If your one-off emails have never been very successful, don’t expect your first automated campaigns to be wildly more successful, but rather look at them as an experiment that will ultimately point you in the right direction of your real goals. MORE

These two reasons explain some of why receptions and other networking events don’t meet our member’s needs. Attendees and members attending your networking event say they want to meet new people, but despite their best intentions they rarely step outside of their comfort zone. MORE

Ideas to help you engage, empower and retain members. Being Thoughtful Takes a Minute… June 12th, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention. I’ve written about personalizing the member experience for years now but Chris Brogan reminded me in his weekly newsletter just how far personalization can go. In his newsletter he wrote about how the folks at Social Media Camp in Victoria, British Columbia made his experience memorable. MORE

A meeting planner said to me, “the whole conference experience is decided in the first 10 seconds”. But, attendees are assessing the experience. Typically great experiences cost money, right? Not all experiences have to, especially these. MORE

Association Marketing Strategy Member ExperienceWhat color is your association’s logo? Was it something that was inherited from your founding or did you recently rebrand? MORE

The post 3 New Year’s resolutions to improve your association members’ experience. Membership & Marketing Member Retention Professional DevelopmentIf you’re anything like me, coming up with New Year’s resolutions can be overwhelming and anxiety-ridden, not to mention their failure is often accompanied by evidence. I only have to look over my shoulder at the elliptical in my office to spot a failed resolution of 2016. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. MORE

More associations than ever are adopting online community platforms for their members. Today, we welcome a guest post from Andy Steggles at Higher Logic. To learn more about the power of online communities, visit www.higherlogic.com. MORE

The biggest problem with most annual conferences is that most members cannot go. What percent of your members make it to the conference each year? Which means that 70 to 90 percent of our members do not experience one of the top benefits the association has to offer. MORE

You’re informed about members’ digital activities. Each aspect can be connected to dictate the pathways and actions triggered during a unique subscriber’s experience. You want your subscribers to feel like their experience has been tailored just for them. MORE

CEOs have a tremendous impact on each member’s perceptions of the association, member culture, and membership metrics. Membership departments tend to focus on members or they focus on the mechanics of membership. MORE

When members get no response, they may think the association is another bureaucratic mess with no focus on customer service. It is worth noting that most members and potential members are blind to how busy the staff may be pre-conference or during other crunch times. MORE

There is a short window of opportunity to engage new members. Most new members join with high hopes. During the first few days of their membership, new members are inherently very engaged. We only have 3 days or 3 weeks to engage some new members. MORE

Email Communication Membership Management Software Member ExperienceI’m attending a wedding next month. MORE

A delightful member experience doesn’t have to flashy, highly technological, or expensive which is good because your smaller association or your chapters may not be able to afford expensive options. A very pleasant member experience can just be human. MORE

Yes, many of the association’s loyal members like receiving renewal notices because they serve as an essential reminder to renew. Over the years these members received more value than the cost of their membership and they had wonderful experiences because of the association. MORE

Your association membership is boosted by your members seeking credibility, professional development, competitive advantages and ways to give back. But, one of the primary reasons members join your association is for networking opportunities. MORE

And neither do your members. AMS Software Member Experience PersonalizationRemember the good old days when you were researching a vacation in Paris and an ad for Chinese food popped up in your internet browser? Do you miss that? Because I don’t. MORE

Finally, she decides to try a one-year experiment and join. Even if your members do not pay for their membership themselves, research says, they are annoyed by asks for more money early on. Consider adding a new member onboarding program or revising your existing program. MORE

You’re already trying to provide a positive customer or member experience, and maintain strong communications with them. Let’s start with that first part, about the experience. Put Experience First. Personalize the Member Experience. MORE

Struggling to get members engaged? When associations struggle to get members engaged, they often search for practical solutions like these, special tricks for getting members’ attention. Of course, once members do get involved, they’re more likely to stay with you. MORE

However, our members, especially new members are highly attuned to our tone. Spend some time pondering how you want members, and new members to feel when they interact with the association. Related: We talk about the importance of tone in the New Member Engagement Study. MORE

