2012 TSAE Education Day & Trade Show - Session 3 - Marketing/Membership Track - Membership Benchmarking: What Does it Mean for the Future of Your Association? Linda Chreno
Significant new data has just been released, which is quite telling and provides fresh insight and understanding into what, where, why, and to whom membership marketing should be focused. What changes have occurred recently in how associations are attracting, engaging, and retaining members? What challenges are associations identifying in their quest for membership growth? By understanding these challenges, associations can identify, understand, and develop strategies to implement for the association’s future growth.
Presentation Key Takeaways
Identify 3 strategies for engaging non-members to foster interest in an association
Learn 4 membership calculations
Create 2 strategies to increase awareness of your association
Speaker Bio
Linda Chreno is an expert at helping associations identify and recognize their “pain points,” especially when it comes to member identification, acquisition, engagement, and retention ─ and then offering proven solutions to remedy their unique challenges. She assists associations in discovering sources of non-dues revenue and encourages the use of market research to evaluate what is really happening within the association, among its members and its potential members.
An experienced association staff executive, Linda has served as Executive Director for the Florida Section ASCE, the Florida Economic Development Council, the Florida Society of Association Executives, Florida YPO, and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, as well as other membership and marketing association positions. She is a frequent speaker on membership, SEO, social media, website evaluation, and board leadership for local and national organizations.
Linda is an active ASAE volunteer including terms on the Marketing Council, the CRP Council, the Executive Management Section Council, and the Small Staff Committee. As an active member of Rotary, AAUW, ABWA, ASTD, SHRM, CalSAE, and various other civic and professional organizations, Linda has an excellent grasp of all facets of association management.
Linda earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Indiana State University – School of Business, her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from ASAE, and her IOM from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
How to Get Started in Social Media for Art League City
2012 TSAE Education Day & Trade Show - Session 3 - Marketing/Membership Track - Membership Benchmarking: What Does it Mean for the Future of Your Association? Linda Chreno
1. MEMBERSHIP
BENCHMARKING:
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
FOR THE FUTURE OF
YOUR ASSOCIATION?
#EdDay25
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM
@lindachreno
#EdDay25
October 17, 2012
2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Identify
3 strategies for engaging
non-members to foster interest in
an association
Learn 4 membership calculations
Create 2 strategies to increase
awareness of your association
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
3. How Does YOUR ASSOCIATION
Stack Up Against Others?
2012 MGI Annual
Membership Marketing
Benchmarking Report
4th Year Produced by MGI
Over 690 Participating
Associations
Up Front Disclaimer
o What not Why
o Correlation not
Prediction
4. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE ONE
TOP REASON MEMBERS JOIN?
REASONS MEMBERS JOIN ASSOCIATION
2012 2011 2010 2009
(N = 684) (N = 641) (N = 400) (N = 303)
Networking with others in the field 22% 25% 24% 22%
Access to specialized and/or current information 12% 14% 13% 23%
Advocacy 12% 10% 11% N/A
Continuing education 8% 7% 11% 5%
Learning best practices in their profession 7% 7% 9% 8%
Accreditation or certification 5% 4% 4% 2%
Discounts on products or meeting purchases 5% 5% 6% 9%
Association publications 4% 3% 6% 3%
Conferences/trade shows 4% 5% N/A N/A
Prestige of belonging to the association 4% 5% N/A N/A
Access to industry thought leaders 2% 1% N/A N/A
Advancing in their position 2% 2% 2% 4%
Members-only education 2% N/A N/A N/A
Access to career resources 1% 1% 3% 1%
Access to industry benchmark studies 1% 1% 1% N/A
Insurance (Affinity programs) 1% 1% N/A N/A
Not sure 1% 1% 2% N/A
Other 6% 8% 9% 10%
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
5. MOST EFFECTIVE MARKETING
CHANNELS:
Organizationa
l/ Trade
Assoc.
Word of
Mouth Personal
Direct sales
Mail calls
Email
Individual
Membership
Assoc.
