Join our Webinar on the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report

Two of our authors of the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report will present an interactive webinar on July 30 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to review the findings from our 2013 benchmarking research. 

You are invited to participate using this link.  The webinar is free of charge. 

Our presenters, MGI Vice President Erik Schonher and Director of Research Adina Wasserman, Ph.D., will focus on how associations have fared over the last 12 months and how the industry has evolved over the past 5 years.

You can also download a copy of the 2013 Report using this link.  Registration is now open.  I hope you can participate. 

How to Test Big and Win Big in Membership Marketing

One thing that disappoints me the most in the practice of membership marketing is the lack of testing that is conducted.  In our 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report only 16% of responding associations said that they conducted A/B split testing (a control versus a test segment) as part of their membership marketing efforts.  And that is down from 20% who said that they did so last year.

Besides under spending on marketing, lack of testing remains the single biggest missed opportunity to grow membership.

The three basics to test in marketing remain the list you market to, the offer you make, and message/package you send.

1.     Testing Lists – It is not unusual to see a huge variance between list response rates.  Right now I am looking at a results report where lists were tested.  The best performing list produced a 1.88% response rate.  The worst list – one tested as a sample – produced a .14% response rate.  The good news is that I know what each list achieved and can make decisions on my next campaign based on these results.

2.     Testing Offers – It is not unusual to see a variance of 100% or more in an offer test.  Offers can include how you package or the products and services you include in your membership.  Is it like a luxury car loaded with options or is it a basic model.  But more often the offers that you will be testing are the special incentives you use to encourage a prospective member to join.  These might include a free trial, a discount, a voucher for future purchases, or installment payments.

3.     Testing Messages/Packages – These tests can influence response by 50% or more.  In direct mail, a test package might include all new format, graphics, and copy.  In email efforts, it may be just the look and the copy.  Message testing can go to the core of your membership offer and test various presentations of your value proposition or it can simply present a new and different appearance that will help a prospective member take another look at your organization. A very simple test that many forget to do is trying different “From” lines and “Subject” lines in your email marketing to a portion of your list.  Then send the remainder of your file with whatever “From” line or “Subject” line had the best open and click through rates. 

In addition to the elements that should be tested, there are also important practices to keep in mind.

First, be sure to test big things.  I have relearned this lesson the hard way with a client of late.  We tested several individual pieces in an engagement and renewal program.  The problem was over the course of a year the member received hundreds of communications from the organization, so when I looked to see if our one “special” new member touch made a difference in renewal rates, I was disappointed to see that the extra “pebble” we gave them of free content at the start of their membership did not seem to hurt or help their ultimate decision to renew.  We should have tested a significantly different engagement or renewal program not simply one small element of an existing system. 

The same idea applies to membership recruitment.  Don’t test a postage stamp against a pre-printed indicia.  Test a full membership price against a substantial new member discount or a new list that will open up a new market for your organization.

Secondly, test with statistical accuracy.  There are times that our tests receive such small returns that the results are not really valid.  As a very general rule of thumb, in direct marketing recruitment, if you achieve a 1% response rate, you will want a minimum of 40 responses to both your control and test offers to achieve a statistically valid test.   Remember it is not the number of people who you promote to that matters, but the number of responses you receive. The smaller the variance you want in statistical accuracy or the lower your response rate, the larger the responding sample size you need.  If you want more information on testing statistics, here is a site with some nice tools you can use.  

Finally, testing something is better than testing nothing.  Any test that you construct is going to create additional work for someone in your organization and create push back.  So find something that can be tested quickly and easily.  Get some fast testing wins.  When you do this, testing and reading marketing results can become an exciting and fun part of your job and your organization’s culture.

 

Remembering the Human Factor in Membership Retention and Renewals

Sometimes we get so focused on the marketing mechanics of membership renewals that we forget that we are dealing with real people involved with everyday real life challenges. 

I have been reminded of this as I have read through hundreds of open ended responses shared by members in some clients’ research where they explain why they have not continued their affiliation.

