043: Software for Successful Relationship Marketing (MemberVault Series 1 of 5)

MemberVault is a game changer in the relationship marketing and content delivery space.

This first episode is with co-founder Mike Kelly, who is the developer (his wife Erin was an OBM who was looking for a solution for a client and shared with him what she wanted to use – he said “I might be able to create that!)

The need in the market can best be described as follows:

Online service providers put out a lead magnet of some kind, they get on your email list and then when you are in “launch mode” you get your entire email list to whatever funnel software and they buy or they don’t buy. Everything feels really disconnected.

• Lead Magnets are delivered and stored in one place.
• Hangout is in another.
• Paid products are in another place

And there is no visibility into what people are actually doing with your content… who is going through it? Where did they fall off? Does anyone actually care about your other offers outside of the free?

MemberVault brings your free content and paid content together and it is essentially an extension of your email list.

Mike describes MemberVault as a deconstructed funnel where people can pick and choose from free and paid offers, they call it the Binge And Buy Marketplace.

88% of people who went in to get the freebie that they opted in for will click into your paid offers and at least check them out!

That’s a lot more potential buyers on your offers than you’d get by emailing the freebie!

Now regardless of the type of buyer you have attracted (a quick adopter or a slow adopter) the availability of your products and services is ready for them when they are ready – sending them back to the MemberVault Subscriber Hub regularly is going to help move the needle.

I want to directly quote Mike here:

“The real power is, Jaime, we’re tracking everything that happens! Because they’re logged into MemberVault , we can track everything that they do.”

This allows you as the content creator to know what content they’re engaging with, what is resonating, where drop off is, who is looking at the paid offers!

There are so many nuggets in this episode, I probably should have had it word-for-word transcribed… here’s another great quote from Mike:

“There’s a lot of fence sitters. And what’s really interesting is those fence sitters are silent. They don’t email you to have you talk them into it…”

TALK ME INTO IT – Said nobody EVER

With the data knowing that they are sitting on the fence and looking at your content, you can use the integration with your email marketing platform (like ActiveCampaign) to send them an enticing email prodding them along the path to become a paying client.

Inside your MemberVault not only can you put online consumable content like text, images and video, there is also room to insert downloadable documents and ASK Questions.

Every action that someone takes inside MemberVault is tracked and can be viewable in their profile. They also get a numerical value based on the activity and whether you use automation or manual processes, you have valuable data to know who to reach out to to help them get off the fence.

Here’s an example of how a 5-day free challenge would look using MemberVault :

• Challenge landing page and signup can live on your main WordPress website
• Signup is done through a form on your WordPress website that links into ActiveCampaign
• ActiveCampaign has a trigger to add the user to the associated product on MemberVault
• Challenge content is delivered inside MemberVault
• Each challenge participant will receive a score as they progress through the challenge

As the challenge host, you’ll be able to look at the participant level and reach out to the most engaged!

At this point, Mike goes into describing the user log in great detail. And this is where the platform really sets itself apart as a relationship marketing platform. Inside the user log you can see everything that user has ever done inside your MemberVault – and every question they have answered to really be able to personalize outreach and grow the relationship.

The sweet spot of MemberVault is creating a deep and authentic relationship with those people who are engaging with your content.

My next question for Mike was “Who was MemberVault built for and who are you finding are your most loyal clients?”

MemberVault actually started as a course platform but Mike and Erin pivoted to this entirely different model because they originally build it with openness and flexibility inside.

Most successful MemberVault accounts are digital content or service providers. Mike said that the most successful account right now is Jenni Waldrop who is coming up in this mini-series next week. (I’ll link to that right here once the episode is live!)

The digital accompaniment to Mike Michalowicz’s book Clockwork is on MemberVault . Sign up for that here: https://clockwork.life/signup.html

Inside the Clockwork MemberVault they have free content and a live group program. They constantly have new leads and regularly fill the program based on the value provided in the free content, brand reputation and of course the book itself.

The flow here is book – free digital content – upsell into group program.

Another way to look at the Binge and Buy market place with a freebie entry point is that it’s like a store giving away free popcorn to everyone who comes in the store. Some people may come in for the popcorn and leave, but a number of people who would never have come into the store eat their popcorn and walk around to see what the store actually sells! And they’re like “I’m really glad the popcorn got me into this store!”

I took the analogy further – the next time that person pops microwave popcorn at home they will recall the experience at the store and it will remind them to go back to the store. This is the recall scenario and bringing this back to the MemberVault space – when that person opts into something new that you’ve created and lands back in your MemberVault and is even more enamored with your products and will dig deeper into the other opportunities you present inside there.

MemberVault is an extension of your email list and a simple reminder inside your emails (rather than pitching or launching all the time) is to redirect them back to your MemberVault .

MemberVault helps you keep the conversation going. Someone may not access your content for weeks or months after opting-in but then will have a flurry of activity inside there and become a paying client.

The unique advantage of putting all your free content into MemberVault is that you are able to sell a lot more passively because your free content gets people in and your paid offers sit alongside them.

“You want them to engage with your free content.” – Mike Kelly, MemberVault Co-Founder

The concept behind MemberVault  makes me as a user feel warm. I am thrilled to poke around and see what is there. You are inviting me into the space rather than sending me something that may never see outside of my inbox.

A great story to show the value of meeting your new subscriber where they are and not over-complicating:

Mike was looking to get into shape. Found a website with a trainer he was interested in buying a course, guidance or support from. But there was no way to directly work with him – instead the only thing was to sign up for his 5-day workout package. So he signed up. Day 1 received a video and he liked it. Next day he got the email but it didn’t come at a good time, so he saved it for later and managed to find time to watch it. He’s starting to lose touch, by Day 3 saved it but never went back to it. Day 4 and Day 5 emails were deleted straight away – he was done, it wasn’t taking him on the journey he was looking for back on Day 1. Then on Day 6 he got a congratulations for finishing the 5 day challenge… the wallet was open on Day 1 but by Day 6 he was over it and had found another option.

Instead, if that trainer was using MemberVault , Mike would see the 5 day challenge, the other ways to work with the trainer and other free or low cost options. Even if the content is dripped inside MemberVault there is a carrot sitting there waiting for him at the end of the challenge.

“The first impression that you give someone is paramount.” – Jaime Slutzky, host Tech of Business podcast

TLDR;

MemberVault allows you as the business owner:

• To be able to connect and engage with your audience
• To nurture your list, by giving them gift after gift after gift each time you add something new to your MemberVault
• To get passive sales and hot leads

With the free tier of MemberVault  all features are unlocked as well as access to the MemberVault Collaborative and training resources. The only limit is 50 people.