7. HIGHEST LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT
Conference/Trade Show
• Attend annual show/meeting
Professional Development
• Attend at least one PD meeting
Certification
• Acquire or maintain certification through
your organization
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
8. FIRST YEAR ENGAGEMENT PLAN
Goals Sample Plan
• Multi-Channel • Orientation email
• Multi-Step • Mailed product
• Evoke second voucher
interaction • Benefits survey
• Courtesy call
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
10. RENEWAL RATE
Renewal Rate measures the number of
members kept over a given period of
time -- usually during a fiscal or
calendar year. To renewal rate:
Renewal Rate = (Total Number of
Members Today – new members in the
past 12 months) / Total Number of
Members in Previous Year
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
11. RESPONSE RATE
Response rate measures the
number of prospects who
responded to a marketing effort.
Response Rate = Total number of
responses / Total number of
prospects contacted X 100.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
12. COST TO OBTAIN A
MEMBER
The cost to obtain a member is
the total costs you spend on
acquisition divided by the total
members acquired.
Cost to Obtain a Member = Acquisition
Costs/Members Acquired
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
13. AVERAGE TENURE
Defines how long on average members
stay with an association.
Average Tenure = 1/(reciprocal of
renewal rate)
Reciprocal of Renewal Rate = 1 –
renewal rate (also known as lapse
rate)
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
14. LIFETIME VALUE OF MEMBER
(LTV)
Defines the economic value
produced by a typical member.
LTV = (Annual Dues revenue per
member + annual non-dues
revenue per member) * Average
Tenure
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
15. MAXIMUM ACQUISITION
COST (MAC)
Defines the theoretical maximum investment that can
be made to acquire a member or customer at a
profit.
MAC = ((Avg. dues rev. per members + avg. non-due
rev. per member) – (Incremental Servicing Costs +
avg. cost of goods sold)) * Avg. Tenure
OR:
(Total revenue per member – total costs per member) * Avg.
Tenure
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
26. SOCIAL MEDIA
Acquisition Retention
Assoc. Social Network
Facebook (Members only)
Twitter Association Listserv
LinkedIn
(Public access) Association Blog
LinkedIn
YouTube
(Members only)
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
#EdDay25
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
27. WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR SOCIAL
MEDIA CONTENT IS PUBLIC AND WHAT
PERCENTAGE IS
MEMBERS-ONLY?
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
28. Many, many
social media
seeking to
engage
members, pot
ential
members, as
well as former
members.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
29. I donate to What have
your you done for
foundation. me lately?
I attend your
Hello, I’m
conferences.
Jeremy.
I buy your I read your
books. magazine.
I’m much more likely to VS. UNENGAGED
ENGAGED
become a member or
MEMBERS
renew my membership or
MEMBERS
be an association I’m much less likely to
evangelist. become engaged.
I Follow you I blog about
on twitter. the
organization.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
32. AWARENESS …WHEN PROSPECTS
FIRST DISCOVER YOU
Awareness—recognition of the organization by
the segment or profession it serves.
Member Acquisition uses a variety of messaging
formats and communications channels.
Advertising
Direct mail
Email
Web advertising
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
34. SELLING IS SIMPLE
Promote the benefits
List the features - pair with
the benefit
Identify your target audience
Reassure member
TALK to your members
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
37. HOW TO FIND
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM
THEM…HOW TO FIND
THEM…HOW DO I
FIND THEM?
#EdDay25
38. KEYWORDS
Keywords are ways that you
are found by your members,
customers, etc.
Best keywords must MATCH
your unique value
proposition with the words
used by your members.
39. KEYWORDS CONTINUED
All staff should be up-to-date
with keywords being used -
include in conference
copy, etc.
http://semrush.com
Competitors , Google keywords
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
40. ONLINE RESEARCH – SOCIAL MEDIA
continued growth
as a social media
platform;
documented
effective
advertising outlet
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
41. ONLINE RESEARCH – SOCIAL MEDIA
offers the ability to
target:
by industry
by job titles
by groups
which allows for finite
slicing and dicing of
your target audience
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
42. SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
1 2 3
Online Behavior
Lead Gen Offers Online Media
1. Understand online
behavior of FREE Whitepaper Co-Registration
association Offers an Online News & PR
audience segments. excerpt of the latest industry Search Engine Ads
2. Utilize keyword and research. Ad Networks
social monitoring Article Submissions
tools to identify key FREE Trial Membership Blogs & Forum Posts
topics and content Offers a 30-Day Social Media Ads
within target FREE Trial Membership. Sponsored Links
audience.
