How To Structure A Successful Group Program For Client Results With Vix Meldrew

Clients not putting in the work to get results in your successful group program? You may have a bigger problem…

Meet Vix Meldrew, who helps groups offer leaders design transformative curriculums, engaging and interactive lessons, and all-around rave-worthy experiences. These are necessary components so more of your clients get results in a successful group program.

She has partnered with brands such as Microsoft, Squarespace, Pinterest, and more. In 2019, she launched her membership, Grow & Glow, gaining over 100 founding members in under an hour. Vix has worked with over 400 course creators, coaches, service pros, and entrepreneurs go from experts to educators to design and launch their programs

Vix shared her State of Group Offers Survey, which was compiled from 284 participants over the month of June 2024. That could be in a group program, a membership, or a mastermind. All those fall under the group offers category. It included both leaders and participants in group offers of some sort to get both perspectives. And some people fit into both categories. Leaders of group offers likely have also participated in them before as well. 

What Is A Group Offer? 

First, let’s get clear on exactly what we mean by group offers since everyone might have a slightly different definition. The three primary types of group offers can be a group coaching program, mastermind, or membership. Let’s break down each of these. 

Group Program

A group program is typically curriculum-based. It often has some amount of support, whether that is live coaching calls, a community. Or it could include something like Voxer where you can go back and forth. Group programs tend to have more tangible outcomes, too.

Mastermind

A mastermind has a leader or facilitator, but a lot of the group contributes. There is not necessarily a curriculum. Masterminds are more about the experience and the number of participants is usually capped.

These are not hard and fast definitions because often they can blend together a bit. For example, a group program might have components of masterminding, but there’s typically more of a leadership and teaching aspect as well.

Membership

A membership model is where individuals pay a recurring fee to access the value you create. That could include courses, masterclasses, community, worksheets, PDFs, and other resources. While memberships can be a great source of revenue, they also deal with retention and churn.

In the State of Group Offers Survey 2024, Vix reports that “When it comes to revenue, results, engagement and overall satisfaction with running group offers – group programs come out on top over memberships and masterminds. Group programs also came out on top as the favorite investment amongst the clients.”

Completion Rates Don’t Tell The Full Story. Here’s What Actually Makes A Successful Group Program

The reason behind creating this survey is to have current data and statistics around group programs and curriculums. Without this, you’re quoting the statistics that are outdated now and don’t share the whole picture. For example, you may have heard this statistic around how only 2% of online courses are completed. But that doesn’t show the whole picture.

Completion of a curriculum isn’t the sole identifier of whether the person is getting results or not. 

There’s conflicting statistics around that being 20% of people finish a group program, some say 40% of people finish a group program. So there was not really that much robust data in our industry. This data is more for massive open online courses like Udemy or Coursera. Vix wanted to have better data to share around client results, client experience, completion, engagement, and all of those kinds of things. She wanted better data that we could use in the online industry.

How Did You Get So Many Successful Group Program Leaders To Take Your Survey? 

There were 284 total participants across both surveys, with 196 individuals taking both. Here’s how Vix achieved that:

1. Active Engagement on Threads: Vix is active on Threads daily, where she has built a strong community of group program leaders who frequently share her content. This community includes business coaches, entrepreneurs, and service professionals who help amplify her reach by sharing her survey links within their networks.

2. Leveraging Existing Audience: Vix has a substantial audience, with an email list of over 1,200 people and a social media following of over 45,000. Although her social media following stems from various niches, it still provides a broad reach. She promoted the surveys consistently throughout June, ensuring daily visibility and multiple opportunities for her audience to participate.

3. Community Support: Many group program leaders in Vix’s network shared the survey links within their communities, greatly expanding the reach and participation.

4. No Incentives Offered: Interestingly, Vix did not offer any incentives for survey participation. This approach likely contributed to the quality and reliability of the responses, ensuring that participants were genuinely interested and engaged rather than being motivated by potential rewards.

Overall, the combination of active community engagement, leveraging her audience, and strategic promotion helped Vix achieve a significant number of survey participants.

How Do You Create A Successful Group Program That Gets Results?

From working with group offer leaders for over two years and running her own group offers since 2018, Vix has a deep understanding of what makes these programs effective. Her background in education as a former teacher has further shaped her insights into why some group programs fail to deliver results.

The survey revealed that a common reason for group programs not yielding results is that clients often don’t put in the necessary work. They may struggle with accountability, lose motivation, get distracted, or face other priorities and circumstances. However, that is only part of the picture.

Through her experience and the survey data, Vix identified that the other major factor is the design and facilitation of the group programs themselves. She calls this the “results gap” — the disparity between the number of people enrolled in a program and those who actually do the work and achieve results.

So how can you – as the leader of the group offer – design your program for maximum client results and satisfaction (turning them into raving fans)? The data offers 5 key findings…

Have a tangible, measurable result

Did you know that 75% of people only track their results anecdotally or not at all? When you rely on “vibes” instead of cold, hard data, it’s tough to know how well you’re really helping your clients.

The survey showed that the main reason people felt they didn’t get results from the programs they invested in was because their progress wasn’t tracked or measured. Making your program measurable not only shows you how well you’re doing but also keeps your clients aware of their own progress.

When you have above-average result rates, you make more revenue from your offer. When your program delivers real, measurable outcomes, the process is proven to work, and you’ll have detailed testimonials and case studies that speak to these results. It’s like having a team of raving fans who do your marketing for you! So, start tracking those results. Your clients will thank you, and your program will practically sell itself. 