There are always a few comments that members disagree with the association’s policies or stances or they do not feel that they have received value for their dues dollar or they do not feel engaged or connected with the association.  And these are the common reasons membership directors believe that members lapse, but these responses are actually not all that frequent in unprompted member comments.

Instead, real member comments present a different picture.  Simply put, members say that life is complicated, busy, transient, and costly and this interferes with them continuing membership.

Here are some of the paraphrased responses members shared as to why they have not continued their membership.

1.      My employer STARTED to pay for my membership, so my membership address is now at the office.

2.      I am retired and want to continue, but did not see a low cost retired membership category available.

3.      I have not had a raise for years and I simply cannot afford membership.

4.      I was very busy and just keep forgetting to renew.

5.      The online renewal process was too complicated or did not work, so I gave up trying.

6.      I have been sick, but plan to renew when I feel better.

7.      We trade off membership every other year in my office.

8.      I have some unexpected expenses, but plan to come back when I have some more funds.

9.      I thought that my membership was still active.

10.   I am out of the country, but plan to continue when I return.

So what are the lessons that we may want to take away from these “life happens” types of member responses?

I have two suggestions. 

First, be sympathetic.  We spend so much time and effort in trying to communicate with members that when our efforts go unnoticed it is easy to assume the worst.  We assume that either our organization does not have the value members want or that members do not care about our issues or industry.  But remember to walk in your members’ shoes and understand that just like us they have financial, health, work, and family priorities that keep them from focusing on your organization.

Second, be persistent.  In the comments that I have reviewed, very few members complain that an association stays in touch with them too much over time.  So keep checking back with former members.  Let them know that you have not forgotten them.  Tell them about the new products, services, and content that you have waiting for them.  Be available to them when life gives them the time, funds, and needs to re-engage with you.

Finally, remember that since life is complicated and members are busy, we need to make the renewal process as simple and seamless as possible.  If you have a retired membership category, make it clear.  Test the website to be sure that renewal is easy.  And de-duplicate your records, so that you have a member’s latest address in the system.    

 

Free Download of the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report Now Available

 

 

It is my pleasure to announce the release of the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. With site registration, a free download of the report is available using this link. Please download your copy of the report now and let me know what you think. 

A final and full printed report has also just been mailed to all of those organizations who participated in this year’s research. 

This marks the fifth year that Marketing General Incorporated (MGI) has surveyed associations to better understand what is going on in the membership market and what is working best to recruit members, engage new members, renew existing members, and reinstate former members. 

I think you will find the new data and the trend data from the past five years very useful. 

The most important aspect of this report is that it goes beyond cataloging membership practices of responding associations; the Benchmarking Report also takes these practices and cross-tabulates them with the membership outcomes that associations are experiencing. The comparison of practices and better renewal rates or more members provides strong directional information to help you select the tactics and strategies that might fit into your marketing plans for the upcoming year. 

I hope that you find the 2013 Report of help as you seek to maximize the membership results for your organization.

Four Challenges to Effective Content Marketing for Membership Recruitment

Over the years, I have done a number of posts related to trading content for contact. This technique is called a content marketing strategy where free samples of your membership content are made available -- typically online -- and those interested in using it connect with your organization.

But what if you have tried this approach after reading some of these posts and it is not working for you?  What might be the problem?  Joe Pulizzi shared some good insights on why content marketing may not work in the May issue of COO: Chief Content Officer.  

Here are some of his points. 

1.     Make sure that your content is not all about you.  Prospects are looking to solve their problems.  So be sure your content provides a solution. 

2.     Your content does not include calls to action.  Remember the real reason that you share content for free is to initiate and ultimately sell a membership. You need to communicate that buying a membership will ensure an ongoing flow of content.  

3.     Your shared content is too broad.  Your shared content needs to prove that your organization is the leading expert in your membership category.  If it is too general, you will attract unqualified prospects that do not need the specific solutions that you offer to members. 

4.     Your testing is too slow.  Pulizzi notes that “speed beats perfection”.  The web allows for rapid prototyping.  Offer up the content and if it does not work, try something else – fast.

For some additional ideas on how to implement a content marketing program, you may want to take a look at my post titled, Using Online Lead Generation to Drive Membership Recruitment. 