4
LANDING
PAGE
Recruitment Campaign
5
Client
Web Site
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
43. Example: Lead Generation Cultivation
Series
2 3 4
1
• Confirmation E- •Additional White • Free • Free Industry
mail. Paper Offer. Video/Webcast Offer. Report Offer.
• Link to Download • Why Others Have • Most Popular • Member
White Paper. Joined. Benefits. Testimonial.
• Learn More Link. • Click to Join Link. • Click to Join Link. • Click to Join Link.
Also be sure to market Conferences,
Seminars and Books to your leads.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
44. EXAMPLE – ONLINE LEAD GENERATION
CAMPAIGN
1 Targeted Ad Placement. 2 Data Capture on Microsite.
3
Cultivation e-mail campaign
with additional content offers.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
45. 4 MEMBERSHIP TRENDS
YOU CANNOT MISS OUT
ON
1. Video
2. Mobile
3. Social Media
4. Content Marketing
Thanks to Melissa Harrison, XYZ University
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
46. • Engagement is key to retention.
Retention trumps recruitment
every day of the week.
Outcomes are more important
than outputs.
• Segmentation is key. You
cannot send the exact same
message out to all members or
prospects.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
47. • The power of Word of Mouth.
There's no greater and more
effective marketing tool than the
referral and recommendation of a
friend.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
48. • Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate -
connect your member with the
service or program that
uniquely meets his/her
needs, the better you
understand your member the
better the relationship with be
for them and for your
organization.
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
50. Contact Information:
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM
Cell: 510.316-5416
Email: lchreno@me.com
Twitter: lindachreno
Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
Editor's Notes
Significant new data has just been released, which is quite telling and provides fresh insight and understanding into what, where, why, and to whom membership marketing should be focused. What changes have occurred recently in how associations are attracting, engaging, and retaining members? What challenges are associations identifying in their quest for membership growth? By understanding these challenges, associations can identify, understand, and develop strategies to implement for the association’s future growth.
There are other surveys out there – this one is free and available for download from the MGI website. Just going to share a few of the trends.
Over half of association executives agree that word-of-mouth recommendations are the most effective recruitment channel, even though fewer associations report using this as a recruitment method than in previous years. Individual membership associations were significantly more likely to state that direct mail was one of their top three most effective recruitment channels while organizational/trade associations were more likely to include word-of-mouth recommendations in their list of the top three most effective marketing channels. Similarly, individual membership associations were significantly more likely than organizational/trade associations to state that email and direct mail are more effective recruitment marketing channels. Word-of-mouth marketing and personal sales calls are significantly more effective for small associations (up to 1,000 members). Association executives indicate that exhibiting at other conferences is the least effective membership recruitment method (28%). Similarly, advertising in outside publications is rated as the second-least effective recruitment channel by about one-quarter of the association professionals. Interestingly, direct mail was rated as among the top three for least effective methods for recruiting new members by about one-quarter of association executives but also was rated as one of the most effective methods.
Further analysis of the data indicate that individual member associations are significantly more likelyto rate exhibiting at other conferences as least effective compared to trade associations (31% vs.22%), while trade associations are significantly more likely to consider direct mail the leasteffective recruitment method (34% vs. 20%).Individual membership associations and organizational/ trade associations both considerword-of-mouth marketing and email to be two of the top three most effective marketing channels.However, individual member organizations rated direct mail as one of their most effective channels,while trade associations report that personal sales calls have been a more effective tactic.
This year there is an increase in the percentage of associations that have reported membershiprenewal rates between 80-89% (38%), with basically no change in the percentage reporting a 90% renewaland higher (22%).Positively, there is also a drop in the percentage of associations reporting renewal rates between50-69%.Additionally, but not surprisingly, as new member retention increases, so does the likelihood of theassociation’s overall renewal rate, with those associations boasting at least 80% in new memberrenewals also showing a significantly greater propensity to report overall renewal rates at 90%and higher.
