Membership Space Blog: Insights for Effective Management

Social media is a powerful platform for building your brand as there’s a huge pool of potential customers that businesses and marketers can reach with relative ease.  So, why are many businesses still struggling to build an active community on social media?  One of the biggest mistakes they make is failing to personalize their content or engage customers, and here’s how to turn that around.

 

Unless your brand specifically targets professionals in a certain industry, don’t use specialized or technical terms.  Instead, use simple to average words that most people can understand.  Additionally, consider using names to address customers so they feel like they’re dealing with someone who cares about their needs.

Make it a habit to use vocabulary that is inviting and implement friendly phrases from time to time that are common between people who are close.  Don’t hesitate to use humor where it fits but remember to be humble and respectful at all times.  To connect better with your audience, consider sharing part of your social life with them as opposed to always posting about work.

 

Engagement is a big deal on social media as it brings brands and people together from all over the world.  Modern customers like to feel appreciated and to know that the seller cares about them.  A great way of showing them that you care is to respond to their comments promptly and try to answer any questions they have.

Membership management software can be very helpful for tracking actions on posts so you can respond quickly.  Personalization is the key to success for most memberships, not just on social media but also when it comes to attracting more visitors to an online community.  Track the progress and boost efficiency by using membership management software to increase engagement so you place your brand in a better position to succeed!

In 2018, many membership websites signed up new members throughout the year but struggled with retention.  In most cases, the main cause of the problem is that they focused too much on expanding the membership rather than delivering value to their members.  In 2019, learn how to grow your online community by finding out about the mistakes that communities made last year as well as how to avoid them.

 

The members and managers of an organization are some of the main pillars that help the community exist.  You need time from both of them but how do you expect to receive it without engagement?  Rather than waiting until the time you have a product to sell to talk to members or until resources are needed from executives, try talking to these parties regularly.  When you keep them engaged, you increase your chances of persuading them to act as you want when the time comes.

 

A lot of people are still unaware about the value of membership websites.  They join an online community with certain expectations and when those expectations are not met, they quickly decide to leave.  It’s your duty to explain to your members what your community is about and demonstrate to them the benefits that are offered.

 

Trends keep changing in many aspects and so does your community.  Some important factors that could change include community tech tools and the needs of your members.  Consider using tracking tools to identify any changes in your members’ interests so you can serve them better.

One of the biggest mistakes that membership websites make is failing to offer members real value.  In order to do that, you have to learn exactly what most members prefer and at what time while appreciating that their interests might change.

Is your association plagued with the problem of insufficient membership renewals?  Obviously, this may be a frustrating situation but luckily most of the reasons for members not renewing their membership can be corrected according to reports.  The following are the top reasons for failure of renewal and viable strategies you can use to boost member retention.

 

Reliable sources indicate that as much as 32% of associations lack a strategy for boosting member engagement.  Unfortunately, engagement is one of the most influential factors for retaining members so if your association lacks that, members probably won’t see the need to renew.

Club websites are a great way to boost engagement as they offer a variety of ways to attract visitors.  With a thriving online community, members get to connect with each other, share ideas, and discuss many topics through discussion threads.  Also, try to utilize marketing automation tools to learn the interests of members on your website so you deliver relevant content that captures their attention.

 

In some associations, numerous members are failing to renew because they no longer see the value in it and most of them can’t justify the costs of a membership.  Your association may be offering amazing value but a simple miscommunication could lead to members changing their mind.

Value comes from knowing a member’s expectations when they join your organization, communicating the details, and giving them access to valuable information.  One of the most common needs for people joining associations is to connect and mentor, and club websites offer an effective platform for making this happen.

Members who fail to renew is not an issue you can solve quickly as it takes dedication and commitment.  Consider using tactics that trigger members to be more engaged throughout the year.  Automated renewal campaigns will also help you remind members to renew before their membership expires.

The 2018 report from The Community Roundtable showed that online communities performed very well in the prior year, generating an increase in ROI of over 2,000%.  Unfortunately, many communities are using these great statistics only to defend their worth and almost totally ignoring the offensive potential.

A better plan is to take advantage of the community’s ROI to utilize an offensive mechanism as it attracts growth.  For instance, you could use the return on investment to secure resources from management for purchasing superior membership management software.  As a result, the software may be used to boost your membership and ultimately improve sales.

