Membership Programs

I chose to look at Medium’s membership program. The member motivations that it addresses are having money go back to the site’s journalism, interactions with likeminded organizations, appropriate price, makes things easier and reduces effort (no paywall), exclusive or VIP access (digital magazine) and acknowledgement of support. The benefits that it offers are unlimited and special access to all writers on Medium, a monthly digital magazine for members only, ad-free access to stories from their media partners including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, your money goes directly to the writers that you read frequently, access to audio versions of popular stories, and ability to save stories on the Medium app to read later.

These benefits are relatively visible — the upgrade button is on the top left corner and since there is a paywall after three stories for non-members, this makes the membership program much more appealing.

It is a subscription program because you are paying for exclusive content including a digital magazine, unlimited access to stories on the website and also from other likeminded organizations. However, it is a membership program because the money goes back to the writers that you read and react to frequently, which allows them to create more content. This reciprocal relationship between writers and their audience is what makes this membership program unique.

The most effective part of this program is how many member motivations It addresses, especially with other likeminded organizations. However, I think what would make this membership program even more effective is having the audience be more involved in what content gets created. There are ways that members could help edit stories or help come up with ideas, which could give this membership program more of an edge.

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