Data show that 63% of associations send anywhere from 4 to 9 renewal contacts during their renewalseries programs.Current data indicates that associations are increasing the number of renewal contacts included in theirrenewal series. 23% of associations (up from 18% in 2011) report that they include 7 to 9 renewalcontacts in the renewal series. There was a similar drop in the percentage of associations sendingonly 4 to 6 renewal contacts and a slight drop in the percentage sending between 1 to 3 contacts.
Interestingly, we found that individual membership associations who send 7 or more renewal contacts tomembers are more likely to have an 80% or higher renewal rate (56% vs. 51%).Small associations (1,000 members or fewer) are significantly more likely to send only 1 to 3 renewalcontacts, while associations with more than 1,000 members are significantly more inclined to send atleast 7 to 9 contact pieces.Not surprisingly, associations with larger operating budgets (over $1 million) are also significantly morelikely to include at least 7 to 9 contacts in their renewal series.Directionally, associations who report sending at least 7 to 15 contacts are more likely to reportincreases in membership over the past one year and the past five years. Additionally, these associationswere also more likely to see an increase in renewals
For the third year in a row, Facebook (86%), Twitter (79%), and LinkedIn (56%) are the most popular social media platforms used by associations. An increasing number of associations appear to be using Twitter as suggested by a 13 point increase since 2010 (79% vs. 66%). The number of associations using YouTube as a social media platform has jumped nearly 20 percentage points in three years (53% vs. 35%). While the use of Association Blogs has not seen much change, Association Listservs and Wikis are showing signs of decline. Associations reporting a renewal rate of 80% or better are more likely to use public access LinkedIn vs. a Members-Only LinkedIn site (56% vs. 31%).This is surprising considering the fact that last year's results showed that associations with an 80% or higher renewal rate were more likely to use a Members-Only LinkedIn site. Not surprisingly, the number of associations who report not using social media is declining. The percentage of associations not using social media is less than half of what it was in 2010. Of interest is the rapid acceptance of Google+ (11%) less than 12 months after its introduction as well as the continued decline of Ning (4%), Second Life (1%), and MySpace (1%). Associations with more than 5,000 members are significantly more likely to use social media than associations with less than 5,000 members. 93% useFacebook, 89% use Twitter, and 69% use YouTube.31% of associations with more than 20,000
Of the associations reporting an increase in overall membership over the past year, 16% report that up to 10% of their social media content is restricted to members, a significantly higher proportion thanassociations reporting declines or no change in membership (8% each). This suggests that having at least some members-only social media content may be advisable.About half of the association executives indicate that more than 90% of their social media content is available to the public. Surprisingly, 44% of associations report that all of their social mediacontent is available to the public Surprisingly, 11% of associations do not contact lapsed members. This finding continues an upward trend for the percentage of associations that do not reach out to lapsed members.
Knowing the online social platformThere are so many different social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, etc). Through these social media you are connected to verity of different people; friends, colleagues, bosses, university friends, business men, teachers and even people who you have not seen face to face or just once at party. So this is very important to understand the platform you are using, thus the relationship you have with a specific person before leave any content for professional achievements.Be more specificCurrently it has become common to approach someone for job help via social media, and being more specific in questions means that you have searched for that. For instance asking a question “I need more explanation about this job! Can you explain it for me?” Such questions are too wide that is difficult to provide an appropriate response.Try to make it easy for people to help you with your massages or requested by being more specific. An appropriate question like: “I need more explanation about job offer GIS programmer! Would you explain the tasks more?”Don’t miss the offline interactionsSocial media are great for setting up a relationship but don’t miss the traditional face to face ways of interactions, be offline sometimes. Face to face interactions let you to build a stronger relationship with more confident. You can ask from the person who you meet through social media which way of contact is preferable for them.Make your communication customized and targetableFor any of the social media you should customize your communication massages with regards to your niche. Be honest and open when asking for communication, it shows that you respect your connection with the recipient.You can explain why you want to build a certain connection with particular individual. You should know about this person background which means you have searched about him/her which is valuable.Show appreciationShow respect, say Thank You when someone does something for you. Try to catch up on with friends and people in your network whenever possible. Don’t back to them just when you need them.Role of Media Info-graphics on social networkingInfo-graphics help delivering the information straightforward. Having a nice info-graphic has a potential capacity in expressing social web information in visually appealing manner. Variety of info-graphic types exist which any of them is suitable for delivering particular information, like; Social Web Involvement, Social Marketing Range, Social Landscape and Web Trend Maps.Location Based Social NetworksLocation based Social Networks are nowadays getting a great deal of attraction. Adding location data to social networks can increase the visitors as it is the most important characteristics of social media. Social networks should look at the motivation of their users for share their locations.For example when you want to take a photo, it’s because you want to capture a moment which is beautiful and you want to share it with others. So the aim is to sharing an experience with others in social networks. The facility to geo-tag that photo should be considered maybe someone else wants to experience it as well. These days companies are using location as improvement, rather than an aim, though their specific functions are wildly different. As part of an extensive experience location can provide a rich layer of social experience.Make fun by TwitterOne of the best social media for having traffic is twitter. Well it only needs a quick look to see the most favorite tweets are funny ones. If you follow the comedians you see how they increase their followers by their humor tweets. A nice 140-character tweet is so valuable that can deliver the massage as clear as possible to the followers through humor.
