Member Recruitment Strategies For Associations

If it’s been more than a year since you’ve reviewed your association’s value proposition, it’s time to reevaluate it. You need to understand why people are joining now and what they’re finding valuable. You definitely want to talk to members who joined recently because they can provide clues about current market conditions.

Know which of your benefits are attracting the different segments of your membership. The value proposition changes for a member over their career. For example, early-career members are more interested in career resources and professional development, while late-career members are more interested in advocacy and information.

To find out what members find valuable, ask them frequently via survey and pulse polls. Gather intel through behavioral data too. What are they searching for, reading, opening, clicking, downloading, and talking about? When you have all the data you need at your disposal, you can recruit new members based on what you know your current members find valuable. The definition of value keeps changing as a member’s needs change and as the economy, technology, and workplace around them change.

It’s nearly impossible for staff to see the joining decision through a prospect’s eyes. You know too much. But you can get close. A new member journey mapping exercise provides you with illuminating insight about the joining experience—from learning about membership on your website to completing the application and receiving the first welcome email.

Besides the mapping exercise, ask current members who recently joined about their decision process. Whom did they talk to about it? What caught their attention when reading about membership on your website? What made sense and what didn’t? What influenced their decision? What closed the deal and what caused hesitation?

Find out what they thought of your membership application and payment process. Note the differences in perspectives among different membership segments.

As prospects get to know your association, you want them to see it as a community of people like them, not as a faceless organization. Treat prospects like members of your community. They already are! They’re just not association members yet.

Take the risk and anxiety out of the joining decision by giving prospects a taste of what it would be like to be an association member. Send them weekly or biweekly newsletters segmented by defining characteristics, such as career stage, size of business, or industry professional vs. partner. Include information they can’t easily access elsewhere. Promote relevant programs and dive into membership benefits.

At in-person events, assign each nonmember a volunteer “buddy” who shows them the ropes and introduces them around. Give nonmembers a distinctive badge so others can spot them easily. After the event, add them to an automated email campaign that solicits their feedback and suggests related content or programs.

Become indispensable to membership prospects by bringing them news, opinions, education, and insights. Help them stay informed, discover opportunities, and find solutions to problems—the same as you do for members, just not as all out. Leave something in reserve. Give them the what, not the how, otherwise there’s no incentive to join. Make sure they know what they miss out on as a nonmember.

When deciding whether to join an association, people listen to the recommendations of friends and acquaintances. One study found that 91% of B2B buyers are influenced by word-of-mouth when making a purchasing decision.

Many associations have long standing successful year-round referral or member-get-a-member programs—the third most effective recruitment channel, per Marketing General Inc.’s (MGI) Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. Personally ask active members who get value from their membership to talk with colleagues, associates, clients, and connections about joining the association.

Prepare them for the recruiter role. Encourage them to reflect on membership’s impact on them and other members they know. Go over common objections to joining and offer advice for lessening a prospect’s anxiety about joining.

Occasionally schedule competitions to fire up your troop of recruiters. Reward their success with credits they can apply to purchases and registrations. Celebrate them at an exclusive event at your annual conference.

Some members aren’t comfortable serving as recruiters. That’s okay. Set up a system for referring prospective members, allowing the member to remain anonymous, if they wish.

You don’t always know why members don’t renew unless they respond to an exit survey or call. In the MGI survey, association executives believed members didn’t review for these reasons:

•         Lack of engagement (52%)
•         Forgot to renew (34%)
•         Lack of value (34%)
•         Left the field, industry, or profession (33%)
•         Employer doesn’t pay dues (25%)

You can find non-renewal clues in a member’s record, for example, their engagement history and demographics (career stage, size of business).

Try to earn back the attention and trust of lapsed members with a re-engagement campaign. The road back might take a while. Segment your lapsed member list so you only send them relevant information. Your first goal is connection: ideally, they open your email, click on links, and see the value you provide.

Look at your AMS for their engagement history. Highlight relevant benefits they’ve lost access to or didn’t exist when they were a member. For example, remind them about the 12,000 potential clients in the Northern VA area who won’t see their profile in your consumer directory.

Only start promoting membership after establishing a connection with the prospect. If they’re not opening or interacting with your emails, try a phone call or mail first. Keep in mind, some may never rejoin. But keep them in your community as a prospective customer.

Your goal is to build credibility and trust with prospects. Prove you will never waste their time. When they open and read your emails, it will be obvious that you get them.

Emails are the most effective recruitment channel for associations, per the MGI report. But first you must learn about your prospects so you interact with them in a knowing way. Use a variety of methods to collect data about their interests, career stage, type of business, position, etc. For example, track their email clicks and tag their interests in your AMS, or send pulse polls on hot topics and throw in a demographic question too.

The more you know about a prospect, the more relevant your emails and other outreach will be. Develop email nurture campaigns for different segments of your prospect list. For example, give early-career professionals content related to navigating their career (value) but also describe your virtual meetups, mentoring program, and digital badges for young professionals (membership benefits).

You’re not just selling membership. Your campaign will be more effective if you focus on providing valuable information they can use on the job or to get ahead in their career. Gain their trust, keep them opening emails, and eventually they’ll see the value in joining. A great member recruitment strategy is the foundation of excellent member retention