Member Recruitment Gone Wrong

On January 6th, a professional association in the scientific industry sent a direct mail piece to recruit new members.  The offer was actually quite good – before the deadline, you could join the association at 50% off the membership fee, with a free conference registration.  Since they are an organization offering corporate memberships, the savings were potentially over $2,000.  The piece was designed well, and captured attention.

Unfortunately, they either purchased a list from an online source, or have had this list for quite some time, and never removed records that did not have potential.  Why?

• First off, my colleague got the offer.  Not only does our company have no potential for membership, but we also never would have as individuals in our past careers.  The direct mail piece was addressed to my colleague who spent her career in hospitality sales & marketing.  
• Our contact information was not correctly inputted, with minor spelling mistakes in our company name, and her last name was WAY off.  
• On top of all of this, we received this on January 6th, and as of today, there has been no follow up.  

I cringe at the thought of how many people they mailed this to, addressing it to the wrong people, the wrong company type for their target market, and the investment spent to print pieces being sent to a really bad list.  Not to mention the fact that the lack of follow up does not really make a prospect believe you want their business.  It comes across as junk!

Why would any professional organization risk being seen in this light?  It sounds like desperation marketing...

What could be done differently to boost your ROI on recruitment efforts?

• Create a Unique Strategy:  What we are finding (and have found for years) is that not only does it take a unique strategy and marketing plan to get the return you want on any recruitment efforts, that the quality of the data you have on non-members is as crucial to your efforts as the beauty of the marketing piece.  This mailing was appealing, but was likely driven by the same type of marketing plan geared towards current members.  When it is time for renewal, they send a notice.  Little follow up is done, and membership numbers remain relatively the same, or drop as a result.
• Work from a Clean List:  B2B research has shown that in any given year, data can become obsolete at a rate of 30% per year or more.  The ratio really depends on your member demographic.  For example, in the hotel industry, sales & marketing managers can change properties quite frequently, even multiple times per year.  However, if they are physicians, perhaps their turn-over ratio is not as significant.  No matter the turn-over rate in your industry, a clean list is a smart first step to any and all marketing programs.  
• Follow Up!:  Sigh….It always amazes me that those spending thousands of dollars creating a really smart, visually appealing piece with a clear call to action, that contains contact information of not only the association, but the member services representative, and they literally did nothing to help build the relationship afterwards.

How do your recruitment efforts differ from other marketing?  Have you built in the right strategy to increase your ROI?

#Association Goals & Objectives [Infographic]

Using Your Members to Promote Your #Association

Scott Oser provided this guest post.  He is the President of Scott Oser Associates Inc, a US-based consultancy working with associations and non-profits to solve marketing, sales & membership and circulation challenges.   

Yes!  You Can Use Your Members To Your Advantage!

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to recruitment, retention and general marketing techniques that are proven to work over long periods of time but may be getting left out of our current tactical marketing plans because they are simply not shiny and new.  My mind drifts to this topic numerous times during the day as I work with clients, read association publications, blogs, social media, etc. and one group that I don’t think gets enough attention is our current membership.

Our members are a valuable resource to us and we need to do a better job of allowing them to help us help ourselves.  Here are a number of ways that members can be used in your marketing:

1. Borrows their words and stories—I am confident that you are doing a good job of describing the value proposition of the product or service you are promoting.  While that is a great first step there is an additional level of authenticity when a potential member or purchaser hears about how what you do has helped them and it is stated in their own words.
   
   What I am referring to here is typically called a testimonial but testimonials now come in different formats:
• Video—film your members//customers briefly stating how what it is you are trying to promote has benefited them in their own jobs/life.  
• Print—get quotes from members/customers to succinctly state how they have benefited from the product/service you are promoting and use it in direct mail, your print publications, brochures, print ads, etc.
• Electronic—take the same quotes you got for print, or get others, and use them in email, on your website, in social media, etc.
2. Let them do the work—There are a number of ways that you can get your members to literally do some of your promotional work for you.  You need to give them the tools to do what you ask of them so it is easy for them to help you but your members can be very effective advocates and even solicitors of membership, products and services.  A few successful ways I have seen members used are as follows:

• Identify and utilize social media champions.  There are members of your community that are already very active in your space on social media.  Invite them to talk about your organization or your products during their own blogging or other social media activity.  You can also invite members to be guest bloggers or tweeters or picture takers for a pre-determined period of time based on your needs.
• Develop an ambassador program—All of our events have first time attendees.  First time attendees often don’t know many, if any, people and can feel awkward and uncomfortable.  Identifying members that will be at the event that can serve as ambassadors and talk to first-time attendees or attendees that are standing alone is beneficial to both the ambassador and the persons they talk to.
• Member-get-a-member campaigns—I will openly admit I am not a huge proponent of member-get-a-member campaigns.  They can be cumbersome and time consuming and I have seen many examples where the ROI simply is not there.  That said, member-get-a-member campaigns can work in the right situations and yours may just be one of those.
• Forward to a colleague efforts—whether it is in print or at the bottom of an email you want your members/purchasers to let their colleagues know about what you are doing.  If you promote sharing information so that it becomes routine for your members/purchasers you will expand your audience without incurring any human or financial cost.

