The Impact of Marketing and Public Relations on Associations

Without proper publicity, an association simply cannot grow. Though we are not certain there is no such thing as bad press, we do believe that reputation is everything and that a steady stream of efficient marketing strategies is what build an interactive audience and create a distinctive brand that ultimately drives revenue. Public Relations (PR) is a vital component to building, promoting, and managing brand reputation.

A common misconception we hear is that PR is only valuable for either very large businesses and/or globally recognized brands. We disagree. Entirely. Every type of business, nonprofit, and association – regardless of size – can benefit from strategic PR, and here at Ngage Management, we have integrated that philosophy into our infrastructure.

Ngage Management is the only association management company in Michigan that has strategically built and invested in a full-service marketing and communications team. As owner, I knew it would be invaluable to the Michigan marketplace and our clients (both current and potential) to have a strong, diverse, in-house team committed to each aspect of communications. Our team of professionals is comprised of graphic designers, professional writers, public relations specialists, and social media strategists, each of whom helps leverage and strengthen our unique client needs.

Interested in a specialized public relations strategy for your association? Here are 5 reasons why you should partner with Ngage for your marketing, communications, and public relations goals:

Strategy and Analytics

When it comes to your audience, it is vital to understand and assess its needs. This not only helps establish trust and therefore builds a following, but it also allows you the opportunity to connect with your audience in a constructive, meaningful way. Our team of experts don’t just create a strategy that sounds compelling, we assess the numbers and look at the analytics behind your website, email, and social media to illustrate where engagement is and where it needs to be, as well as how to get there. We continuously analyze along the way and adjust as needed to ensure your marketing plan fits the ever-evolving needs of your association and its audience. 

Branding and Design

We understand that marketing and communications are an immediate reflection of an organization and its brand. Our creative team of experts believes that a brand is more than just a logo and we use that knowledge to create a consistent voice and intuitive visual identity that supports your values across all communication outlets. After recognizing a considerable need for it, our team studied to become proficient in video curation for small campaigns and digital marketing and is now able to offer this to our clients. We can create digital visual imagery on behalf of our client’s brand and build it from conception through execution. This not only sets us apart from our competitors, but it allows us to generate purposeful, originative content that helps bring our client brands to life through storytelling.

Digital Marketing

At a high level, digital marketing refers to communications delivered through digital channels such as search engines, websites, social media, email, and online advertising. Digital marketing is certainly the most popular form of content marketing today – likely because it is cost effective, and it can be done on your own timeline, rather than working with a third party. It also generates the most audience engagement and immediate reach due to its digital, and therefore accessible, nature. We build marketing plans from the onset that utilize all digital channels. This allows our clients to sharing similar messages across various platforms while ensuring your cadence of communication does not oversaturate the market. If you clients follow you on multiple channels, having an effective digital marketing and content strategy ensures they are receiving diverse content. Our experience with social media, email newsletters, digital advertising and search engine optimization puts our clients at the forefront of their audience and engagement.

Content Creation and Editing

Once you have established your brand’s identity and determined your voice, it is important to begin to implement it across all marketing materials and channels. This provides your audience and members with consistency. Whether through print publications, email, social media, or your website: creating unique content that is harmonious with your values is one of the keys to connecting with your members. We have content creators in-house that support all aspects of communication, ensuring content is not only grammatically correct, edited, and polished, but appropriately resonates with its audience.

Public Relations

The goal of public relations is to influence the public’s way of thinking about your brand by providing positive and relevant messaging to the audience that elicits good responses and encourages engagement. We ensure that relevant media outlets know who we are, as well as our clients, and establish professional relationships to make the appropriate liaison connections to generate press releases and pitch sheets. Utilizing PR efforts helps establish strong, familiar connections in your community which spreads awareness and allows your brand to grow.