Integrating Membership Marketing Channels to Grow Your Association

The truth is that there is no stand-alone marketing channel that can fully support membership marketing.

You may hear marketers say that they have done away with direct mail and now only communicate with email.  Or they only use content marketing and do not send messages to prospective members through traditional outbound efforts.

However,  the integration of multiple marketing channels or pathways working together produces the best results in getting and keeping members.

Here are six marketing channels that can work together to support a thriving membership program. 

1.      Word of Mouth – Sometimes opportunities are handed to you that you can capitalize on quickly through Word of Mouth efforts.  One client – the American Nurses Association – used a negative comment on a national television show to gain significant exposure and appreciation for defending their members' professionalism through their social media word of mouth efforts.  In fact, Word of Mouth and membership referrals are consistently reported as the most productive ways to recruit new members.  The challenge is to consistently harness and motivate this people-driven channel. 

2.     Online Digital Marketing – One of the fastest growing marketing channels used in membership is Digital Marketing.  This takes advantage of paid advertising with search engines, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online opportunities.  It can even be effective in engaging and renewing current members who may not open an email, but will respond to an opportunity they see from you on Facebook.  Digital marketing can be used to drive prospective members directly to a join or renew page or it can offer free, valuable content in exchange for the respondent agreeing to opt-in to future communications.  Those who show interest can then be followed up with through traditional "push" marketing efforts.  And because they raised their hand and demonstrated interest in your materials, those who opt-in can respond to your other marketing efforts at five times the rate of “cold” prospects.

3.      Direct Mail – This channel remains one of the most effective and scalable methods to recruit and renew members because it is easily targeted, trackable, and tactile.  In fact, our 2018 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report highlighted that for individual membership associations, direct mail remains one of the most effective tactics for recruitment. And previous research shows that associations with renewal rates of 80% or higher are significantly more likely than those with lower renewal rates to say direct mail is the most effective membership renewal channel.

4.      Email – Once a prospect is added to the database after a lead is captured, a purchase is made, or someone joins the association, email becomes the most commonly used marketing channel.  It makes sense because email is fast, inexpensive, and includes links back to the website where a sale can be completed.  Email also allows you to read the behavior of the recipient.  Did the email bounce? Did the recipient open the email?

5.      Telemarketing and Telephone Sales – With Caller ID, getting through to a prospect or members on the phone has become a more challenging task, but for a highly qualified prospect, like a lapsed member, telemarketing is very effective.  The former member may have long since stopped reading your email or opening your mailings, but a call from another human on the end of the phone to answer questions or encourage a decision can make a difference.  A phone call from a peer or a staff person can be particularly effective.

6.      Social Media – By 2018, 95% of individual membership associations have an official Facebook page, 89% use Twitter, 63% have a LinkedIn group, and 60% have a YouTube channel.  Clearly social media has been almost completely integrated into association's marketing and communications mix.  This low or no cost channel allows you to have a storefront on the main street of the internet.  The trick is to get prospects and members to move from window shoppers into the store as buyers.

In addition to these primary membership marketing channels, there are many others to consider including radio and TV commercials, exhibiting, chapter initiatives, and print advertising.

Each of these channels is a marketing tool with strengths and weaknesses.  Some of these like Word of Mouth, Digital, and Social Media can be most effective in starting a relationship with a prospect and getting the conversation started.  Others like Email, Direct Mail, and Telemarketing are tools that are particularly effective in closing a sale and taking an order.  But none of them can be fully effective without the support of the others. 

As you plan your membership marketing efforts, think through how each of these channels might best be used to help accomplish your goals.