November 8, 2018

How to Write the Perfect Renewal Reminder Email

Renewal Reminder Email

Good renewal reminders get opened and clicked.

Great renewal reminders get opened and clicked, but also:

  • Provide members a direct, easy path to renewal.
  • Automate payment and renewal processing.
  • Update membership information when completed.

Having great renewal reminders not only drives your renewal rate, but saves hours of time processing renewals, and enables you to focus on?engaging your members instead of just managing them.

Here’s how to make your renewal reminders great:

1) Focus on the Subject Line

If your emails don’t get opened, it doesn’t matter how good their content is.?That’s why it’s critical to focus on the subject line.

Subject lines are often approached as an afterthought, tacked on after writing the content of an email. If your open-rates are lower than you’d like, chances are you share this approach.

Switch this approach by focusing 80% of your time on the subject line, and 20% on content, to watch your open rates soar!

Keep subject lines short and sweet.

Keep subject lines short, sweet, and to the point. When consuming digital content especially, readers skim. From your subject line alone, your reader should know exactly what your email is about, and be able to complete the action you intend (renewal) without reading a word of email content.

Give readers a reason to click.

Short and sweet helps make opening emails easier, but it doesn’t make readers click. Your email subject line ought to also give them a reason to. Consider incorporating some of the examples below:

  • Urgency: 2 days until late fees – renew here to avoid them!
  • Promotion: Renew before new years for $20 off.
  • Personalized: Lets have another great year, {firstname}.

2) Use Membership Management Software

Spreadsheets and email software like MailChimp will help drive email opens and click-throughs, but will stop there.

Guiding a reader all the way from opening an email to completing their renewal requires tools designed specifically for the need of member-based organizations. Tools like:

Credit Card Payment Processing

Renewing by cash or check is a major headache for members and membership managers alike.

Mailing in a payment, or paying in person, is time and energy consuming for members – and requires more from membership managers to update membership information and reconcile invoices.

Credit cards make things easy by allowing members to renew immediately, and allow your organization to automate renewal processing!

Automated Renewal Management

After a member completes a renewal payment, your Membership Management Software should automatically update their membership status accordingly, sparing membership managers the need to do so manually.

3) Make renewal convenient for members, and managers.

When renewal is easy for members, you can expect more of them to do it. When renewals are easy for managers, you can expect them to be completed faster.

Less clicks means more renewals.

How many clicks does it take for a member to renew, from opening your renewal reminder to successfully renewing?

The more you require, the worse your renewal rate.

This is why – enabled by Membership Management Software – your emails should include a direct link to renewal forms and payment processing.

By eliminating all the unnecessary steps in between your reminder email and renewal, you pave the way to drastically improved renewal rates.

Less processing means more time.

Your link to renewal forms/payment processing makes renewal easy for members. Automating renewal processing makes renewals easy for Membership managers.

After clicking the link to renew in your reminder email, filling out any required forms, and processing dues payment; your Membership Management Software ought to automatically:

  • Update membership information.
  • Close open invoices for dues payment.
  • Extend Member Portal access.
  • Log and send a receipt for renewal.

4. Allow opt-in for Automated Recurring Billing

Automated Recurring Billing (ARB) is one of the most powerful techniques available to produce a significant, lasting, improvement to your renewal rate.

By asking members for their consent to automatically bill their credit card every season, you maximize the convenience of renewals for your members?and organization come renewal season.

Members never have to deal with the headache of renewing again, and managers won’t have to worry about chasing down renewal payments!

5. Prompt to update contact information.

With high-quality data on all your members, you’re better able to engage them.

That’s why – once a members renewal is complete – it’s a great idea to present them their existing contact data, and give them the opportunity to update it!

With their attention already on you, take advantage of the opportunity! Members will notice if names, phone numbers, email addresses, and so on are incorrect. So long as they are presented clearly, and adjusting them is a easy, you can expect a members to do so.

A simple but impactful touch, this technique passively ‘scrubs’ your contact data, contributing to the success of every engagement effort made by your organization!

Make more than just a reminder email.

Pave a path to convenient, easy renewal for members and managers alike.

Your renewal reminder should be more than just an email. It should be the first step in a process strategically designed to increase your renewals, and decrease the time required to process them.

Realize these benefits for your members and organization by adopting the tools required to pave this path by with Membership Management Software.

Of course, we invite you to give Member365 a try, but also encourage you to look around and find the platform right for you!

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