Top Membership Tips
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This document provides tips for membership recruitment, engagement, and retention. It suggests targeting specific segments and creating urgency in recruitment efforts. For engagement, it recommends setting clear goals, determining delivery methods, and creating volunteer opportunities. Retention tips include promoting long-term members, using data to understand why members join and lapse, and reaching out to lapsed members. The overall document aims to help organizations effectively recruit, engage, and retain membership through strategic targeting and communication.
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Top Membership Tips
- 1. TOP TIPS FOR MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT, ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION
- 2. Agenda: •General Tips •Membership Prospecting •Membership Engagement •Membership Retention GENERAL TIPS
- 3. GENERAL TIPS
- 4. Mix it up—use multi-media. GENERAL TIPS
- 5. Target and segment. GENERAL TIPS
- 8. Present the right offer. GENERAL TIPS
- 9. Learn from past efforts. GENERAL TIPS
- 10. GENERAL TIPS Don’t give it away for free.
- 11. Find the right voice(s) and speak their language. GENERAL TIPS
- 12. Personalize the message. GENERAL TIPS
- 14. MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTING Prospect within your own backyard.
- 15. MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTING Remember A/B testing and segmenting and track, track, track.
- 17. MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTING Create a preview page— show them what you got.
- 18. MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTING They want to know, “why join now?”…. Answer them.
- 19. MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTING Develop a strong Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
- 21. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Set clear goals.
- 22. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Determine delivery method.
- 23. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Be consistent with your activities.
- 24. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Determine resources needed (staffing, financial, technical)
- 25. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Use what you already do.
- 26. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Remember to “pay” members for their time through recognition.
- 27. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Create volunteer opportunities for members at all stages.
- 28. MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Start a conversation.
- 30. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION Spend time promoting your long term members.
- 31. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION Use your data to your advantage.
- 32. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION Understand why members join and welcome them properly.
- 33. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION Almost always, first year members are least likely to renew.
- 34. Never forget your past— reach out to lapsed members. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION
- 35. It’s never too early to start. MEMBERSHIP RETENTION
- 36. What did I miss? What would you add?
- 37. Questions? Contact information: Scott Oser Scott Oser Associates (301)279-0468 scott@scottoserassociates.com www.scottoserassociates.com @scottoser
Editor's Notes
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott
- Adding personalized messages to renewal notices can be effective. For example, “because of your membership, you saved $50.00 on your product purchases this year.” Or, “we had some success on the legislative issue you were most concerned about.”
- Too many organizations focus all of their prospecting efforts on external activities such as tradeshows, but often non-members attend your events, read your publications, and know your other members.
- Don’t forget to do A/B testing of prospecting messages, and to segment your communications. This group has not decided that they want to join – so don’t just plow them with the same messages your members are receiving. See if you can find a unique or new way to share various aspects of your organization.
- Find ways for those with similar roles as prospects or in the same organization to reach out to prospects for communication follow-up. This can be portrayed as a volunteer role.
- Create a preview page with sample benefits. Consider www.yourassociation.org/preview as a short link you send out that allows people to view a sample conference recording, report, newsletter, and/or publication, as well as a short video of testimonials. This will allow prospects to see (in a hidden back end page) a bit of the “good stuff” you have to offer.
- Develop a special offer to answer your prospect’s question: “Why join now?” After many tests, one of the best offers continues to be a limited-time, introductory dues discount. Ideally, this discount will bring the dues down to a psychological price point – a dues amount that ends with a dollar amount of a “7” or “9”. For example, an acquisition price of $139 will typically generate more revenue and members than a price of $150. But be sure to offer something. Direct response marketing is offer driven.
- 8. Once you have found the best prospects, carefully develop a strong Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to drive the positioning and copy of your promotion. The USP answers the prospect’s question of, “Why this association?” The USP is the big benefit that your association can deliver compared to any other group. Tip: Ask someone who is not familiar with your organization to read your copy and define the USP in one sentence. If they can’t, go back to the drawing board.
- In order to know if your strategy is working, you need to begin with clearly developed and easily measurable goals. Ask yourself: How would you like your relationship with your members to change through this plan? What will you measure to know if you’ve achieved your goal?
- Next, you need to decide what format you will distribute your value to your community members. You have several options: online, at a live event, in a publication, or through other various tools. Ask yourself: What method of delivery would be most convenient for your members? Fewer barriers to consuming the value that you are proving means that more people will receive that value and come back for seconds..and thirds, etc.
- A member engagement strategy is an ongoing initiative. A successful engagement strategy includes ongoing opportunities for members to engage. This takes consistent effort on the part of your organization to deliver ongoing value to your members while making adjustments to your plan. Ask yourself: How will this strategy result in members staying engaged and continuing to get value from our organization in the long term? How is that going to be maintained and who will be responsible for maintaining it?
- It’s important to have a clear outline of who among your staff is responsible for each aspect of your member engagement strategy so everyone knows for what they’ll be held accountable. Ask yourself: Who will do the work? Who will monitor progress? Who is ultimately responsible for the goals being met?
- Every association communicates with members in a lot of ways. Before you go create new ways to engage members look at the things you are using now and see if you can use them to create engagement.
- The key to an effective recognition program is to remember that recognition can’t be reserved for only those in the organization who do the big jobs. Regardless of the level of a Member’s involvement, he/she deserves some form of recognition. After all, the recognition volunteers receive for their efforts is their “paycheck.” The recognition needs to be meaningful and sincere, but should also be reasonable and reflective of the service given. Ideas like lists of Members who have either joined or renewed that are visible at monthly meetings, included in Member newsletters. Small honors or notices for Members who have hit Membership milestones such as 5, 10, 15 years.
- Create and publicize volunteer opportunities for members at all stages of their careers. Most organizations have the same opportunities year-over-year, which draws in the same members. Create publicized volunteer opportunities for ad-hoc and virtual task forces.
- Create and publicize volunteer opportunities for members at all stages of their careers. Most organizations have the same opportunities year-over-year, which draws in the same members. Create publicized volunteer opportunities for ad-hoc and virtual task forces.
- Spend a day or week promoting your long-term members. Give them love – send them a small gift or note, include a shout out on your web/social media/newsletter. This will allow “old timers” to feel appreciated and will show new members why they want to stick around for a while.
- This goes without saying, but for most organizations, rental car discounts are neither mission-based nor sexy to promote.
- This might seem like a recruitment tactic, but Retention begins the day the Member joins. The best way to keep Members after the initial year is to make certain that they feel that in addition to the programs of the organization there is a place for them for input and participation. Send a welcome letter to each Member or better yet have your Membership Chair or the full committee make personal phone calls to these Members letting them know you are thrilled they have joined or renewed their Membership in the organization.
- Conversion – Almost always, first year members are the least likely to renew. That’s why the first year of membership is called the conversion year. Focus time, effort, and budget on these first year members. This has a budget implication too – as long as you’re not spending more to renew members than to acquire a new member, you’re doing fine.
- Presenter—Scott
- Presenter—Scott