Quick Findings on Membership Dues Increases

Once again in our 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Research, we investigated the practices around increasing membership dues rates. 

Of the 680 association respondents that answered these dues related questions, 23.5% reported that they have or plan to increase their dues rates this year.  The industry segments most likely to be raising dues include organizations that identified themselves as Chambers of Commerce.  The industry segment least likely to be raising membership dues are Arts, Cultural, and Museum based associations.

A total of 31% of trade associations report that they are raising dues in 2013 compared to 21% of individual membership organizations.  Also associations with budgets of over $5 million dollars are more likely to be putting a dues increase in place.  And organizations that report annual renewal rates above 80% or better were more likely to be raising dues compared to those with lower renewal rates (26.7% compared to 18.5%).

How much are organizations raising dues levels?  51% of respondents said that their last dues increase was between 1 and 5% and 24.7% had increases of between 6 and 10%.  The vast majority of associations (62.6%) report that they do not raise dues on a regular basis, but only on an “as needed basis”.

From our research the lesson has been pretty consistent over time that most associations can easily implement modest dues rate increases without adversely impacting their membership.

The final benchmarking report will be released in several months and participating associations will receive a printed edition of the complete report.

Direct Mail Remains a Productive Channel for Membership Marketing

As we deploy new and exciting marketing channels, it is often good to step back to be sure that we are covering the basics.  That’s why I found an article by Kevin Mills, the Director of Membership for the National Legal Defense Association, a good reminder. 

In the April issue of Marketing Advents, Mills wrote an article titled, Direct Mail: The Foundation for Marketing Success.  “With more than 15 years of experience developing marketing strategies to increase membership and member benefits,” Mills says, “I have the most confidence in direct mail … Direct mail provides legitimacy to our organization and its cause, and provides the vehicle for email and social media campaigns to be successful. Again, using other marketing tools is obviously a necessity in today’s technology-driven culture.  But, in laying the foundation for marketing success, the results are best when we put together a comprehensive marketing strategy that begins with direct mail.”

He adds “that even our younger customers are responding to our direct mail efforts.”

Mills conclusions were confirmed in the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking research.  Organizations that used direct mail in renewal efforts were more likely to have renewal rates of over 80%, have increased membership in the past year, and have increased or maintained their renewal rates.  Additionally associations with 20,000 or more members affirmed that direct mail was the most effective marketing channel for membership recruitment.

What’s the bottom line?  In my experience, direct mail remains an effective and scalable channel to help organizations get and keep members.  Used properly, it is highly targetable, track able, and affordable.  If it is not in your marketing portfolio of tools, it probably should be given a try. 

Characteristics of Rapidly Growing Membership Associations

The 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking data shows that 24% of responding associations reported rapid growth in membership over the past year.  My definition of rapid growth is growing at a rate of 6% or better.   

So today, I took a look at some of the characteristics of these growing associations.  Here is what I found.

·       Associations that describe themselves as offering both individual membership and organizational membership are more likely to have rapid membership growth compared to individual or trade groups (28% to 23% to 21%).

·       Associations with 20,000 members or more are more likely to have rapid growth (35%).

·       Associations representing healthcare, hobbyists, financial services, and professional services markets are more likely to have rapid growth.

·       Associations with an increase in new members over the past year are more likely to have rapid membership growth (33%).

·       Associations with an overall renewal rate of less than 80% are more likely to have rapid membership growth compared to organizations with an 80% or greater renewal rate (27% to 22%).

·       Associations with an increase in renewal rates over the past year are more likely to have rapid growth in membership (39%).

·       Associations with first year new member renewal rates of between 60% and 79% are more likely to have rapid membership growth (28%). 

This topic probably warrants going deeper into the data to look at specific tactics that correlate with rapid membership growth.  But for now, here is one finding that the data may support.  It may be more important to add new members into the membership funnel than to renew them. 

Groups with somewhat lower overall renewal rates and lower first year renewal rates still had rapid growth.  This may be because a larger portion of their membership is made up of new members who characteristically renew at lower levels than do long term members.

