The year is now 2022, and you're wondering how to increase membership to your Coworking space. Many spaces are seeing a continuous increase in membership and, "How did they do it?" is your top question.
Today, many companies use shared office space rather than traditional office leasing.
In addition, the rise of remote work and the need for continued flexibility and professionalism have led to creative and innovative meeting rooms and general office space.
As a Coworking manager, it's essential to keep updated with new strategies on how top-rated spaces (like WeWork) did it. The future is shared office space, meeting rooms, networking, and many more creative ideas.
We have created these strategies to show you how to boost membership sales. Our focus will be on determining your target market, as this will help you understand their unique needs and help you create a strategy to cater to them.
Secondly, the importance of generating leads and retaining existing members will be highlighted as these two strategies play a significant role in boosting membership sales.
Finally, we will share how one of the top-rated coworking spaces (WeWork) generated concrete and continued membership sales with a formidable marketing strategy.
Let's take a look at how to increase your membership sales!
Understand Your Coworking Space Target Market
Let's delve right into it! Who uses Coworking spaces?
Firstly, your space won't be for everyone, and that's quite fine. Therefore, you must look at the market as a whole to identify who you will cater to.
Typically, these spaces are used by:
- Remote workers who need a balance between structure and flexibility
- Freelancers who need professional workspaces and meeting rooms
- Frequent travelers who need that office space and equipment to get jobs done on the go
- Students can benefit from the shared workspace through networking and collaboration
- Conventional office workers who require a break from the traditional office and the associated internal politics
You can already begin to identify your target market from these main lists.
Read more: How to Start a Coworking Space
How to Generate Leads For Your Coworking Space
The popularity and growth of your Coworking space require a master strategy in obtaining high returns. One key thing to focus on is lead generation.
Let's dive into some important strategies to help with your lead generation.
Clarify Your Target Market & Marketing Strategy
Now that you understand the different target markets available, you must identify which group/s to cater to. By choosing a target group, you can meet their specific needs.
For example, freelance writers may need quiet space for their writing. So, you may want to market your space as having quiet centers where they will not be distracted.
Conversely, you may wish to market your space to conventional office workers as a vibrant community and networking space, not the typical boring office.
The needs of your optimal clients will determine your space's interior style and layout to the membership structure, pricing, etc.
You must be able to edge out your competitors. Therefore, your target market and marketing strategy must work seamlessly to reap that elusive sales boost.
Read more: How Coworking Membership Works: Complete Guide
Engage Key Influencers For Your Target Market
Social media rules the day! You must make use of it! Never underestimate the attention or "clout" that influencer's harbor.
Connect with influencers with good reputations, especially those that align with your target market. Offer them free memberships. Having them use your space and sharing it with their fans can spread the word faster.
Organize Community Events & Partnerships
As the coworking space owner/manager, it is important to curate your community culture.
Most members use these shared spaces for their community culture. So in your space, members must feel that sense of community.
Therefore, consider organizing events at the shared space, connecting with each member, and providing warm and welcoming office space.
Most shared spaces also make for great event venues. This is a sure way to let the external community know you exist.
Consider some of the following to attract visitors:
- Fundraisers
- Singles events
- Baby showers
- Private rentals
- Holiday events
- Small concerts
- Live bands
Visitors who feel at home in your space will feel more encouraged in asking about membership.
Of course, if events such as live bands or even fundraisers may be loud, consider hosting on weekends or evenings.
Bonus: Track Where Your Leads Come From
What is lead tracking? Lead tracking is a process of actively monitoring and documenting prospective customers who have had interactions with your business.
As a result, you will gain insight into your marketing efforts and their impact on revenue.
Here are 6 ways to track where leads come from:
- Ask directly - one of the best ways to track is just to ask them directly, "Where did you hear about us?"
- Call tracking and marketing attribution - use a unique phone number for each marketing channel. Then, if they call, you can easily track where they came from.
- Hidden field forms on your website - you may use hidden fields on your submission forms to track additional info like where they come from.
- Promo codes - these are a great way to entice new customers and track how successful a particular sales campaign was.
- CRM systems - while there are many CRM systems, choose one which allows you to track leads directly. Salesforce is an excellent example of such a CRM system.
- Google analytics - set goals in Google Analytics to track leads and key actions on your website.
Most importantly, focus on those actions which bring in more leads and customers.
For example, if people enjoy local events but are not interested in cold calls, invest more in local events. Knowing which strategy works for you and doing more of it is necessary for giving you a better ROI.
Retain Your Existing Members
While the focus may be on boosting sales through increased memberships, it is paramount never to forget your existing members. Therefore, membership retention must begin from the first day.
