The Origin and basic principles of membership marketing

Associate programs is no longer a new topic. In the United States, online membership marketing has been well-developed from theory to practice and is considered an effective online marketing method, there are a large number of enterprises implementing the membership program. This article introduces the origins and basic principles of online membership marketing. If the Internet connects all computers through cables or telephone lines, thus shortening resource sharing and physical distance, the Network membership plan connects countless websites through interests and computer programs, and expands the distribution channels of merchants to all corners of the earth, it also provides a simple way to make money for member websites. Many small websites also earned the first check on the Internet through the membership program.

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Associate programs is no longer a new topic. In the United States, it has been well-developed in theory and practice and is regarded as an effective online marketing method, currently, the membership program has a large number of enterprises covering almost all industries, and countless websites have participated in the plan. So far, more than 0.5 million members only participate in the Membership System of the Amazon website.

In comparison, membership marketing in China is quite lagging behind. Only a few websites have recently launched similar plans, and some other websites have become popular, in addition, both functional and member program design are still at the initial level, and all aspects are still relatively naive, but after all, it is a good start.

Membership marketing articles are already widely used on some foreign websites, but few of them have been systematically studied in China. New online marketing observations have also translated several representative works, for example, the key to the success of the membership program is member training and seven fatal mistakes in the implementation of the membership program. Through understanding some website marketing staff and e-commerce training teachers, I found that the concept and method of membership marketing are almost blank for many people. Therefore, I think it is necessary to give a systematic introduction to the relevant issues. This article briefly introduces the origin and basic principles of membership marketing.

Origin of online membership marketing
It is generally believed that membership marketing was pioneered by Amazon. Because Amazon.com launched a "joint" Operation in July 1996, its basic form is as follows: a website registered as an Amazon member (joining the membership program ), then, you can place links to various products or logo ads on your website, as well as product search functions provided by Amazon. When visitors to this website click these links to enter the Amazon website and purchase certain products, amazon will pay a certain percentage of Commission to these websites based on the amount of sales. Since then, this network marketing method has become popular and attracted a large number of websites to participate. This plan is now called "membership marketing ".

Recently, a study by Shawn Collins, founder of the New York member Management Federation and Member Manager of clubmom.com, showed that, as early as two years ago, Amazon had already taken shape in membership marketing, however, there was no system description at the time. Companies that implemented membership plans before Amazon.com mainly include: PC Flowers & gifts.com (October 1994), autoweb.com (October 1995), kbkids.com/brainplay.com (January 1996), and epage (April 1996.

Although the concept of membership marketing was not pioneered by Amazon, no one can deny that Amazon has developed its membership program so perfectly, it also plays a vital role in the popularization of this marketing method. In this sense, Amazon is regarded as the originator of membership marketing. Most people actually know membership marketing through Amazon, and many small websites earn the first check on the Internet by joining Amazon's membership program.

Basic Principles of network membership marketing
If the Internet connects all computers through cables or telephone lines, thus shortening resource sharing and physical distance, the membership plan connects countless websites through interest relationships and computer programs to expand the distribution channels of sellers to every corner of the globe, it also provides a simple way to make money for member websites.

Membership marketing seems simple, but it may be much more complicated in practice. A successful membership plan involves the technical support, member recruitment and qualification review, member training, and commission payment of the website. Simply put, Amazon's "joint" Operation in July 1996 has described the basic principles of membership marketing.

From the basic idea of membership marketing, we can see that a membership marketing program should contain a commercial website providing such programs and several member websites, commercial websites are connected to member websites through various protocols and computer programs. Therefore, there is a two-way choice problem in membership marketing, that is, what kind of website is selected as a member, and how Members choose business websites.

E-commerce consultant Ralph F. dr. Wilson believes that if your website brings a large amount of traffic due to marketing activities, you can consider using membership marketing to win more visits. When selecting a membership program, there are six basic principles that require attention:

· Is it related to the core business content of your website?
· Can I integrate membership programs into my website content?
· Is it related to the interests of website visitors?
· Are you sure you want to consider the needs of your membership website?
· Can it reflect the value of your website?
· Can we achieve better results?

In fact, when a commercial website that provides a membership plan reviews the membership website qualification, it also needs to consider whether the membership website can bring new customers, whether it is a healthy Website member's choice of the website and the website's qualification review for the member, is only the beginning of the implementation of the plan, more complex and important content is still in the future.