Infusionsoft by Keap offers so many opportunities to automate and scale your business and personalize the experience of your customers… and it all starts with your Infusionsoft membership integration.
Because of its flexibility, sometimes it seems like the only limit to what can be done with Infusionsoft is user know-how… (and time!)
When you’re ready to start building out an Infusionsoft membership site on WordPress, there’s an additional layer of software that you’ll need to ensure you don’t “lose” those automation capabilities. That additional piece of software is your WordPress membership plugin.
If you’re looking to build out an Infusionsoft membership site on WordPress that pays for itself again and again… take the time to build one that’s fully automated and can sell itself to your email subscribers.
Sounds great, right?
Let’s look at the necessary pieces.
First Check: A Deep Integration Between Your Membership Site Plugin and Infusionsoft
Not all integrations are created equal.
If your plugin only offers a shallow, surface-level integration (that only barely touches on the tags and complex system of Infusionsoft)… well, that’s not good.
A limited integration keeps you from really using Infusionsoft’s best features (tagging, automation, affiliates, etc.) to the max inside your membership site.
As a result, it’ll also decrease the amount of income you’re able to bring in from the membership site (or online course).
By the way, if you’re trying to decide whether to go with Infusionsoft or the newer Keap option – you’ll love knowing that our AccessAlly integration extends to a full fledged Keap membership site, too!
Know Which Infusionsoft Membership Site Plugins Are Currently on the Market
Currently, there are really only two “big” players on the market today when it comes to high-quality Infusionsoft membership sites for WordPress.
Those two players are: Memberium and AccessAlly.
Both were created specifically for Infusionsoft (although Memberium now offers a basic integration with ActiveCampaign, and AccessAlly currently integrates with five tag-based CRMs.)
Read more about the similarities and differences between Memberium and AccessAlly.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll keep it pretty brief: Memberium and AccessAlly are fairly similar in terms of basic functionality (tag-based permissions, deep integration with Infusionsoft, etc.).
Both WordPress plugins offer umbrella accounts to handle bulk course enrollment, too.
In terms of user-friendliness, Memberium relies heavily on shortcodes, whereas AccessAlly’s functionality is more intuitively built into the interface of the software (shortcodes can be added with a click of the button when needed). AccessAlly Pro includes some nice gamification and LMS features that are really attractive, as well.
To keep things simple, we’ll focus on AccessAlly Pro in this article.
The 7 “Must-Have” Basic Features
To build a highly profitable Infusionsoft membership site on WordPress, there are some basic “givens” that you might take for granted. These features give you the solid foundation you need to build out more advanced opportunities (covered in the second half of this article).
First, make sure your Infusionsoft membership website is:
1. Easy to Set Up and Use
Make no mistake: building a quality membership site or online course platform can take months to do properly.
But that doesn’t mean everything has to be overly complicated. If your membership site plugin is intuitive and helpful, much of the initial setup headache can be eliminated.
AccessAlly’s setup wizard is a great example of how the plugin is focused on the end-user. Each bit of functionality is explained, so you don’t have to worry about “missing out” on a valuable piece of your membership site ecosystem.
This makes it easy for you to add new courses or products farther down the road as your site grows.
2. Infusionsoft’s Detailed CRM & Your Membership Accounts
Infusionsoft’s CRM keeps track of your contacts with detailed accuracy. Take advantage of this CRM especially during membership account creation.
The parameters of membership can be determined by your Infusionsoft campaigns: with free memberships, paid memberships, or a combination of both.
AccessAlly Pro communicates directly with Infusionsoft to create a unique username and password for each subscriber of your membership program.
Here it’s great to rely on the advanced capabilities of Infusionsoft, which will automatically check to make sure a user is not already in the system, preventing accidental duplicate accounts. (And if anyone happens to sign up with two different email accounts, AccessAlly offers an easy way to merge contacts without losing any data!)
3. Flexible Functionality With Infusionsoft Tags
Seriously, the possibilities are almost endless here.
Infusionsoft’s automation sequences revolve around a tagging system… which AccessAlly Pro then uses to determine who has access to what content on your membership site.
This system works so well that someone who is active and interested in learning more, for example, can be shown a different chain of content than someone who isn’t really interacting with the course material.
Oh, and as a bonus: when you’re initially creating your courses, AccessAlly automatically creates the tags you need for the new courses inside Infusionsoft, saving you a lot of back and forth spent in programming setup.
4. A Fully-Branded Design
If you’re putting the effort to create a truly tailored experience, you want this experience to be felt by the users from the moment they reach the login page.
From that initial point of contact, each participant should know implicitly that you’re offering them a unique, valuable experience.
That’s why AccessAlly is created to fit inside any WordPress theme, so that you can make sure your branding is cohesive from start to finish.
Are you a template person?
AccessAlly comes with its own professionally designed theme and full design flexibility. Each template can also be altered to better match the design of your website.
5. Focused On Growth Potential – With Affiliates
Infusionsoft includes its own affiliate center. So if you’re using their affiliate program, you’ll be glad to know that AccessAlly integrates with this feature, as well.
Create your own stylized affiliate area inside your membership site, allow your affiliates to keep track of their commissions, and even keep them motivated with a leaderboard during promotional launches.
It’s a great aid to have if you want a robust, healthy affiliate program to help sell your membership program or online courses.
AccessAlly’s built-in WordPress affiliate plugin can also be configured right inside the AccessAlly interface and doesn’t require you to maintain your affiliate setup on Infusionsoft. It’s up to you how you want to do things based on your preference.
6. Save Time With Automation
You might take this part for granted, but pay close attention to how your membership site handles sign ups, purchases, access revocation, password resets, etc.
If you can’t fully automate a function, it may become a bottleneck later on as your membership site scales.