Please feel free to share your theories in the comments section below. 

 

Good Friday Prayer

Last week, I came across this old prayer and I thought it would be appropriate to share for Good Friday.  It is titled, The Valley of Vision.

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;

   hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

   Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

   that the way down is the way up,

   that to be low is to be high,

   that the broken heart is the healed heart,

   that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

   that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

   that to have nothing is to possess all,

   that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

   that to give is to receive,

   that the valley is the place of vision.

 

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

   and the deeper the wells the brighter

   Thy stars shine;

Let me find Thy light in my darkness,

   Thy life in my death,

   Thy joy in my sorrow,

   Thy grace in my sin,

   Thy riches in my poverty

   Thy glory in my valley.

 

Association Membership Growth by Industry Served

The economy impacts industries differently. These impacts also translate into the associations that serve each sector.

In our 2013 benchmarking research, we asked respondents to tell us the industry that their association serves. Then we cross tabulated the industry from the largest responding sectors with the percentage of the associations reporting increases in membership over the past year.

The chart below shows the industry served and the percentage of associations in that sector reporting an increase in membership.

Percentage of Associations Reporting Membership Growth by Industry

Not surprisingly, associations serving the healthcare industry had the highest likelihood to have seen membership growth over the past year. Healthcare groups, along with Science and Engineering societies, also topped the list of associations experiencing membership growth over the past five years.

Associations in Education, Professional Services (blue collar), and the Building and Construction industries were much less likely to have seen an increase in membership.

The final benchmarking report will be released in several months and participating associations will receive a printed edition of the complete report.

Early Benchmarking Results Confirm Continued Growth in Association Membership Counts

As we begin to analyze the survey returns for the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, results show that there continues to be growth in the membership counts for participating associations.

Over 690 associations participated in the research and of those 361 (52 percent) reported that they have an increase in their membership over the past year. This is the second year in a row that the majority of participants reported membership growth and continues the positive trend from the low point of only 36 percent of associations reporting membership growth in 2010.

Interestingly, organizations with larger memberships reported higher growth for the past year. In fact, 60 percent of associations with memberships greater than 20,000 said that they saw growth this past year. While only 50 percent of associations with less than 1,000 members saw growth.

The final report will be released in several months and participating associations will receive a printed edition of the complete report.

Using Online Lead Generation to Drive Membership Recruitment

Whether you recruit new members using direct mail, email, or telemarketing, your efforts are empowered by identifying the very best prospects for membership and then promoting to them.

But where do you find the names and contact information for top prospects that have an immediate need for the information and content that your organization specializes in producing?

For an increasing number of membership organizations one source is using your website, search engine marketing (SEM), targeted social media ads, ad networks, and other online tools to offer free information that invites prospects to raise their hand and request your content in exchange for their name, address, email and an opt-in for you to continue interacting with them.

When a prospect searches for your information, finds material provided by you, and requests follow up, they identify themselves as excellent candidates to join.

Here are some examples of effective free information offers that encourage the exchange of contact information for content:

1. A free whitepaper with a compelling title and useful information
2. A free webinar offering continuing education
3. A registration for a private social network
4. A free organizational or industry e-newsletter

Respondents to the ad are directed to a microsite that is designed to reinforce the value of the free content and collect the prospects information. Once the form is submitted, a follow up email fulfills the offer and the membership cultivation process can proceed.


Sample Lead Capture Microsite

One of the additional advantages of online lead generation is how measurable it can be. From the initial click to the final join each step the prospect takes can be tracked through the process. Effectively the fingerprints of the prospect are left each step along the way from the ad that was initially clicked, to the follow up emails, to the submission of a member application.
How active is your organization in trading content for contact? Please feel free to comment on your experiences.

Using Member-Get-A-Member Programs to Generate More Loyal and Valuable Members

As long as there have been membership organizations, there probably have been member-get-a-member (MGM) programs. It makes a lot of sense. Your members are likely to be in contact with others who share the same interests and needs as they do. 

Plus, as noted in an article in the Harvard Business Review, “Why Customer Referrals Can Drive Stunning Profits” a study of “10,000 accounts in a large German bank over a period of three years found that customers obtained through referrals are both more loyal and more valuable than other customers.”

