What's the best strategy?

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here", asked Alice in Wonderland. "That depends a great deal on where you want to get to", said the Cheshire Cat.

The same question and answer apply to membership marketing.

For some associations, an acquisition strategy is the most effective means to grow. For others, focusing on a renewal strategy will benefit the association over the long term. And for some, a balanced strategy will be the best solution. The job of the membership marketer is to analyze the options and develop the the plan for the best allocation of the associations marketing dollars.

I have listed three potential strategies below. Assuming all three are achievable, which do you think will get the best results for a typical? Here are your choices:

• Focus on acquisition by prioritizing the membership-marketing budget to maintain the current 75% renewal rate and add 8,000 new members each year.


• Focus on renewals by prioritizing the membership-marketing budget to achieve an 85% renewal rate and maintain the current level of 2,000 new members who join during the year.


• Focus on a balanced approach by prioritizing the membership-marketing budget to achieve an 80% renewal rate and adding 5,000 new members each year.

In my next post, I will outline which strategy that I think makes sense and provide a technique for calculating potential outcomes based on various renewal rates and acquisition levels.