Brainstorm your keywordsReverse engineer your competitors keywords (go to their pages and view the words in their HTML code)Consider branded and non-branded keywordsUncover seasonal trends in what is being searched forOrganize your keywords: core words, helper words, negative keywords, value to your missionKEYWORDS should be in title tags meta descriptions on-page titles section headings body text image alt text navigation text hyperlinked text footer text URLs (but avoid deeply nested URLs)After conducting our analysis of traffic building keyword search terms, we select geography and measure search demand for setting up a campaign.
If your association is targeting more of the executives and head decision makers, LinkedIn is an excellent choice for lead generation campaigns.
1. VideoYouTube is the second highest search engine (under Google) and whether you use that, Vimeo or another online video application, this is a marketing trend that associations should seriously consider. In fact, Cisco Systems estimates that 90% of Web traffic will be driven by video by the end of 2013.So what are the benefits to video marketing? It’s engaging, it’s trackable and it’s shareable. You’re able to provide information where your members are most likely to view it, where it’s easy to see who’s watching and it’s even easier for them to click “share” and expand your online reach. And, video content represents higher-order objects when indexing web pages so it provides great SEO (search engine optimization) for your organization.2. MobileIf you’re as addicted to your smartphone as I am, then you know some type of mobile marketing, whether it’s an app, a text message or a mobile-friendly website, is the best way to get your attention. Your members are looking for the easiest way to engage with and learn about your organization. Provide them with mobile tools to access your association’s information.Mobile marketing provides you with an opportunity to extend your association’s conversation through traditional channels (such as newsletters or magazines) and with it, provide a way to track your results. Think QR codes or text-to-win type of campaigns. Not sure where to start? Check out these tips fromDigital Marketers United.3. Social mediaNo more excuses that your members aren’t using social media. They are. It doesn’t matter what demographic they fit into (I guarantee, if my 91-year-old grandmother is on Facebook, which she is, then your members are also there).However, that doesn’t mean you should jump on every social media channel you can think of.Choose your platforms wisely. Do your research and put on your ears before deciding where you’ll focus your social media efforts. Establish goals and ways to measure results. And whatever you do, be meaningful and conversational in your posts. Engage in conversations with your members, not at them.What do you gain with integrating social media into your membership marketing plan? For starters, how about increased exposure and increased traffic to your website, blog or social media channels? According to Social Media Examiner’s 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 85% of those surveyed indicated their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their organization.4. Content marketingNo matter what tool you choose to use, your association’s content should be relevant, timely and conversational. Gone are the days of push marketing. We are all content providers, no matter the type of organization we belong to, and it is our job to provide the information our members and constituents want.Think about content marketing as a way to solve your members’ problems. To provide them with the information they’re looking for. To be seen as an expert and a resource in your industry.What do you think? Is your association providing a variety of ways to communicate your message and engage with membership? Are you convinced that video, mobile, social media and content marketing are membership marketing trends you can’t afford to miss?