MarTech Watch: The State of Membership Tools

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I’ve been digging deep on how to build communities of customers and fans for a variety of digital business models.

In this week’s MarTech edition, I’m sharing my via on the Membership tech stacks currently on the market!

I’m really bullish on community, given the disruption caused by AI to many traditional models & platforms. This coupled with the “inverse”…. people seeking more authentic “human” connections.

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The State of Membership Tech

Membership tech has actually been around for quite some time. It’s not at all like the rabid AI explosion.

That said, it’s been a steady riser over the last 5 years.

I’m particularly interested in membership & community platforms right now as Google has disrupted the model for search-based content recently.

I’m extremely bullish on email marketing as discussed in my Niche Media Publishing newsletter AND membership communities is a great paring WITH email lists.

I love community building for any business model, whether you are selling products (ecom), software (SaaS), services, or knowledge (courses).

But where to start with the tech platforms?

Here’s how I see the current landscape:

• Podia: Podia is one of my FAVORITE platforms because it’s dead simple to use, has a wonderful UX, and has built-ins like email marketing and knowledge management (courses). I’ve previously used it mostly for courses, so memberships are an easy addition.

• Thinkific: Thinkific is the market leader for “learning management platforms” and is world class if you need a professional online learning environment. They also have some nice membership features.

• Teachable: Similar to the first two, Teachable is really a LEARNING platform WITH membership options. Ideal for individuals and orgs selling access to knowledge.

• Kartra: More of an all in one marketing suite, Kartra also has membership features. A good option if you don’t want dozens of integrations and separate bills every month.

• Patreon: Traditionally more of an indie creative “volunteer” donation platform, Patreon has developed into a reliable stack for creatives and publishers to build a personal community.

• MemberPress: Built for WordPress users, ideal if you already have a stack on WordPress and just need an extensible membership area.

• Circle: Circle.so is a “community-first” platform. Unlike Thinkific and Teachable, it’s not specifically geared towards knowledge management, but rather for community engagement. Like a Facebook with more intentional community elements.

• Heartbeat: More of a newcomer, but I’d put Heartbeat in a similar category to Circle… a custom social peer network builder that can be integrated to extensible to other strategies.

• BetterMode: Another community first alternative to Circle, but with more of a bulletin board feel.

• Discourse.org: A modern re-imagination of that tired old forum tech (vBulletin, anyone?). Discourse feels like Circle, but with a forum-first (discussion) mentality.

Other Newsletters I’m Reading This Week

I’m going to start tracking some of the resources / newsletters I pay attention to regularly here:

• Trends by Hubspot Media: A great source for deep dives on business ideas from trending topics.

• Big Desk Energy: More trends & insights, but more from the startup / VC / silicon valley side.

• Ultimate Tools: Highlights new tools in martech, similar to what I do here, but no trends analysis, tool break downs.

That’s it for this week, I’ll be back with in a couple weeks with some more deep dives.