A good example of this is the simple (or not?) matter of updating a credit card.
If you’re offering a subscription payment, the credit card on file is charged on a monthly (or annual) basis.
Sometimes, the card on file expires or is rejected for some reason. When this happens, you can set up an Infusionsoft/AccessAlly automation so that the subscriber is asked to update the credit card on file. If they fail to do so, their access to the course or membership site is revoked automatically.
If they do update their card successfully, though, their access to the site continues without a hitch.
It’s a simple automation, but can save a ton of busy-work for you or someone on your team.
6. ECommerce Options
Infusionsoft has a built-in e-commerce system that you can definitely use to sell your membership site courses.
But sometimes, it’s nice to have an alternative option.
AccessAlly includes its own product and order form setup, so you can just log into your WordPress membership site to set up and manage your products (both one-time purchase and recurring subscription payments are included). And, if you want to run a promotion with coupons, you can do that, too.
Plus, with AccessAlly’s 3-step order form, you can create an automated follow-up sequence when someone abandons their cart and doesn’t complete the order.
The other benefit of an AccessAlly order form is that a new member can login automatically after they complete a purchase, skipping the usual wait-for-an-email time.
7. Built-in site stats
Finally – and this is huge – you definitely want to have a way to track your membership site stats.
Sure, you can go the Google Analytics route, but that can get complicated. Fast.
AccessAlly Pro includes built-in site stats that will show you where your members are really engaged – and where you might want to add extra support to keep them going strong.
The Difference Between “Good” and “Great” is in the Details
So far, we’ve covered the basics of any Infusionsoft membership site built on WordPress. Now, it’s time to take things one step further.
If you’re truly after a membership site that sells itself, the devil is in the details (as they say).
Here are a few things to build into your Infusionsoft membership site on WordPress if you’re serious about making it work:
Progress Tracking
This is wildly beneficial for students and site admin alike.
Progress tracking helps students to stay on track and motivated with consuming course content.
It also helps to prevent overwhelm since students can see at a glance where they left off and how much they’ve accomplished so far.
(It also forms the basis of your statistic reports… so kind of important.)
Quizzes
When you think “quizzes,” does your mind automatically revert back to those dang math worksheets in grade school?
Mine does.
So scratch that memory and consider quizzes in the modern online-course sense: useful to gauge your students’ comprehension of lesson material, that they have to master before moving on to the next lesson.
When you add quizzes to your online courses, you can withhold certain information until they receive a passing grade.
Or you can use a personality quiz to help recommend the best “next step” for your students.
It’s a versatile and effective tool to have in your membership site toolbox.
Homework & Private Notes
No one wants to be “just another number.”
That’s why it’s great to have a way to communicate one-on-one with your students.
Set up a homework assignment (that has to be “approved” before they move on to the next lesson) to get specific information and feedback from your students, or simply put a placeholder into the page so they can take notes on the course material.
Smart Tagging
When most of us hear “drip-fed course”, we think of a timed-release setup where course modules are sent out to students on a daily basis.
But the benefit of smart tagging inside your membership site is that your students are in charge of their own progress.
When a student completes a certain set of objectives, a tag is applied in Infusionsoft, and the next piece of the course is made available so they can continue.
I love this method of releasing course content because it really does allow the user to move at their own pace. If they only have two nights a week that they can work on your course material, they’re free to batch it as much as possible.
Bonus: Video Bookmarks
I’ve participated in numerous video-based courses online…
Usually, they drive me crazy. I’m generally a quick learner, so it’s a huge test of patience to have to sit through an entire, lengthy video just to learn a couple new points.
If I could recommend anything to you as a course creator, it would be to include video bookmarks on all of your course videos.
These allow the user to quickly jump to the relevant part of the video and “skip” the rest of it.
With the Pieces in Place, It’s Time To Examine Your Membership Strategies to Earn More (& Work Less!)
So far, so good, right?
You’ve got a deep integration set up between your WordPress membership site and Infusionsoft.
Unfortunately, the best tool money can buy is useless without a good strategy behind it. (Kind of like if I were to buy a stick-shift Lamborghini… totally useless.)
Here are the 4 strategies that can work in any membership site or online course model.
Strategy 1: The Login Optin™
Why build out your membership site (or courses) by offering a free course? Because it wraps up your list building and upselling into one tidy sequence.
It’s an organic lead generation/upsell process that can bring you an incredible volume of new, qualified opt-ins who are primed and ready to buy…
Strategy 2: Create a Logged In Experience™ That Sells Your Paid Products
Each piece of your membership site should be built intentionally so that it flows organically to the “next step.”
When you create a V.I.P. experience for your clients (and free subscribers), you help build trust. With the right logged in experience, your subscribers will be convinced that your products are worth investing in.
The AccessAlly dashboard offers a full view for the members, enabling them to see what they do or do not have access to yet. This setup provides the same incentive as browsing in a store: you walk in to get one thing, but end up leaving with a few more purchases. No pressure, just a good design.
Strategy 3: Never Miss Another Sale Because of Abandoned Cart
On average, 70 percent of shoppers will not go through with purchasing your materials.
They’ll simply abandon the shopping cart and slowly forget you existed.
That’s why it’s so important to create (and automate!) an abandoned cart sequence so you can follow up with them and encourage them to buy.
What Does Your Ideal Infusionsoft Membership Site on WordPress Look Like?
Membership sites are incredibly versatile and come in many shapes and sizes.
Whether you’re in the initial planning stages or are revamping a current membership site, you’re pursuing the same outcome:
A membership site that brings in recurring revenue and can sell itself to your clients.
It takes a bit of planning and effort, but with the right WordPress plugin and some solid strategy, it’s definitely a possibility. Also be sure to check out the Keap membership plugin options on this site.
