7 Practices to Guide Associations Through the Unpredictable Year Ahead
We were all looking forward to 2021, thinking the disruption caused by the pandemic would soon fade away, but COVID insists on sticking around. With the slow rollout of the vaccine, we must reconcile ourselves (and our organizations) to a few more seasons of staying at home.
Many associations don’t see this as a time of doom and gloom. In fact, 69% of associations have seen an increase in member engagement since the pandemic began, according the Association Economic Outlook Report, conducted in the fall of 2020 by Marketing General Inc. (MGI).
These associations saw opportunities amidst a crisis. They figured out what their members and market needed, and provided it, such as pandemic-related resources, and new virtual networking and education events.
No one knows what 2021 will bring but you can plan for a few scenarios. You can also put these seven practices into play so your association is well-positioned to deliver value, and preserve and strengthen member and customer engagement and loyalty.
#1: Reassess Your Membership Value Proposition
“Even in our current situation, some groups are achieving increased membership counts because they are delivering such strong support to members,” said MGI in the 2020 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report released this past summer. Some associations are even enjoying “the most significant new member months in their history.”
These associations are delivering on their value proposition and, in many cases, tweaking that value proposition to reflect what members need now.
Before the pandemic, only 48% of associations saw their value proposition as “very compelling” or “compelling.” But what about now? The pandemic changed habits, preferences and needs. Professionals in your industry might be dealing with revenue losses, new operating conditions, and/or the challenges of working from home, alongside children in many cases.
Even before the pandemic, industries and professions experiencing change were seeing the need for new skills. That change is now accelerating.
Does your membership value proposition reflect the needs of your members and market right now?
#2: Capture Attention, Tailor Messaging and Communicate Your Value
Communicating the membership value proposition is a challenge for many associations for three reasons: attention, segmentation and clarity.
Members and prospects are bombarded with an endless stream of information and distractions. Your message, whether it’s a legislative alert, call for volunteers, event promotion or a membership marketing email, must somehow capture their attention. Once they notice your email, they must believe it’s worth their time to open and read it.
They won’t bother if the email doesn’t seem relevant to their interests and needs. You can improve relevancy by using segmentation to tailor email content. According to MGI, 55% of associations believed they could improve member engagement by customizing communications for different member segments. This lack of segmentation could be why 40% of associations have trouble engaging with new and younger members.
Young professionals (YPs) need career resources, entry-level education and opportunities to meet peers as well as members who are five or ten years ahead of them. They don’t want to be guests in your association, they want to be participants. Don’t offer them token seats. Tap their perspective and insight so you can truly understand their needs and interests. Honestly, your middle-aged board members and committee chairs don’t have a clue.
How are you segmenting your email communications? If you’re relying on pre-pandemic segments, are they still valid? Have new segments appeared?
How are you tailoring communications (and value) to young professionals?
In your communications, be clear about the potential impact of membership—or whatever you’re promoting—on a person’s life. Don’t merely describe the features, describe the results they can expect.
#3: Look Beyond Membership When Marketing
In MGI’s Association Economic Outlook Report, 39% of associations said they believe their membership counts will decline this year. However, in their membership report, MGI said, “There was a remarkably strong rebound following the Great Recession… Each of the four years after the Great Recession produced the best new member recruitment years to date in our research.”
Until those good times return, adjust your marketing to reflect current conditions. When funds are tight, employers typically cut budgets for membership, but many continue to budget for professional development—a popular perk for employees in a competitive job market.
Take this opportunity to market strongly to non-members, who are most likely a larger segment of your market. They’re looking for the same things as your members: to improve their skills, deepen their knowledge and expand their network. Forget about pushing them into membership. Focus on establishing a loyal customer relationship.
Are you inundating your non-members with membership marketing? Or, are you strengthening your relationship with them by sharing relevant content and establishing yourself as a reliable resource?
#4: Let Real-Time data Inform Decisions, Not Assumptions
According to the 2021 Learning Business Landscape survey by Leading Learning/Tagoras, 90% of organization offering professional development are increasing or planning to increase their efforts to gather and analyze data to inform new product decisions or improve existing products. Many are also using or planning to use data to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of the learning experiences they provide.
Anytime you make decisions to improve or develop products and services, you need real-time data that reflects changing needs, interests and preferences, such as:
- Behavioral data, like website traffic, portal downloads, email clicks and virtual conference behavior
- Interest surveys
- Member profile updates
Pulse surveys are a popular tool for collecting real-time data and keeping up with changes in member interests and preferences. However, to put this data to work, you need an AMS that integrates with other systems or data analytics tools for a 360-view of members and customers.
How are you learning about changing needs and interests? What kind of data do you rely upon? How up-to-date is it? Do you have a 360-view?
#5: Focus Primarily on Virtual Learning, Not In-Person
Per the MGI economic outlook, 84% of associations plan to increase their virtual professional development offerings. The pandemic caused the majority of Leading Learning survey participants to create or significantly revise their learning business strategy, increase the number of their online educational offerings and introduce new online educational formats.
That’s a good thing because the U.S. Travel Association’s travel forecast said we won’t see pre-COVID travel levels until 2024.
The pandemic hastened the inevitable shift to online learning, which, for many, is the most convenient way of pursuing professional development. In 2020, virtual event planning was in emergency mode. Many associations tried to replicate their old event, usually with session recordings and a Zoom-style chat box on the side—a passive experience for the most part.
Expectations are higher in 2021. People have virtual fatigue. They want conversations. They’re stuck chatting with the same people at work and home, and are eager to meet and talk with new people in their industry.
Watching their kids go to school online, prospective attendees and learners are more discerning about the educational experience. They know passively listening to a presentation is not learning. They want interactive exercises and discussions so they can apply what they’re learning while getting to know new people.
Have you improved the virtual learning experience for conference attendees and online course participants? How can you differentiate your educational experience from competitors?
#6: Plan a Pandemic Retrospective
Project managers do a retrospective at the end of a project—a look back at lessons learned and successful practices to use next time. You can do a retrospective on your association’s response to the pandemic.
How nimbly did your association leadership respond? How can you improve that response rate? What are your plans to diversify revenue so you aren’t overly reliant on one profit center?
#7: Lean into Digital Transformation
A silver lining of the pandemic was the acceleration of digital transformation. Remote work, virtual education and networking, and virtual governance all fell into place.
In the MGI economic outlook, 72% of associations said they are reevaluating and streamlining internal processes. This is a time of experimentation. Nearly everyone has been changing their routines, and your association should too.
This is also a time of learning for your members and you too. Read blogs, attend webinars and virtual conferences, and participate in online discussions. Practice what you preach for your members. Lifelong learning is an imperative for your career too.
See how our powerful association management software, and immersive virtual events solution can help you engage members for the coming year and beyond.