Retaining members is a key strategy in boosting recurring membership sales. In addition, members will provide constant feedback, allowing you to improve the workspace experience continuously.
Let's look at practical ways to ensure your members want to continue renewing their membership.
Create A Strong Sense Of Community
Do your members feel welcome? Have their needs been met?
Feedback must be solicited from the onboarding process, so members feel at home. This helps to create that strong sense of community and aids member retention.
As spaces grow, it's common to forget the social aspect of running a shared workspace. As a result, networking and social events slowly dissipate, and the office space begins to resemble a traditional corporate office.
Hiring a community manager may alleviate this issue. A community manager is someone who can put all of their energy into planning events, getting to know members, and connecting with them.
Cultivating community culture may also involve hosting social or professional events for members, which also helps to attract non-members (potential new leads!). In addition, members can organize their own events to encourage networking and community spirit.
Read more: What is Community Building In Coworking: A Simple Guide
Rethink Your Pricing and Membership Structure
Do members feel that they are getting their money's worth? This is an important question to ponder.
Constant feedback with your members will allow you to determine member satisfaction.
When structuring your pricing structure, consider the following to gauge which appeals most to members:
- Price deals - offer low price options for the fully remote worker. Offer day passes or other flexible options.
- Operating hours - Offer flexible scheduling such as evening hours or graveyard hours for those members who work in different time zones.
- Specials - Determine perks and benefits to offer at each level of membership. A group medical insurance plan, child care, mentorship programs are popular ideas. Focus your efforts on those that will appeal to specific groups within your existing membership.
Try Different Membership Bundles
Create versatile membership bundles to allow members to be flexible. For example, they should have the ability to scale down their plans if they are not using them often or vice versa.
Also, not all of your members may not need access to the meeting room. Therefore consider having bundles which would suit their particular needs.
Offer bundles based on how the majority of your members work. This will allow you to determine the optimal solution to balancing members' needs.
Consider A Credit System
A system where members have access to conference rooms or meeting rooms without upgrading membership provides flexibility to your members.
Allow them to buy credits for specific services in advance, such as access to the meeting room, a guest pass, etc. This will also bring added cash flow to your business.
Offer Virtual Services
As mentioned, some of the common users of Coworking spaces are freelancers, remote workers, and entrepreneurs. Consider offering virtual services such as a virtual postal address, a receptionist, letter scanning, and meeting rooms in the virtual sphere.
These service add-ons require very low cost to maintain but can give tremendous value to your members, apart from the added revenue for your business.
WeWork Marketing Strategy (How They Nailed It!)
Trailblazers in the shared space industry, WeWork have tailored a winning strategy which has aided in their massive sales boost. Here's how they nailed it:
Office Space Design
The space and design around shared spaces are key! There are easy ways to design layouts that epitomize community creatively. A few amenities WeWork used:
- Wellness rooms - For meditation, prayers or a nursing mom
- Mothers rooms - For new or nursing moms equipped with refrigerators and sinks
- Enhanced cleaning services
- Enhanced air system - in line with best practices, WeWork took steps to bring clean and filtered air throughout their spaces.
Read more: Coworking Space Design Ideas To Succeed
Employee Spotlight Staff
WeWork takes the time to showcase and recognize their most valuable asset; their staff. They created an avenue on their website to showcase their employees' personal and professional growth. In addition, staff shares inspirational testimonials that further show potential members and the community environment that WeWork embraces.
Social Media Activity
WeWork looks at a digital-first approach by leveraging multiple B2C tools such as social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
For example, WeWork uses social media to introduce the brand to new people. In addition, videos and virtual reality help potential customers experience a WeWork workspace, even before its doors are open.
Crafting Content
WeWork's content strategy focuses on building community in shared workspaces. During the pandemic, the content strategy at WeWork was focused on engaging consumers with empathy.
They initiated #PrideStreetofWe to promote inclusivity. WeWork also created a microsite to support the pride parade.
Key Takeaways
Boost your coworking membership sales in 2022 with these strategies! We've even shared some of WeWork's best strategies to increase sales.
At the heart of it is identifying and choosing the right target market. Remember, your shared space must be able to satisfy your potential and current members fully.
Don't forget to use a good CRM system to generate and track leads, and don't be shy to use influencers and expand your presence on social media.
Finally, never forget your existing members and aim to create a community culture, ideally with a community manager.
Again, think out of the box, consider virtual services, a credit system, membership bundle flexibility, and of course, craft a pricing and membership structure that suits your members.
Read more: Coworking Space Revenue Model: All You Need To Know