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09 September 2022

Membership Renewal Emails

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Table of contents
  1. What is a membership renewal email?
  2. Tips for creating a first-class membership renewal letter
  3. Final thoughts
1.
What is a membership renewal email?

The business model of a paid subscription is based on regular payments. As soon as they cease, income disappears. In this case, a business's primary goal is to keep and retain existing members. 

There are several ways to keep renewal rates high and retain members with the help of properly composed membership renewal emails.

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What is a membership renewal email?

Let's start with the basics. A membership renewal letter is an email automatically sent to an audience whose subscription to your services will soon expire. At its core, these emails remind members there is a time to renew their membership.

Such membership renewal letters are one of the main ones for many companies that distribute their product or services on a monthly subscription. These emails are widely used by famous subscription services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, YouTube Premium, and many others. Sending emails like this is a gentle reminder for a member that the expiration date subscription ends soon.

Tips for creating a first-class membership renewal letter

Remember that this membership renewal email has only one goal — to ensure that the member continues cooperating with you. To do this, your text should be as meaningful and straightforward as possible. 

1. Send a friendly reminder to renew your membership subscription

Members often forget to renew their annual/monthly subscription. If you remind them in advance, they will have enough time to update their credit card information (if necessary) or to renew their membership manually. A request to pay a membership fee should not come as a surprise.

Early renewal reminder membership renewal email template

(Source: Email from Stripo)

A perfect example of a kind reminder of membership renewal.

2. Send several emails instead of one membership renewal letter

It would be wise to create a series of emails to notify your members to renew their memberships. Usually, such emails are part of broader campaigns and consist of 3 consecutive emails:

  1. Reminder to renew subscription sent a week before day X.

  2. Reminder you send three days before (send only if you have not received the payment yet).

  3. Reminder you send a day before day X.

Then you send an email to either notify the subscription has been paused or renewed.

3. Offer a discount for an annual subscription in the membership renewal email

In long-term subscription runs, you can motivate existing members to renew their membership if you provide a discounted rate or bonus. This will be a great gift for active members who have been using your services for a long time and will give an extra incentive.

An Email Content depends on the Membership Type

(Source: Email from Zapier)

Zapier provides a significant discount on their membership email.

4. Give members a reason to renew their membership

When sending renewal reminders, keep in mind that you not only have to tell the member about the upcoming membership renewal process but also remind them why they should stay with you. Such emails are needed to remind members what benefits your service. Take a look at this membership renewal letter example.

Incentives in Renewal Reminder

(Source: Email from Netflix)

Well, is it possible after this renewal letter to doubt that you made the right decision? When it comes to creating a membership renewal letter template, you will be able to sell the service to a much larger number of members if they are provided with real numbers or real values of paid subscriptions.

5. Provide members with an auto-renew feature/enable recurrent payments

Another way to create effective email templates for existing customers is to offer automatic renewal for membership. Simply invite your members to turn on this feature, and their subscriptions will automatically renew regularly.

Renewal Notices Example

(Source: Email from Apple Music)

You can easily do this through your membership management software when they only sign up, and the client will enjoy that they won't be bothered every time the membership renewal date approaches. Automating membership renewals saves you and your members time and makes the renewal process easier for everyone.

However, it should be noted that such a membership lapse offer should be given to the member's choice. And then, he or she will decide whether such a function is needed. In addition, such emails should always indicate that auto-renewal membership can be canceled at any time and provide a convenient path to the website page where they can do it.

6. Remind about automatic renewal of the user's account

Another interesting type of membership renewal reminder is when you tell about the membership renewals as upcoming events. This is ideal for those who have already tied up the payment data, and you do not ask the member for an extension but simply tell them about the charge. In this case, the member will have less doubt, as the main decision has already been made.

Renewal Reminder Example

(Source: Email from Amazon Web Services)

Look at this email from AWS and try to do the same.

Important: 

You can do it only if users have previously agreed to recurrent payments. 

7. Keep users posted

Whether the account has been automatically renewed, some changes have been made to the credit card information, or membership has been cancelled, keep members updated.

Email Content Depends on the Membership Level

(Source: Email from Email on Acid)

And it would be nice of you to provide active and new members with information on how to renew their membership.

8. Personalize membership renewal emails

Always personalize your renewal reminder emails. Recipients need to know they did not receive this renewal letter by mistake. Addressing by name will not do. Mention the number of agreements, the card number, or the exact service you provide the recipient with to add a personal touch.

Besides that, remind members of their personal payment details of exactly those membership types they are subscribed to. Members need to know they will be charged accordingly, with the same membership fees as per the agreement in a personalized message. 

Example of a personalized membership reminder notice

(Source: Email from Netflix)

Besides that, never say “dear member” — it needs to be personal, so addressing by name is a great idea. 

9. Work on a subject line for membership emails

The subject line is what a member sees first when they open their inbox and raises click-through rates, so your email should grab attention. The subject line should immediately indicate that the renewal date is coming.

At the same time, one should not forget about the original approach to their creation. Before you start brainstorming, you should consider what approach popular brands use in their emails.

Examples of subject lines:

  • Upcoming Renewal — FontBase.

  • Your Intercom subscription will end in 7 days — Intercom.

  • Your account has expired. Renew your membership — NordVPN.

  • Don't forget to renew your membership — Hulu.

  • 1 Week before Your Subscription Expires — Amazon.

  • 5 Days before Automatic Renewal — Microsoft Xbox.

  • Uh-oh, your membership is expiring! — Netflix.

  • It's about time to renew your membership! — Disney+.

As you can see, popular brands follow a similar trend. However, each subject line has its share of originality. Use the best examples when creating your subject line for renewal reminder emails.

10. Keep your membership emails short

There’s no need to build long membership renewal templates. Make them short, with only one CTA button. 

Your task is to remind your active member about the renewal date or notify them their subscription has been renewed. You should not add long promotional materials as if you are selling a new product. Be concise and add simple content to membership renewal email templates.

Example of how to keep members posted properly

(Source: Email from Hotjar)

Make sure the button is really noticeable and clickable on mobile devices. You can make them full-width for mobiles with Stripo. 

11. Pay close attention to the CTA button

Another important point in the design of the membership renewal letter is a clear call to action wrapped in a button. In most cases, this will be the first thing you pay attention to. Nevertheless, everything should look organic, and the button should not repel nor annoy with its color, size, or shape.

Example of a noticeable CTA button in emails from membership organizations

(Source: Email from Southside Cycling)

See that despite the bright design, you first notice the button. But this does not mean that all membership renewal letters should be so vivid. Do not forget that the design also depends on the subject of the service. For some subscription-based services, drawing up an email in a restrained style is much more natural.

Final thoughts

In this article, we’ve shared some tips to improve your membership renewal letters.

Summing it up, we can say that in emails of this type, you should:

  • think your marketing strategy through before creating membership renewal letters;

  • personalize greetings and recurring payments of each member;

  • highlight the CTA button or the main purpose of the renewal letter;

  • be concise and respect the time of your members;

  • focus on the benefits that paid membership brings to the members;

  • remind members of the frames;

  • send renewal reminders to subscribers in advance.

We hope our simple guide will help you create a membership renewal letter that will work and keep your membership renewal rates and retention rates sky-high.

Remind your premium members that renewal time comes with emails made with Stripo
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