These are just a few ways you can use your members to help you succeed.  There are a lot more out there and I am hoping you are using at least some of them.  Our members are right in our backyards and are often very willing to help us.  Even though there are lots of new shiny ways we can promote our membership, products and services, we need to make sure we don’t ever forget them.

If you have ways that you are currently utilizing your members to help you promote please share them here.

How Market Penetration Shapes Associations’ Success

Of all the data we gathered for Greenfield Services’ 2013 Pulse Report, here’s the segment that says the most about the challenges and opportunities for Canadian associations:

Nearly one in five survey respondents had no idea what proportion of their potential members had actually joined their associations, and another 41.5% reported market penetration rates of 50% or less.

This problem isn’t new. But it’s hard to think of a more troubling statistic for anyone who has set out to build a strong, member-centric organization.

An association is most effective when it can legitimately claim to be the voice of its community, whether that community is an industry, a group of professionals, or a collection of like-minded individuals.

The most effective associations are most likely to retain enough members to build a solid financial base.

And the most financially stable associations are the ones with the time and resources to focus on long-term strategy and member return on investment (ROI), rather than short-term survival.

But if your organization hasn’t reached a large enough share of its prospective members, or hasn’t even defined its membership base, you’re back at the beginning of the curve.

A Familiar Problem

Greenfield first documented associations’ market penetration problem in its 2012 Pulse Report. Last year’s survey found that:

• 20.6% of associations had market penetration rates of 25% or less
• 22.1% had signed up 26 to 50% of their potential members
• Astonishingly, another 22.1% were unsure of their market penetration rates.

Market Penetration Rates, Canadian Associations, 2012–2013
	2012	2013
<25%	20.6%	29.3%
26-50%	22.1%	12.2%
51-75%	14.75%	17.7%
76%+	20.5%	23.8%
Unsure	22.1%	17%

With two years of Pulse Report data, the changes in associations’ market penetration rates show good news and bad.

We tracked a five-point drop, from 22.1% to 17%, in the number of associations that didn’t know what proportion of prospects they’d reached.

The proportion of associations with market penetration above 50% increased from 35.3% to 41.5%.
But the organizations that were hurting were in worse shape in 2013. A nearly identical proportion—42.7% in 2012, 41.5% in 2013—reported market penetration rates of 50% or less. But within that group, many more were reaching no more than 25% of their potential members.

Ask the Right Questions

If your association has low market penetration—or even worse, if you don’t know how to define your market—it’s time to invest in the in-house time or external resources to solve the problem. Not because we say so, but because your organization’s health and survival depend on it.

Here are some of the questions to ask:

• What are the top four, five, or half-dozen audience segments that make up your membership?
• Are you missing other audiences that should be a part of your membership base?
• What is the total size of each audience within your geographic territory?
• What is your current market share for each group?
• What additional percentage of each audience is already known to you—as prospects, subscribers, workshop or e-learning participants, lapsed members, or in any other capacity?
• How can you assemble a comprehensive prospect list, and what’s the best strategy for reaching out?
• Do you have the in-house resources to conduct an integrated membership marketing campaign, or do you need outsourced support?

Greenfield Services Inc. will release the 2013 Pulse Report at the National Conference of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, September 18-20, 2013 in Winnipeg. Contact us today to receive your own copy by email.

Effective Associations: Beating the Odds to Boost Your Membership Numbers

These aren’t easy times for associations to try to increase their membership numbers. But with a strong message and smart strategy, you can beat the odds and be the organization that everyone in your field wants to join.

We all know the challenges, and they won’t be going away anytime soon. Budgets are tight, so companies and organizations are hesitant to pay for association memberships. Time is scarce, so people are less likely to join when they doubt they’ll have time to participate. And much of the information and networking we used to receive from our associations is now just a few mouse clicks away, at no cost.

Keeping the Connections Open

Here’s what some of the most effective associations do to keep their membership numbers strong and healthy.

• 30% per year: That’s the astonishing rate at which business databases go out of date. Without accurate contact information, you’re bound to lose touch with your members. But it takes eight to 10 touchpoints to reach a target audience with a message that requires a decision and action. A regular data cleansing program is the only way to keep in touch with any membership association’s most important list of contacts.
• The permanent campaign: Most associations sign up only a small percentage of the prospective members in their professions, sectors, and supply chains. That’s because it takes time and consistency to reach out to membership prospects, find out what motivates them, and help them arrive at the inevitable conclusion that they really ought to have joined years ago. New member outreach works best when it’s a permanent campaign that stresses listening over selling and shows the powerful benefits of working together.
• Personal contact: It’s the price of entry if you want a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with the members you’ve already signed up. You should be thinking about renewing and retaining your members from the day they join, and reaching out to them with a contact program that shows you’re listening to what they need and want.

Thriving in Tough Times

It’s a tough landscape out there for associations. But your organization can thrive with the right plan for recruiting and retaining members. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when those members are so actively engaged that they become the cornerstone for your next wave of outreach, and for the idea generation that will carry you into a more certain future.

