How to Grow Your Association Membership
If you're like most associations, growing your membership is a top priority. But it can be a challenge to find new members and keep them engaged. In this post, we'll share five components of a healthy membership growth strategy: acquisition, customer service, retention, engagement, reactivation and referral. Implementing these five strategies will help you reach your membership goals and create a thriving community of members!
Acquisition: The first step in growing your membership is acquiring new members. There are a variety of ways to do this, including online advertising, direct mail campaigns, and attending industry events. It's important to have a plan for how you will acquire new members so that you can track your progress and measure your success.
Ideas for member acquisition:
-Develop a targeted marketing plan
-Create an attractive membership benefits package
-Offer free or discounted membership rates
-Promote your association through social media and other online channels
-Attend trade shows and other events related to your industry
Customer Service: Once you've acquired new members, it's essential to provide excellent customer service. This includes onboarding new members, answering their questions, and providing value-packed content. By giving your members the best possible experience, you'll set yourself apart from other associations and build loyalty among your member base.
Ideas for excellent customer service:
-Make sure your staff is knowledge about your membership benefits and offerings
-Create a system for handling member concerns and complaints
-Respond to member inquiries in a timely manner
-Offer incentives for members who refer new members to your association
Retention: Even with the best customer service, some members will inevitably drop off. That's why it's important to have a strategy for retention. This can include sending regular communications, offering discounts or perks for renewing members, and hosting member-only events. By keeping your members engaged, you'll reduce turnover and keep your community strong.
Ideas for member retention:
-Welcome new members and make them feel like part of the community
-Regularly communicate with members about the benefits of their membership
-Engage members through events, programs, and content that match their
interests
-Make it easy for members to renew their membership
-Offer incentives for members who refer new members to your association
Engagement: In order to keep your members happy and engaged, you need to provide them with value. This can be in the form of content, such as blog posts, eBooks, or webinars. It can also be through networking opportunities, like online forums or in-person events. Whatever form it takes, make sure that you're regularly providing value to your members so that they stay engaged with your association.
Ideas for member engagement:
-Create a member profile survey to identify member needs and interests
-Engage members through events, programs, and content that match their needs and interests
-Regularly communicate with members about the benefits of their membership
-Make it easy for members to renew their membership
-Offer incentives for members who refer new members to your association
Reactivation: Even if members aren't actively engaged, you can still reach out to them and try to reactivate them. This can be done through email campaigns, personal phone calls, or even sending a care package. By staying in touch with inactive members, you'll remind them of the value your association provides and give them a reason to come back.
Ideas for member reactivation:
-Identify the reasons why members have become inactive
-Develop a plan to address those reasons
-Reach out to inactive members and invite them back
-Engage inactive members with targeted content and events
Referral: The best way to grow your membership is through referrals from existing members. This can be done by offering incentives for referring new members, such as discounts or freebies. You can also promote referral programs through social media and email campaigns. By leveraging the power of word-of-mouth marketing, you can quickly grow your association's membership base.
Ideas for member referral:
-Develop a referral program with attractive incentives
-Promote your referral program to your members
-Make it easy for members to refer their friends, family, and colleagues to join your association
Growing your membership base is essential for any association. By following these strategies, you can ensure that your association is attracting new members and retaining existing members.
Implementing these five components of a healthy membership growth strategy will help you reach your membership goals and create a thriving community of members! What strategies have you used to grow your association's membership? Share in the comments below!