Our 2015 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report highlights that once again “word of mouth” referrals is reported as the most effective membership recruitment channel for associations.

So how can membership organizations harness the power of referrals? From my exploration of MGM programs, I have not seen a single “right” way to run these programs. A common theme of effectiveness for MGM programs, however, seems to be making the program simple and being consistent in the request and expectation of asking members for referrals.

Also most MGM programs include some type of incentive to encourage members to participate. These come in the form of gifts or financial incentives, some type of contest, or recognition before your peers in the association. You should note that there a many legal requirements that need to be fulfilled if you use any type of sweepstakes offer or drawing. Additionally, CAN-SPAM restrictions apply when a member provides a colleagues email address to you without the prospects opt-in.  I do not attempt to cover those issues here.

Here are three examples of member-get-a-member programs that I am familiar with from different associations.

The first is a “free trial” membership approach. Current members are sent tickets – like those pictured here -- that offer a six month, no-obligation membership in the organization. The strength of this program is that members do not need to sell anything. They are simply asked to give away a sample of something that they value and use themselves. Additionally, both the member and the trial member are entered into a drawing for participating in the program.

A second example is from an organization that I have been a member of for years – the IEEE. Each year, they send me a set of cards in my renewal notice and ask me to distribute them. The member writes their name and membership number on the card, so when the invitee signs up for membership online, the member information is can be entered and captured. Specific financial rewards are provided by IEEE for recruiting members. Here is a link to the MGM web site for IEEE that gives full details on how this program works.

Another example is the MGM program of a trade association. Their referral program focuses the giving the member the privileged of conferring a new member dues discount to the company that they refer. If you or someone from your member company recommends a firm for membership, then you have the opportunity to also give them a 20 percent discount for their first year dues payment.

Finally, here is another MGM site that I like where the association simply requests members to provide them with the name and address of prospective members and then the association does the follow up work.  This is a program that I used years ago as a mailed nomination process, but it became cost prohibitive.  But using a website to at least collected prospect names even though it requires a mail follow-up makes sense. 

Along with the advantages of MGM programs, I think one of the biggest mistakes made is the assumption that a member-get-a-member will be a silver bullet to solve membership recruitment challenges. How often have I heard the statement, “if every members recruits another member, we will double in size.”

MGM programs can be a part of the recruitment solution. However, no matter how hard you try or what you promise, only a small, highly motivated percentage of members will be comfortable with or interested in serving as an evangelist for you. So use MGM programs as part of your recruitment portfolio, but do not view it as a comprehensive solution.

Diagnosing and Solving Your Membership Marketing Challenges

For those who might be interested, I have posted the slides from my recent webinar titled "Diagnosing and Solving Your Membership Marketing Challenges" on Slideshare.  Feel free to download the presentation.  I hope that you find it of help. 

Diagnosing and Solving Your Membership Marketing Challenges from Tony Rossell

Last Chance to Participate in the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Research

The opportunity to participate in the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report is coming to a close. So if you are a membership professional, I wanted to provide this last chance to take part in this year’s research.

If you received an email invitation to participate, please use the link provided in the email to access the survey.  If not, you can use this link to fill out the survey.

Last year over 700 membership organizations took part in this research. Our hope is to increase the quantity of participants this year in order to provide analysis with even finer segmentation than in the past.

Of course I will report many of the findings from our research here on the blog. But for those who complete the survey, we will send a free printed copy of the final, full report.

I look forward to sharing with you the outcomes from this year’s research. Thanks in advance or being a part of the 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report.

Please take a moment to complete the survey now while you are thinking about it.

Results from Membership Renewal Series Tests

In 2012, we were doing a good deal of head to head testing within clients’ renewal series. The great thing about testing is that something typically wins by either generating more response or cutting costs. This proved to be true in our tests.
Here are some of the results from these recent tests. They are reported as the proportionate change between the test and the control.

• An offer to break up a single annual dues renewal into three installment payments outperformed the control notice by 11 percent.

