Membership campaigns are the highest-leverage marketing activity a padel club can run. A single well-executed campaign can add 20–50 new members and generate recurring revenue that compounds over months and years. Yet most clubs run them sporadically, with vague offers and no systematic follow-up. Then they wonder why the results are inconsistent.
Here's a repeatable framework for running a padel membership campaign from scratch.
Step 1: Design the Offer
The offer is the most important element. Before you write a single ad or design a single creative, you need an offer that is genuinely compelling.
What makes a membership offer work:
- A specific price advantage. "Join in February and save £X per month for the first three months." Vague "special offers" don't convert. Specific numbers do.
- Time limitation. The offer must expire. An open-ended offer creates no urgency and produces inconsistent results. "Offer closes 28th February" is a meaningful deadline.
- A bonus or extra. A free coaching session with every new membership, a free guest pass, a club shirt. Something tangible that feels like added value.
- Volume scarcity (optional). "We're limiting this offer to the first 30 members." Whether or not this is strictly enforced, it creates a psychological trigger. Only use this if you're comfortable with the level of membership.
Membership tiers to consider:
Think about whether a single membership option or tiered options serve you better. Many clubs find that offering two options — a standard membership and a premium/unlimited option — increases average order value because some buyers naturally choose the middle option, and others upgrade.
Step 2: Build the Landing Page
Do not send membership campaign traffic to your homepage. A homepage is a welcome mat for general visitors. A landing page is purpose-built to convert a specific offer.
Your membership landing page needs:
Above the fold (visible without scrolling):
- Headline: Lead with the benefit, not the feature. "Play padel every week for less than £X/month" beats "Membership Options at [Club Name]."
- Key offer details: price, what's included, expiry date
- Clear CTA button: "Claim Your Membership" or "Join Now"
Below the fold:
- What's included in the membership (courts per week, peak/off-peak access, coaching discounts)
- Social proof: photos of real members, a short testimonial or two
- Your facility: 3–4 strong photos of your courts and clubhouse
- FAQ section: addresses the three or four most common objections
The form itself: Keep it minimal. Name, email, phone number. That's enough to qualify a lead. Don't ask for home address, date of birth, or anything else at this stage — every extra field reduces conversion rate.
Step 3: The Ad Campaign
Run a two-phase campaign:
Phase 1: Warm audiences (days 1–7) Start by targeting your existing warm audiences — email subscribers, website visitors, Instagram followers, past enquirers. These are people who already know your club. They'll convert fastest and at the lowest cost.
Create a direct response ad: show the offer clearly, include the deadline, and link directly to your landing page. Keep the copy tight: what you get, what it costs, when it ends.
Phase 2: Cold audiences (days 1–21) Run simultaneously to cold audiences: local targeting by postcode radius, interest in racket sports and fitness, lookalike audiences based on your existing member list.
Cold audience ads need slightly softer creative. Lead with the lifestyle and the sport experience before presenting the offer. A 15–30 second video of your courts performing well before the cut to the offer details.
Creative That Works for Membership Campaigns
- Video walkthroughs: Film a 30-second tour of your courts. Casual, authentic, phone-quality is fine.
- Member testimonials: "I've played 20 times since joining — best decision I've made this year." Short and real.
- Before/after framing: "Scrolling Instagram on Tuesday evenings vs playing padel with friends." Aspirational contrast.
- Countdown creative: With 72 hours to go, update your creative to show the urgency.
Step 4: The Follow-Up Sequence
This is where most membership campaigns fail. The ads generate leads. The leads go into a spreadsheet. Nobody follows up systematically. Conversion rates tank.
Every lead from your membership campaign should enter an automated email and SMS sequence:
- Hour 1: Confirmation email with full membership details and a booking link
- Day 2: Social proof email — a story from a current member
- Day 4: Remove objections — FAQ format, addressing concerns about commitment, time, ability
- Day 6: Urgency reminder — "X days left on this offer"
- Day 8 (if still unconverted): Final email — "Last chance" with deadline reinforcement
Additionally, call or text every lead within 24 hours if possible. A real human conversation converts far better than any automated sequence alone. If you have a team member whose job includes sales calls, prioritise this.
Tracking and Learning
After every campaign, review:
- CPL (cost per lead): What did each enquiry cost you?
- Lead-to-member conversion rate: What percentage of leads became members?
- Cost per new member: Total ad spend divided by new members acquired
- Revenue generated vs ad spend: Your ROAS on the campaign
These numbers tell you what to improve next time. A campaign that generates 50 leads at £4 each (£200) and converts 20% into members at £60/month has generated £1,200 in monthly recurring revenue from £200 of ad spend. That's a 6x return in month one alone — before you account for the lifetime value of those members.