 

Not only do communities achieve a good ROI; they also impact many sectors of an organization which includes sales, customer support, marketing, and communication.  It’s the duty of community managers to understand the value that an online community brings so you’re in a better position to advocate for more support.

 

Nearly half of all the online communities in the U.S. forget to calculate their ROI.  If you’re part of this statistic, it’s time to change that so you can achieve more growth.  Otherwise, how are you going to assess the value of your community?  Luckily, there are many options when it comes to membership management software that can help you calculate your return on investment.

 

Once you have the numbers, ask for more resources from those in charge and explain that it takes more investing in order for the organization to see additional benefits.  Aside from the ROI, discuss other advantages such as improved customer support since it leads to loyalty which results in a higher rate of retaining members.  If you’re facing burnout because you don’t have adequate resources or time to enhance your community, try embracing an offensive mindset with your ROI!

Many associations use membership websites to ask their members to volunteer in activities.  Although some members have a natural willingness to help, others feel so bogged down with their own issues that volunteering seems impossible.  If you’re looking for a reason to provide a service without pay, these health benefits of volunteering just might persuade you.

 

Volunteering reduces stress, which is one of the biggest triggers of high blood pressure and heart disease.  According to studies, interaction with other people has been known to lower stress levels.  Volunteer work gives you a chance to connect with other volunteers or the people you’re helping and it helps most stress fade away.

 

Any adult over 60 years old is at the risk of developing dementia especially if they become lonely.  The good news is that participating in volunteer work can reduce the risk of dementia as posted by one medical journal.  This comes from the interaction with other people and the happiness that conversation can bring.

 

Some membership websites are related to careers, and often, the volunteer work they advertise is a great opportunity for members to learn and grow.  Perhaps you work in the medical field and your association is asking you to help treat victims of a new illness.  Not only is this a chance to advance your skills and gain additional experience, but it also helps boost the health of others.

 

Once you’ve completed the volunteer work, that may be noted on your resume and volunteering shows a potential employer that you’re responsible.  Maybe you felt like you didn’t have enough time or energy to volunteer before but now you know the benefits can make a positive impact.  If you want a happier and healthier life, be sure you seize the opportunity to volunteer for your association.

There are several reasons why members exit club websites.  For instance, if someone leaves the associated industry, they may leave the website as well because it’s no longer relevant to them.  But based on research, a lack of engagement is the biggest cause that leads to members exiting club websites.  Fortunately, you can take action to keep this from happening with regard to your association.

 

Nowadays, big companies are providing consumers with increasingly personalized services, and this has led to a growing demand for personalization across all sectors.  Traffic is important but unless your platform features optimized personalization, the engagement rates are destined to stay low and membership renewals will decline.

Whether you’re sending emails or publishing posts on your association website, it is crucial that you ensure the information is relevant to members.  It also needs to be sent at the right time.  For instance, a Christmas-related message is best sent near or during the Christmas season and not in January.

 

In order to offer your members better personalization and boost engagement rates, you could ask them what they found most interesting once they signed up to your association.  One way to do this is to send them an email questionnaire to know their interests.  Interests change over time and members may not always tell you when this happens.

It would be a good idea to install software that tracks the activity of members, such as the kind of posts they comment on and the type of emails they open.  The market is changing for the better in a variety of ways.  Consider installing marketing automation systems to help you learn your members’ interests and send them content they find interesting and valuable.  Luckily, this software makes it possible to create member segments so personalization is even easier and faster.

Are you finding it difficult to achieve success in customer marketing?  If you haven’t already done so, why not take advantage of technology to have an easier and more targeted reach?  One way you can do that is to create an online community and invest in membership management software to help you run the community efficiently.  Here are a few community tools that could help you improve customer marketing.

 

Engagement is one of the primary reasons for having an online community and an extremely important engagement tool is the discussion board.  With this, you give customers the option to connect and notify one another about any new products or services that may be available.

Aside from that, a community introduces resource libraries where your customers can get information about your products and learn more about your organization.  A built-in calendar will provide customers with information on product releases, as well as other events related to your products or services.

 

Typically, the end goal of having an online community is to increase sales.  Community managers are valuable with regards to that as they’re in charge of a whole variety of processes from starting discussions to giving expert advice where needed.  Beyond that, you need membership management software that incorporates analytics to know how well your marketing strategy is performing.

