477 - Here's Why Your Membership Waitlist Isn't Converting

In this episode, I'm tackling a problem I see all the time: memberships with healthy-looking waitlists that convert far worse than they should when the doors finally open.

The issue almost always comes down to the same thing: the waitlist has been treated like just another email list, when it's actually something very different.

I share how to set up, nurture, and test your waitlist so the people on it are genuinely ready to buy - not just curious browsers who wandered in for a freebie.

If you're building a waitlist for a launch, or running a closed-door membership that relies on a waitlist between enrolment windows, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Why adding a freebie to your waitlist opt-in is actively hurting your conversions
• How to nurture waitlist subscribers differently from your general email list
• What the Ikea effect has to do with getting more sales when your doors open
• How to test the intent of people on your waitlist so you know who's actually ready to buy
• A clever referral tactic one UK membership uses to let waitlisters skip the queue

Key Quotes & Takeaways:

"No one's going to join a waitlist if they're not at least a bit interested in actually joining when the doors open. People generally won't join a waitlist out of curiosity."

"When the doors do open, it's not just the doors opening to your membership, it's the doors opening to their membership."

"This is a waitlist. It's not just an email marketing list. It's not a case of getting as many people on that list as possible. We only want people on that list who have genuine, clear, unmuddied intent to join your membership."

"If you've had a waitlist, you've not been nurturing them, or if you've been closed for quite a long time, they've been waiting for a while. The interests may have waned, their circumstances might have changed, or they might have gone looking for an alternative that is available right now."