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
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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.
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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.
- 6. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 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
- 9. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25 CALCULATIONS
- 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
- 16. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25 RENEWAL RATES MEMBERSHIP
- 17. OVERALL MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL RATE Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 18. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 19. HOW MANY MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL CONTACTS? Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 20. RENEWAL RATES BY NUMBER OF CONTACTS Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 21. BASIC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES BY RENEWAL RATE Less than 80% 80% or Higher Under $50 9% 3% $50 - $99 21% 7% $100 - $149 15% 6% $150 - $199 16% 10% $200 - $299 11% 13% $300 - $399 7% 10% $400 - $499 2% 6% $500 - $749 5% 7% $750 - $999 2% 3% $1,000 and over 3% 7% Varies by company size 9% 29% Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 22. START THE RENEWAL EFFORT WHEN? Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 23. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 24. WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION OFFICIALLY USE? Could select multiple categories Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 25. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25 SOCIAL MEDIA
- 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
- 30. Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25 ACQUISITION
- 31. MEMBER ACQUISITION Successful membership growth depends on strong renewals but relies on successful acquisition. 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
- 33. ACTION INCENTIVES WORK Price discounts Limited quantities Discount coupons Bonus gifts for acting before a deadline Money back guarantee
- 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
- 35. SALES TOOLS TO INCLUDE Testimonials Endorsements Comparisons Reliability Specific Facts Repetition Linda S. Chreno, CAE, IOM #EdDay25
- 36. FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR LEADS
- 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
- 49. QUESTIONS? 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?