 

With online communities, it’s usually the members who do most of the work but finding members who are dedicated to bringing in high-quality referrals is a challenging task.  One way of encouraging members to refer other people to your community is to create an advocacy program that rewards them.

For instance, you could give them a discount on products when they get a new member to sign up.  With these tools, it quickly becomes obvious that an online community is a worthwhile investment.  Even if your organization isn’t very big, you will benefit from the increased engagement among customers and it doesn't require you to be actively involved all the time!

Each year, more companies are discovering the power of membership websites with regard to customer support and retention.  However, did you know that you can use your online community to benefit your association in other ways?  Used efficiently, membership websites can be profoundly helpful when it comes to increasing sales.  Here are some suggestions you should consider implementing on your online community to boost sales.

 

One of the most effective methods by which companies attract prospects is to expose some of the discussions on their forums to the public.  A discussion among your customers about the products or services from your association seems more informative this way.  Also, prospects will likely trust the facts over the content you have uploaded to your blog.

 

Some prospects will be converted into buyers shortly after going through your online community while others may want to figure out what products work for them.  You could use tracking tools to see what actions a potential prospect takes.  For instance, consider asking them questions that helps you serve them in a more targeted manner to ensure they are always pointed in the right direction.

 

When a prospect becomes a member of your online community, you’re able to offer them a great deal of information and a chance to contribute to the community.  Aside from that, by tracking their activity in the community, you get a vivid idea of the products they might be interested in.  As a result, you may be able to trigger them into buying by sending accurately targeted emails.

Membership websites are not only useful for enhancing a customers’ experience, but also in providing the seller with insights that can end up boosting sales.  In the future, use your online community to learn your customers’ interests and try to appeal to them accordingly.

Club websites carry an extensive amount of data on both member and customer behavior.  By analyzing this data, organizations stand to gain valuable insight into the engagement rates of different customers and the performance of discussions with regards to member engagement.

When data on club websites is combined with data from other platforms like social media and email marketing, an effective system is created.  In most cases, this helps organizations budget their resources for marketing success well into the future.

 

Based on the data analytics you receive, it is possible to visualize the costs involved and allocate your resources accurately.  For instance, a platform that has low member engagement or numerous complaints regarding the difficulty of using it only shows that you need to invest in training and potentially increase staff involvement.

 

Data analytics display a clear picture of how users are interacting with various marketing outlets.  Ranging from showing how the engagement is impacting transactions and retention rates to identifying the sessions of users that attended at a certain conference.  This is crucial in the event there’s an outlet that is performing poorly or an upgrade is required, then the proper actions are taken.

 

Every organization needs to know how all the projects they invested in are performing, and one of the most important factors they should take into consideration is the return on investment.  As a marketer, you can use data analytics to show management the value of the projects by tracing sales to the customer’s high level of engagement.

Also, consider reviewing your marketing platforms carefully and utilize the tools for data analytics that work best for you.  As a result, you’ll be able to evaluate your marketing platforms and budget properly through investing in the tools that your staff and customers both find useful.

Once you have composed your emails, it is crucial that you test them to make sure they are accurate.  Additionally, they should also display correctly before approving them to be sent to the recipients.  But, perhaps you and your team are involved in many other tasks and you find the testing process is a little hectic.  If that is so, the following tips will help in streamlining the email approval process without compromising quality.

 

One mistake is to include too many people in the approval process as it can lead to confusion.  When dealing with that issue, try eliminating some of the people involved and monitor the effect.  Even though the exact number typically depends on the complexity of your campaign, two to three members are often enough.  It’s also important to define the specific roles of each member and the sort of feedback you expect.

 

To make sure the email approval process is consistent, specify the objective of sending the email.  On that note, outline the goal, the context, and the expected send dates for every email campaign you plan to run.  Furthermore, approve the outline before the first draft and include it with each test.

 

By creating a central location for viewing all the input and tracking alterations, you’ll be able to lessen the confusion in the approval process.  Some of the best tools you can use for collaborating include Google docs and an online community.  Membership management software will be very helpful for tracking feedback from team members as it will notify you each time an action takes place such as leaving feedback.

Email testing may not be a very enjoyable process since the message can seem repetitive at times.  However, if you’re to ensure your recipients receive accurate emails at the right time, it’s essential that you create a good testing policy.  Aside from that, implement the latest membership management software to simplify the work!