If you’ve ever signed up for a subscription-based service, then you know that there are typically a variety of levels, or tiers, for you to choose from. For example, many streaming services offer membership levels based on the number of ads you’ll see in your programming: A free membership may have many ad breaks, but a premium level can eliminate them altogether. 

It’s easy to see why many membership sites use a tiered-model approach: It’s a great way to upsell, segment your customers, earn higher revenue, and make your membership experience more unique and customizable. 

When considering how to assemble your tiered model approach, you’ll need a bit of thought and creativity behind it. Your various membership tiers should say something about your offerings, connect with your audience, stand out from competition, reaffirm your brand, and much more. Ultimately, a good name can mean more subscribers. 

In this comprehensive manual for creating profitable membership levels, we’ll cover: 

• What membership levels are and why you should use them 
• How to name membership levels 
• Considerations and tips for naming membership levels  

Let’s get started! 

What are membership levels, and why should you use them? 

Membership levels offer different levels of access to your members. Usually, there are around three tiers: good, better, and best. As the levels increase, so do the offerings and pricing. 

There are lots of reasons why you should offer tiered memberships, but here are a few of our favorites:

• Grow with loyal members: By implementing a tiered membership model, you can increase revenue by offering loyal members a higher-priced, more exclusive experience. You’ll give loyal members what they want while generating more revenue for yourself. 
• Offer members unique experiences: Membership tiers give people different ways to experience your content. For example, perhaps your professional members are looking for premium content to develop advanced skills and strategies. But your hobbyist members are there to learn beginner strategies for personal goals. By creating tiered memberships, you can create different plans of action for each member’s needs. 
• Easily upsell and offer extras: Tiered memberships provide the perfect structure to offer different levels of access to your products, services, or content. With more extras locked behind additional tiers, you can price them higher and entice more members, making it easy to upsell. 
• Automatically segment members: Tiered memberships make segment-specific marketing almost automatic. You can focus certain marketing efforts on your professional-level members while offering mid-level members a completely different message. Additionally, if you want your standard or mid-level members to upgrade, you could tempt them with special offers. 

In the end, the ultimate benefit of tiered membership levels is an increase in your recurring revenue. However, in order for tiered models to work, they need to be named appropriately. 

Naming membership levels that align with your business

There are so many countless cliched names for membership levels. Typical names like Gold, Silver, and Bronze don’t do much to turn site users into paying members. And the last thing you want is to become another one of these unfortunate statistics.

So what should you do? The two most important aspects of naming membership levels are: 

• Names should match your membership site’s branding 
• Names should illustrate where each tier lands in the hierarchy of your membership options 

Let’s dive more into how to get this balance just right.

Considerations for naming membership levels 

When thinking of tier names, you could be influenced or directed by these factors:  

• Your brand: What do you specialize in? For example, if your membership site is about teaching users how to improve their basketball skills, your membership tier names could be something like Amateur, Professional, and All-Star. 
• Number of membership tiers: If you have five tiers, for example, you’d need to come up with a category that can cover all five levels. But if you’re looking to only offer two tiers, you could do something like Standard and Premium. 
• Member demographics: This is helpful if you offer industry-specific services. For example, a membership site with career coaching could use words like “Trailblazers” (early career), “Thrill Seekers” (those with experience looking for a change), “Ambition Mission” (mid-career looking to grow), and “Lead Level” (those seeking leadership roles).

5 tips for naming membership levels 

1. Balance creativity with simplicity

If you can come up with unique, fun name ideas that fit the criteria, don’t shy away – just take special care that the names don’t cause confusion. For example, a membership site that focuses on teaching kayaking enthusiasts might consider naming their membership levels Lake Paddler, River Warrier, and White-Water Ready. These names are creative and appeal directly to kayakers, and the target audience will know what these levels mean in terms of hierarchy. 

2. Go off of access to content

Most top membership models employ the idea that the more a member pays, the more they get out of the membership. And the higher the subscription price, the more content the member will receive. This structure is often referred to as a “good, better, or best” structure. 

When it comes to this naming convention, use words such as “all-access” or “endless” to drive members to upgrade beyond the “good” option.

3. Focus on payment frequency

When naming membership levels based on payment frequency, try to think beyond “Monthly” or “Yearly.” Instead, try “Dip Your Toe In” for monthly subscriptions or “In It To Win It” for a yearly subscription. 

Remember that no matter what frequency you choose, they’re joining your community because you’ve convinced them that you can help them attain their goals. Make sure the names accurately reflect that.

4. Highlight exclusivity

Think of names that give a sense of exclusivity or scarcity, like “VIP,” “Insider,” “Select,” “Premium,” and so on. These luxurious names entice members and make them think that those tiers provide the most value. This could also work great for membership levels that are exclusive, either in a limited based on the time to sign up or by the number of seats available. Consider pairing a scarcity model with an exclusivity title to really entice folks to want in. 

5. Put yourself in their shoes

You should aim to really understand your members, their goals/aspirations, and what motivates them. Think: would you sign up for this site? Not only will this help you craft great content, but it’ll also help with naming your levels. 

Remember the kayaking membership site example? Lake Paddler, River Warrier, and White-Water Ready demonstrate that you can take someone through getting in the water for the first time to eventually having the skills to take on the choppiest rivers. This sort of narrative would be compelling for anyone. 

Create profitable membership levels with MemberDash 

A tiered membership model works for many due to its growth and revenue opportunities. It’s one of the best ways to build your membership business. The tips and considerations in this article can help you create membership levels that get people through the door. 

If you don’t have a membership site yet, you can build one easily on WordPress with MemberDash. With MemberDash, you can easily restrict any content and create different subscription types and tiers. Better yet, it offers flexible membership types, where you can set up what tiers you want, what they have access to, and how much you charge. 

Get MemberDash today!