That’s the million-dollar question for any association professional these days. Everyone wants to see improvement but steering that course can be a little daunting. So, let’s step back for a moment and ask another question:
Every organization measures its perception of success somewhat differently. It could be any one or combination of the following:
There are a number of ways you can improve your overall association performance — these are typically operational in nature and are more long-term. Others can be implemented quickly and can start making an impact almost immediately. Below, we’ve outlined 8 strategies — 4 long-term and 4 short-term — that we’ve observed in the most successful associations worldwide. These are the strategies that are used to infuse new energy and shake things up a bit. Let’s take a look.
While this is a longer-term objective that has many layers, it’s something you can at least begin at any time. Your digital strategy can start quite easily — by simply looking at what your association was created to accomplish, and then examining whether there is a better way of doing that.
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into every corner of your association. It’s designed to:
If you’re just beginning to explore your digital strategy, it’s okay. You don’t have to conquer the world in one afternoon. But it’s important to get started. The global pandemic left many organizations unprepared and we don’t know when we’ll face the next big challenge.
Here are a few tips to get started on your journey:
Looking for more in-depth guidance? Download our complimentary whitepaper: 3 Critical Steps to Digitally Transform Your Association.
One of the most important aspects of an effective digital transformation strategy is assessing whether your current member management system can support your digital objectives. If it can’t, finding a new system, such as an Engagement Management System — will be one of your first priorities. There are many considerations when starting a new system search but there are 5 over-arching characteristics to look for:
It’s essential that your association software supports your efforts to:
You may have heard about the advantages of becoming a “Learning Organization” — this is an association that is dedicated to advancing its missions by continually learning from all interactions with its members. Every association should strive for this and it’s not as complicated as it might sound. By continually collecting and reviewing data on your members, you can learn a great deal, such as:
If your association software allows you to monitor and track all interactions — from the initial join, to onboarding activities, to product sales, to event attendance, and beyond — you have a gold mine of information at your fingertips that can aid in making informed business decisions about the benefits, programs, and resources you offer in the coming years.
If you’d like to explore the benefits of becoming a learning organization, download our complimentary book: The Association Exec’s Guide to Improving Operational Performance.
If selecting a new association software system is part of your digital transformation plans, it’s important to keep a few things in mind when you’re starting your process. Over the years, we’ve worked with thousands of association clients worldwide and we’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to learn from them. We’ve identified the following 4 best practices that are consistently used by the most successful organizations:
You’ll want to keep these 4 elements top-of-mind as you begin your software selection journey. Your business strategy and digital transformation plan should drive the technology decisions you make — not the other way around. If you keep your organizational goals at the forefront, the entire process will become clearer and easier — and you’ll reach the level of performance you’re striving for.
For more best-practice advice, check out our ebook: The Association Exec’s Guide to Improving Operational Performance.
While many associations use a mobile app for annual conferences and other special events, not all associations are taking advantage of the significant rewards they can reap from having a year-round mobile app. This should be an integral part of your overall communications strategy.
Engagement is essential for long-term member retention and a year-round mobile app is an excellent way to bolster this. The app is a quick and efficient way to get time-sensitive information out to your members — and to hear back from them on important issues.
Your mobile app can be a central location for everything — content, engagement, collaboration, and events. These features give members a reason to regularly log in.
Leverage Two-Way Communication
With a website or email, you’re communicating to the member but with an app, members are communicating back to you — and to each other. A quick survey or poll in the app gives you invaluable information you can use to better support your membership.
Give Your Members More Control
With Push Notifications, members control the types of notifications they receive from you — so they only get the news and alerts they want. This is an excellent medium to let them know about late-breaking news, important event updates, cancellations, schedule changes, etc. They get the information quickly without having to do anything and, in turn, become more reliant on your organization for the news they need. This can only help at renewal time.
Increase Non-Dues Revenue Streams
You may already generate advertising revenue from your website and mobile app, such as through banner ads, splash screens on start-up, and other advertising. But with a year-round app, you can empower your industry partners to sponsor content. This is a great way to provide members with valuable information about the latest goods and services on the market that can make their jobs easier, and it increases your partners’ visibility within your membership base.
If ensuring member retention is one of your top performance metrics, it’s imperative to implement a strong onboarding strategy that quickly pulls new members in and keeps them coming back. But we’ve found that onboarding sometimes gets forgotten after a few months — when it really should be a 12- to 15-month process. Here are some ideas to keep in mind to ensure your new members get off on the right foot:
Document the New-Member Journey
Ask for Your Members’ Feedback
Offer the Guidance of Mentors
For more tips on how to engage your members in the early stages, see our recent post: Is Your Member Onboarding Journey Magical or Miserable?
Creating member personas can have a huge impact on your association’s ability to engage and retain members. It’s one of the most effective methods to improve your retention rates. If you truly understand your members — and they feel they’re understood — you can galvanize their participation in your organization for years to come.
So, what is a member persona? Personas are representations of members with specific characteristics, such as:
A persona is the entire personality of certain members, not just demographic details. You want to dig deeper to understand not only what your members do, but why they do it. You’ll want to build a reservoir of information you can use to tailor your communications, resources, and member benefits. In particular, you’ll want to capture their:
Maintaining member personas is an ongoing process — they should be regularly updated as new information and characteristics emerge from your data.
Member engagement is the epicenter of everything you do and every decision you make. Improving, enhancing, and expanding engagement should always be a high priority.
By creating a formal engagement plan, you can help increase:
Your plan doesn’t need to be complex. You can start simply and then expand as you go along. Here are some steps to start you in the right direction:
Planning & Goal setting
Communications
The organizational strategies will take longer to implement but will have a far-reaching impact on your overall association performance. Make sure to:
And don’t forget the things you can do now to start boosting your association’s performance in specific areas, including:
To drill down further on long- and short-term strategies, be sure to download our book, The Association Exec’s Guide to Improving Operational Performance.