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 Welcome to our quarterly deep look into the current state of the membership, where we reveal the latest trends, highlights, and other information that is happening.

The year 2022's beginning has proven to be an extension of the clear membership trends that emerged in the last quarter of 2021. In a digital landscape that's evolving rapidly, membership continues to be a reliable and stable source of revenue and we've witnessed the model of membership change its stability over the past few months.

Highlights

Growth in membership continues

The fourth quarter of 2021 witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of new members joining. This trend continued and accelerated through Q1 2022 when consumers were taking their holidays and returning to work, school and other routine schedules. At a time of season when attention from consumers is generally harder to compete for There was an increase in new member acquisition across major membership categories - especially during January and February.

Resilience during headwinds

In the month of March, we experienced an abundance of uncertainty instilled into the overall economic environment and had an impact that was noticeable on consumer behavior. The war in Ukraine were two driving factors that caused consumers to become more cautious. These developments have moderated the growth areas as we saw in January February.

Although these macro trends are certainly impacting the membership landscape, we've seen the effectiveness of the business model really shine through in the face of these headwinds.

At this time, most of the impact we've seen has been strictly confined to new member acquisition. Member retention has remained steady, highlighting the resilience of membership as well as its importance within a larger business strategy.

This also underscores the significance of structuring benefits for members in a way that really engages members regularly. The memberships that can incorporate benefits into members' every day or weekly routine have lesser turnover and greater retention even during times with increased uncertainty, providing sustainable revenue as well as growth for members.

What's happening?

A brand new environment

The landscape for membership is constantly changing. The digital landscape is changing even faster. Our customers are exploring ways to grow, the importance of diversifying their member acquisition strategies has never been clearer. Ad costs are rising. Social media engagement has reached a plateau. People are less open to conventional marketing and acquisition methods.

Why is this? Over the past two years, all of us were online more than we ever thought possible. This has been a fantastic time for discovering content as well as membership generally. However, this extended web-based experience has led to the perception of ad fatigue in consumers (your potential customers).

People have been subjected to ads that are not targeted many years that they don't are aware of them now, or even take any action from these ads. Is advertising dead? No. However, given the current environment, the economics and cost aren't in favor of the advertiser.

Member-driven growth

The next phase of membership growth heavily influenced by current members. Authentic messaging, trusted opinions and first-hand experiences create immediate confidence that motivates action.

Our recent introduction of Referrals is the first step toward creating evergreen solutions that can increase the loyalty and satisfaction of your member base to generate additional sales.

The customers who use referral methods are not only seeing less cost to join but more members staying. This increase in retention can be attributed to referral members who receive discounts on membership when they make a successful referral.

Members who receive recurring rewards when they refer others to them are much less likely to abandon their membership and are constantly driven to refer more people. Incentivizing your members with reward points for referrals allows them to take a trip and initiate the right conversations with the most relevant people. This leads to more sales at lower costs.

The takeaway

The changing landscape we've seen in Q1 clearly demonstrates that you must continuous building solid bases in your membership. These foundations become the safest place to be during periods that are uncertain and enable members to do your best work and run your organization without fear.

The membership market continues to grow and evolve it will be an ongoing factor that can be leveraged to increase your membership as well as the base of your current members. The continued focus on providing them with the best service will build an atmosphere of trust which eventually leads to them becoming your biggest supporters.

Don't lose focus on those seemingly insignificant foundations that are within your membership. These tiny foundations that can bring you the biggest wins.