• A fully redesign renewal notice that significantly economize on printing costs produced the same return as the control notice, but saved 20 percent in costs.

• A renewal postcard tested against the control envelope renewal reduced response by 30 percent.

• An early renewal discount offer outperformed the full price renewal offer by 92 percent.

Each organization’s situation is unique. So use these test results as indicators of things you may want to try. Your results may vary.

A Tool to Build Your Marketing Plan

In my mind, the key coordinates of creating an effective marketing plan are connecting each market segment with the proper marketing channels, value proposition, offers, messages, and frequency.

So I have created a template (below) to use for planning and brainstorming sessions to help make these connections.

To use the template, start by inserting your market segments in the left hand triangle – from most productive to least productive. Along with the name for the market segment, you can also list the estimated quantity of prospects in that group. Then work through the matrix to the right.

For example, if you are creating a plan for membership recruitment, your best market segment might be lapsed members. Because they are so responsive, you can use fairly expensive channels to reach them, so you might put staff sales calls, telemarketing, direct mail, and email as the channels. The value proposition, offer, message, and frequency of contact for this segment will also be different than reaching out to another segment with less awareness or affinity for your organization.

Once you have completed filling in each quadrant of the matrix, you basically have your marketing plan done. I have provided for up to six market segments, but you obviously may have more or less than this to target in your plan.

If you would like to make adjustment to this template or be able to type content into the blanks, I can provide an Excel spreadsheet of this document. Please let me know if you would like one sent to you.

Eight Membership Retention Strategies and Ideas

The simple answer to improve membership retention is to provide more value and engage members. That said there are also very practical marketing tips that can help you keep more members. Here are some to keep in mind:

1. Frequency – Like it or not, people forget to renew. Don’t give up too soon on retaining a member.

2. Channels – Use all of the tools that are available to you for retention – mailed notices, postcards, email, staff or volunteer calls, telemarketing, and website interstitials.

3. Conversion – Almost always, first year members are the least likely to renew. That’s why the first year of membership is called the conversion year. Focus time, effort, and budget on these first year members.

4. Budget – As long as you are not spending more to renew members than to acquire a new member, you are budgeting fine.

5. Payment – Offering payment options, especially some form of automatic credit card or EFT renewal, turns renewals from an opt-in decision to an opt-out action.

6. Offers – This is highly debated, but some organizations have great success with giving incentives for early renewals. It may be worth a try using a postcard and a website only promotion code to track effectiveness.

7. Personalization – Adding personalized messages to renewal notices can be effective. For example, “because of your membership, you saved $50.00 on your product purchases this year.” Or, “we had some success on the legislative issue you were most concerned about.”

8. Analytics – Figure out what segments of your membership are most likely to renew and which are least likely and allocate your resources. Your best members may only need a few contacts and more effort may be needed for your lower responding segments.

I hope this gives you some food for thought. Feel free to add your successful strategies, tips, and ideas below.

Mark your Calendars for an Upcoming Membership Marketing Webinar Series

I wanted to invite you to take part in a free webinar series. The series will include sessions from highly regarded and talented membership professionals. The focus of the webinars will be around recruiting, engaging, and keeping members.

As part of the series, I will be presenting a session titled, “Diagnosing and Solving Your Membership Marketing Challenges”.

My webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 2PM Eastern.

The webinar series is sponsored by the following groups, Young Association Professionals, Aggregage, Association Universe and Infinite Conferencing.

Here is the site to learn more about this series and to register.

Are You Keeping Up with the Digital Marketing Revolution?

More and more of the marketing dollars for my clients are moving to digital channels to build awareness, generate leads, and recruit members and customers. The majority of the money is flowing to various Google ad options, Facebook, and LinkedIn with a good amount also going to specialized ad networks.

But it is not just membership organizations that are moving in this direction. Business Insider shared the following graph on the rapid growth of digital advertising in a presentation on The State of the Internet.

Clearly traditional channels like email, direct mail, and telemarketing are still great tools and in some cases more cost effective than online marketing. But when you want to market to populations that are hard to find on traditional lists, online marketing is hard to beat.

How is your organization experimenting with digital advertising channels?