High-ticket offers get more engagement and more results

You’ve likely heard, “Those who pay, pay attention.” It definitely rings true! The engagement rate and results rates reported in higher ticket group and mastermind offers are significantly higher than those reported for lower ticket programs and memberships. It is clear that the more your clients dive in and participate (curriculum, calls, community, etc.!), the more motivated they are to crush their goals.

Facilitate an active and engaged community

Is the Slack channel dead in your group offer? An inactive community is one of the top reasons clients disengage. Think about it: a supportive, engaged community keeps your clients motivated, accountable, and cheering each other on. So, design a community that’s buzzing with life – the kind that skyrockets your client outcomes.

Build in feedback opportunities

The majority of group offer clients will not speak up if they are having a bad experience. This could be down to people-pleasing and not wanting to hurt the leader’s feelings or not feeling safe to express what is happening. When you build in feedback opportunities, that will iron out any issues before the client drops out, complains or dissuades someone else from joining the group offer.

Offer a variety of ways for clients to achieve the result 

Most group offer clients will take what they need from the group offer and leave the rest. The majority will not absorb the whole curriculum or access every feature—and they shouldn’t have to. Design your program for different styles of learners. ‘Completion rate’ is not an adequate measure of an offer’s success. Look at how many of your clients are getting results! 

By addressing these factors, group programs can close the results gap and ensure that more participants achieve their desired outcomes.

Design Engaging and Motivating Curriculum For Successful Group Programs

To create a successful group program, it’s essential that the curriculum is engaging, motivating, and has strategies for re-engaging participants. This approach helps retain the attention of those who might be tempted to drop out or get distracted. Here’s a concise breakdown of how to achieve this:

 

• • Design activities and content that keep participants interested and motivated to continue.

• • Incorporate re-motivation strategies to bring back those who might have lost focus or fallen behind. This can include follow-up sessions, additional resources, or personalized check-ins.

• • Programs should be intentionally designed to deliver results. This involves creating a curriculum that aligns with the client’s goals and provides clear, actionable steps to achieve them.

• • Focus on continuous improvement and adaptability to ensure that the program evolves based on participant feedback and changing needs.

Vix’s experience underscores the importance of designing group programs that are not only flexible and lifestyle-friendly but also deeply focused on achieving participant success. Despite personal commitments, such as having a young child, she has successfully grown her group programs. She is living out how well-designed programs can thrive and deliver results even in busy lives.

Why Aren’t More People Getting Results In Their Successful Group Program?

When you read through her survey, none of the results are particularly surprising. However, they are good reminders to use as a checklist because when you’re caught up in the details, it’s easy to miss something obvious. So, why aren’t more people doing these seemingly basic things? There must be a deeper reason why even well-intentioned individuals overlook these components.

If you examine most courses or programs on how to launch a course, they typically focus solely on marketing and sales. Before recent years, particularly pre-2020, there was little to no emphasis on learning psychology, engagement, or motivation in these courses. Even instructional designers often miss the mark on effectively engaging and motivating learners.

The average expert, despite their extensive experience and success in their field, might decide to launch a course and learn from a marketing guru. They master the art of selling the course, but when it comes to delivering it, they realize their curriculum is overstuffed and not producing the desired results. This is because they haven’t learned how to teach effectively.

Being an expert doesn’t automatically mean you know how to teach. Courses about launching a course usually focus on marketing and sales because those are the quick wins. However, for long-term success, you need solid instructional design and effective teaching strategies. If participants aren’t getting results, your group program won’t have longevity.

The Role of Social Proof in Successful Group Programs

Many programs teach how to market and launch courses, but often neglect how to deliver results. Simply getting people in the door isn’t enough. You must engage and retain them to create a sustainable business.

Today’s savvy clients look for real results. They see through superficial testimonials and seek genuine success stories. With the rise of the discerning buyer in 2024, people want proof of results before investing in group programs.

Many buyers have been burned by previous group offers. This makes them hesitant to invest again. As a copywriter, Vix frequently encounters clients wary of new investments due to past disappointments. To counter this, it’s crucial to provide clear, measurable results and social proof.

Buyers today require more than just screenshots of positive feedback. They want detailed case studies showing tangible outcomes. For example, in a program about mastering Instagram, they want to see a participant’s journey from 200 followers to 2000, along with the benefits they gained.

By focusing on these elements, you can create a successful group program that attracts and retains clients through genuine results and strong social proof.

Create Your Successful Group Program

Download the State of Group Offers Survey to get all of the specific data that came out of it. Vix did a great job of sharing the numbers, giving a quick explanatory piece, as well as specific suggestions of what you can do to improve your group offer to get more results. If you are looking to raise your prices or to create or improve your next program, I would definitely recommend checking out the survey.

By leveraging the skills of a professional copywriter, you can create compelling case studies, optimize for SEO, get ongoing content support, and so much more! Download my services guide for support in creating a group program that not only attracts participants but also delivers exceptional results, ensuring long-term success and sustainability.

Connect With Our Guest: Vix Meldrew

 

• • Access the State of Group Offers Survey to see the data for yourself. 

• • Work with Vix at VixMeldrew.com if you are looking to revamp or improve on your group offer and bring in some more measurable results and have more raving clients.

• • Connect on Threads or Instagram @VixMeldrew

• • Listen to the Rave Results podcast on Apple and Spotify.