After a career in alumni relations and institutional advancement, I’ve since spent the last several years as a member marketing consultant for organizations ranging in size from a few thousand members to over a million.
I’ve learned a lot from diving into the inner-workings of various types of member groups, identifying and dissecting their problems, and offering solutions to improve member engagement. I’ve heard every excuse possible about why their marketing efforts are not succeeding, and I’ve noticed several patterns among these poor performing member groups. Here are four of the most common things I asked these member groups to stop doing:
1- Stop acting like membership marketing is mere guesswork.
One of the most startling statistics from my recent blog post indicated that nearly 30% of all member associations report to “not using any type of analysis to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.” And because that statistic is self-reported, I’m afraid the real number could be double that. If that many organizations admit they do not measure their marketing effectiveness, how many more use poor techniques or analyze their progress every once in a while?
It would seem obvious that testing and analyzing one’s marketing efforts would be high on the list of best practices for professional marketers. So if you do not know basic metrics like renewal rate, lapse rate, or average tenure of your members, it’s time to figure it out. I could list of host of other important metrics than can help you analyze the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, but I’ll leave that for another blog post. You could find help by reaching out to the host of consultants who troll LinkedIn and other online communities.
2- Stop thinking your member organization has no competition.
According to this study, on average your constituents hold memberships in 22 different member programs. And while most people are active in only nine of those programs, you can’t assume that your membership program is the most valued membership in their minds. People join membership programs because they expect something in return. You can bet that all these groups are battling for the attention and loyalty of your constituents, trying to communicate the value of their program, often by comparing their benefit program against yours.
And for alumni associations, constituents with an earned degree may have been more loyal to their school in generations past; it no longer applies in today’s competitive environment. This study showsthat the number of membership programs is growing at an annual rate of nearly 27%, while active memberships have declined 4.3% in the past two years. With all the noise your members must endure from your competitors, are you doing enough to be heard amidst the din?
3- Stop being stingy with the number of contacts you have with your constituents.
Research here indicates that most successful member groups are emailing their constituents, on average, 4.3 times PER WEEK! That’s not a typo. That’s over four emails per week. How many times are you reaching out to your constituents? Once or twice a month? While sending four emails per week may be a stretch for many member groups, consider finding new ways to reach out via email with relevant, engaging information that will communicate the value of your membership program.
Why is this important? Because there’s a direct relationship between the renewal rates and contact rates. This study indicates that you’ll need to contact your constituents between seven to 15 times per year, in order to prevent a year-over-year drop in membership rates.
If you avoid sending emails out of fear of having a few people opt-out…get over it. Typical opt-out rates with each email ranges between 1-3% per email. Unsubscribes happen often…it’s the nature of the business. And don’t rely on email as your only means of contact. Be diligent with your social media outreach too. The bottom line is, if you’re not consistently reaching out to your members, you’re hurting your bottom line.
4- Stop being wimpy about leveraging your affinity group.
One of the most powerful tools you can leverage is the collective influence of your affinity group. You have at your disposal the ability to communicate and mobilize an educated constituency with a higher-than-average income. When leveraging your database wisely and judiciously, you can develop partnerships that can not only be financially beneficial to your organization and partners, but also provide substantial benefits for your alumni.
One of the most common uses of this affinity power is forming partnerships with entities like insurance and (to a lesser extent) credit card companies. While these types of partnerships are widely used to generate revenue, they also present a significant risk of alienating your constituents. Use with caution and avoid becoming addicted to that revenue stream.
Another more effective use of your affinity power is offering exclusive discounts for your alumni. Most alumni-based organizations offer discounts on campus activities and events. Other groups understand the power of their affinity group, and negotiate discounts at popular local restaurants and retailers, offering to deliver new customers in exchange for an exclusive offer.
Why are discount programs such a powerful engagement tool?
Because, like it or not, we are all consumers. Much of our lives are spent finding ways to save money. Fully 92% of all consumers use discount coupons. Leveraging consumer behavior as a means of engagement has been going on for years (think frequent flyer programs, S&H Green Stamps or AAA Motor Club) as discounts are a proven way to attract and engage people.
While I admittedly have an interest in a particular discount program, I speak from experience when I say: I know discounts can be a powerful engagement tool, if they are structured properly. Not all discount programs can be engaging, but that’s a topic that deserves a post of its own.
Alumni Access Blog — Posted by Gary Toyn