time and effort in finding and selecting products they have ordered before.
Customization and modifications: Enable customers to modify their upcoming orders, such as changing product selections, adjusting quantities, or updating shipping addresses. Make these customization options easily accessible within the account dashboard.
Delivery preferences: Customers can set delivery preferences directly in the account dashboard, such as time slots or specific delivery instructions, to accommodate their schedules and ensure a smooth delivery experience.
Clear icons or visual indicators: Use intuitive icons or visual cues to represent order status, such as “Confirmed,” “Processing,” or “Shipped.”
Membership Software
bLoyal’s membership management software helps businesses manage and optimize loyalty programs. Key features and capabilities include:
- Membership program management.
- Customer data management.
- Member portal.
- Points and rewards management.
- Promotions and campaigns.
- Integration and omnichannel support.
- Reporting and analytics.
- Mobile app and online access.
- Communication and engagement.
- Scalability and customization.