Image courtesy of  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Strategic Considerations for New Member Segments

Meredith Low provided this guest post.  She is a management consultant, focusing on helping organizations and companies understand how, when, and where to grow in the context of fast-changing environments. Her work with associations includes leading strategic and tactical planning, performing assessments to position conferences and meetings for growth and durability, and assessing the needs of members and other stakeholders. 

For associations looking to grow, tackling a new membership segment – perhaps colleagues, assistants, or supervisors of your current members – may be an attractive option to consider. However, there are risks; the benefits may prove to be a mirage, and the undertaking could sap enormous amounts of energy from the organization.

So, before plunging in, there is strategic work to do.

Why do you want to consider this? What underlying problem do you think it will solve for you? What strengths does it capitalize on? What makes this a strategic fit for your organization?

If you have a great operating system that is just a bit too expensive on a per capita basis for your current membership, or a crackerjack approach to marketing for member acquisition, then a new segment is worth considering.

However, if instead you are hoping that an influx of new members will shake up a hidebound political structure, more members may just exacerbate the problem.

Make sure this is a solution to the right problem, and make sure the key stakeholders (typically the Board) clearly understand the strategic hypotheses behind the idea.

What does yes look like? What would you have to believe to be true in order to say yes to this? What are the things that would make you turn away from the opportunity? How would the organization be different if this is what you choose to do?

What does no look like? Is your status quo sustainable? If pursuing a new segment doesn’t turn out to be the solution for the issues you are facing, what else might be? Do you have an attractive alternative – or is this really something that has become an imperative?

How will you make the decision? Who makes the call on whether this change should be made? What preparation or inputs will they need to make a good decision?

It’s important to think about decision-making in the abstract, for a couple of reasons. First, when you have data or information already in front of you, it’s easy to dwell on the details and miss the critical question of how the data answers the questions you are asking. Second, if you don’t know what data will influence the decision, you will waste time and energy chasing down answers that don’t help you figure out whether this is a good idea, and may distract you. Figure out what you need to know to make the decision, and then go answer those questions.

Due diligence should include at least some consideration of the following, although you may not need to address them all in the same detail:

• Demand – Is there any sign this segment would respond to your overtures? What can you offer that is uniquely valuable?
• Competition – Presumably these potential members are not entirely ignored now. Who are your competitors? What competitive moves can you anticipate if you target this segment? 
• Organizational capabilities – What would it take? Do you have the right skills or, if not, can you get them? 
• Finances – Can you do this profitably? Do you have the funds to make the investment that would be required? 
• Governance - Does anything in your governance structure preclude this move? How would governance need to change? 
• Advocacy – Would you be able to advocate effectively for both segments at once? Will there be conflicting interests?  
• Brand – Would it benefit or dilute the brand? 

There is opportunity cost with every strategic initiative, in terms of senior leadership (staff and board) time and attention – is even studying this idea really the best use of that already-constrained resource? If this isn’t the right idea to help your organization thrive, then you need to focus on finding out what is. And if this is a good idea for you, the sooner you get a realistic sense of what it will actually demand to be successful, the better.

Member Recruitment & Retention: It’s All in the Balance

There are moments in the life of any association when it’s critically important to recruit new members.  But it can be a fatal error to focus primarily or exclusively on recruitment, while ignoring the qualities that attract people to your organization—and motivate your existing members to come back to you year after year.

In the second in a five-part series on her Association Subculture blog, Shelly Alcorn describes a situation that should ring true to too many membership organizations.

“Leadership obsessed with recruitment at all costs will champion such things as running reckless membership promotion campaigns, offering deep, unsustainable dues discounts, offering commissions for new member sign-ups, or offering lavish prizes in member-get-a-member contests,” she writes. “They can even recruit more members than the association staff can adequately serve, leading to disappointment and low retention rates for new recruits.”

An overzealous approach to member recruitment can lead to tensions with existing members and confusion for new arrivals. And those problems are magnified when leaders “judge staff and volunteer performance on new member recruitment numbers, rather than current member retention.”

Last fall, the Greenfield Services Pulse Report pointed to a serious gap in Canadian associations’ member renewal marketing. “One of the most troubling findings of the Pulse Report was that 52.1% of associations followed up with only one to three member touchpoints as member renewal deadlines approached, while only 13.6% followed up seven or more times,” we wrote.

“These numbers matter a great deal against the established sales and marketing theory that it takes eight to 10 touchpoints to break through the clutter of competing media and priorities to reach a target audience with a message that requires a decision and action.”

And while member retention was a leading goal for 59.6% of the associations we surveyed, “fewer than half (48.5%) saw it as a top priority to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) that would give members a compelling reason to renew, and fewer than three in 10 (27.2%) placed strong emphasis on new product or service offerings.” Two-thirds of the organizations invested less than 10% of their operating budgets in membership marketing.

It isn't that member retention can or should be your only marketing strategy. The challenge for any association is to deliver the right balance of marketing content and social media to simultaneously tap new prospects and delight current members. That’s the key to building the deep pools of member loyalty and engagement that will keep your organization strong in good times and bad.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net