MasterClass Builds Value for Subscribers to Create Lifelong Learners

When your content features Serena Williams, Martin Scorsese, Dr. Jane Goodall, Natalie Portman, or Gordon Ramsey, it sells itself—or at least that’s what you’d expect, right? Well, it’s true to some degree, but that doesn’t mean the marketing team at Masterclass doesn’t have some challenges to overcome. 

As part of our own Retention Masterclass series, John Koetsier and I talked to head of performance lifecycle marketing at MasterClass, Thomas Hopkins. The goal of MasterClass, says Thomas, is to unlock human potential. “And as people have a little bit more time because they’re not commuting, more at home, you know it allows people to have a little bit more time to kind of look at how they want to be spending that time,” says Thomas. Now, with people isolated at home by a global pandemic, screen time is increasing, and many people are turning to MasterClass.  

Generally, for Thomas and his team, the issue is not finding people interested in their product, but connecting the right people with the right content. But right now, as companies everywhere do what they can to help users through COVID-19, MasterClass has asked itself the same question. Part of the answer is MC Live, where users can engage with instructors live and ask questions. But the company has also allowed subscribers to add a “plus one” and gift a free subscription. 

But as a lifecycle marketer, its Thomas’ job to think about how to keep those marketers around for the long haul. 

The answer lies in thinking about subscribers as lifelong learners and giving them access to content they didn’t know they wanted but provides unexpected value to users. To learn more about how he does this, listen to the full interview.