Increasing member engagement requires that you personalize their digital experience, which is hard to do if you’re not using these features. Additionally, you’ll be able to track member or prospect engagement and even automatically add subscribers that visit specific parts of your site to automated campaigns. What it does: A/B testing is your chance to experiment with the content and design of emails in your workflow – your landing pages, your ads, you name it. MORE

Each member may not bring a banner, like a canvas grocery bag, along with them expressing their worldview. However, each member certainly does bring their strongly held personal worldview to each interaction with their association. Some members are not huggers. MORE

Have you ever had this experience? An abandoned cart campaign is a perfect example of how marketing automation can be used to create a great user experience. When revealed, it’s actually quite a useful way to give members a more personalized, tailored, helpful experience. MORE

Training Membership Management Software AMS Software Member ExperienceHow many times have you heard someone say that they want to make a difference? MORE

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could customize everything little thing you did for your members? We’re talking content, meetings, events - the whole member experience. But that’s not to say you can’t customize your member experience at all. MORE

Businesses that deliver a cluttered customer experience have likely fallen victim to short-sighted temptations. Associations can avoid the same fate by fending off the forces that put other goals ahead of member needs. And that the association itself belongs to the members , anyway. MORE

Change your member’s profile photos to show a special banner, such as MVP, so it’s clear that your volunteers are some of the most valuable members of your association. Add a permanent, rotating leadership role or board member position for your volunteers. MORE

Not only do we experience first impressions of each other, but we also have first impressions for everything else from places to brands, and products, and organizations, and more. Our members do the same. Related: New Member Engagement Study [free report]. MORE

We have all felt the frustration of knowing that our members only remember a fraction of the benefits they are entitled to. The benefits list is hard to remember but the experiences our members have are easy to remember. Move membership from a transaction to an experience. MORE

For the last year, I have been saying that members who engage with the association within the first 3 days to 3 weeks of joining become more engaged through the life of their membership. I have been shouting this from the rooftops because members have told me this in interview after interview. MORE

The world is moving toward experiences … are associations focusing enough on member experiences? But what we are building with artificial reality is an internet of experiences.” Virtual reality, I hear, is far better when you experience it with someone else. MORE

Associations can use the Storify tool to quickly and efficiently gather social posts into online stories that highlight the member experience. The stream of posts became a way to highlight RTDNA members doing the grueling and challenging work of covering a category three hurricane. MORE

I met a really unusual member today. After having a bad first conference experience most members don’t attend again. After having a bad chapter event experience most members don’t go again. Not this member. MORE

Conference Management Mobile Strategy Event App Member Experience“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”. What a spectacularly incorrect statement. MORE

What if the member experience at your association was just the opposite? What if the experience was more like Joe’s? Related: 3 The decision to join myths and the reason members join our associations. Hidden problems that seriously erode member engagement. MORE

How many meaningful connections does each member make during the conference? Are you wondering how that can be when members share the same profession or same title or same industry? From our member’s point of view there is actually a lot of variation. MORE

Our members have no idea that: We have 30,000 other things going on in addition to answering the phone. We are about to go on-stage before 3,000 members, and we are a little nervous. Our members have no idea, and if we were in their shoes, we would have no idea either. MORE

Many associations see that their most at-risk members, the ones least likely to renew, are new members. But some new members do engage with the association, and they go on to become engaged 3-7 year members. Is the association providing enough value to long-time members? MORE

Shirley looked at the metrics of her 6-month new member email campaign. Overall new member renewal rates had increased a couple of percentage points since the program was implemented, which was directionally good, but not good enough. Focus Only on The Value New Members Need. MORE

If you have ever had the experience of attending a meeting, conference or session where you saw the other participants respond enthusiastically, only to try that very same thing back on your home turf and get a lukewarm response you’ll know what I mean. Experiences are not a moment in time. MORE

One of the big questions Todd asked me was about the challenges facing organizations today; especially as it pertains to experience for their customers or members. What Challenges Are Facing Associations As It Pertains to Customer Experience? Understanding Data I think one big challenge organizations face in building the right member experience is in figuring out how to use the data associations already have. What does that experience feel like to the customer? MORE

Imagine members clapping, and cheering, and standing on their feet. Conference Member Experience attendee engagement attendee experience conference conference culture conference experience creating member experiences member experiences MORE