Whether you missed the original livestream or want to watch it again, you’re in luck! Vocalmeet, the CPA (Canadian Psychological Association), and the CSAE (Canadian Society of Association Executives) partnered to bring you a fantastic discussion on growth strategies for associations in 2022 and beyond—a discussion you can catch online now!

Meanwhile, in this webinar recap, we’ll explore the 5 powerful growth strategies that were shared during the livestream conversation. Join us as we discover the strategies other association leaders use to maximize their ability to generate non-dues revenue for their organizations!

1. The Benefits of On-Demand CE Courses

Does your association hold live sessions? Do you livestream continuing education courses and workshops? Well, you’re in luck; you can record these streams and transform them into continuing education (CE) courses. Your association gets more courses to package and sell, and your members get access to new, premium content–everyone benefits!

That’s not all; you can also use previously recorded courses to create something fresh and new. By re-editing and updating your older courses, you can offer your members improved, modernized content. Consider packaging it with new courses for extra value!

2. Cost-Effective Marketing Tools and Promotion

When it comes to earning more revenue, your members and the public need to know about the benefits and programs your association offers. Thankfully, there are plenty of economical assets at your disposal. In our discussion, Anthony Campbell, Growth Manager at Vocalmeet shared a few cost-effective marketing and promotion tools that will help your association do more with less;

• Jasper AI (Artificial Intelligence Marketing): Jasper is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered writing assistant that can automatically generate persuasive blog posts, marketing emails, landing pages, and more! If you find it difficult to generate this kind of content, you may find Jasper a great help. You can find Jasper AI here.
• Canva for Nonprofits: Canva is a website that offers pre-made graphic designs that you can take and tailor yourself. If you find yourself needing lots of custom graphics, check it out! You can find Canva for Nonprofits here.
• Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time, as well as keep track of your content streams, mentions, and more. If your association uses several social media channels, Hootsuite is the program for you. You can find Hootsuite here.
• Vidyard: Vidyard allows you to record your computer screen and webinar at the same time, making window-in-window a breeze. Use it to personalize your presentation content and more! You can find Vidyard here.
• Calendly: Calendly is a program used to book appointments online. You select the dates and times you’re available, and your members can book time with you in just a few clicks; what a time-saver! You can find Calendly here.

3. The Importance of the Strategic Plan

Having a clear strategic plan is important for any organization. Your strategic plan should outline the association’s priorities and how you plan to achieve them. This is essential in order for the organization to thrive and grow in a competitive environment. Will your staff be able to facilitate and manage your new priorities? Will your current budget allow you to build and support new programs? The key to successfully implementing your strategic plan is to avoid it from turning into your operational plan. Your strategic plan is designed to help you achieve your goals and mission. Your operational plan helps you carry out the tasks needed to achieve your strategic plan’s goals and mission.

4. Combined Dues and Non-Dues Revenue Initiatives

No one said dues and non-dues revenue streams had to be mutually exclusive! Try offering members free continuing education packages for early renewal. If you want to get even fancier, try creating membership packages based on what the member selects; you can run the gamut from low-cost, low benefits memberships all the way up to VIP premium memberships that include all the bells and whistles! The number of membership types and the perks they include is up to you.

5. Technology Consolidation

By consolidating your association’s technology, you can actually improve its ease-of-use and its value. Remember to KISS: Keep It Simple, Silly! Simplification will reduce both complexity and costs while improving the efficacy of your tools.

That’s not the only thing your association can condense, of course; consider having all of your technological needs filled by a single vendor! You’ll build a better partnership, and you won’t have to keep track of who covers what. One account, one vendor, one contact! Additionally, your vendor will become more invested in (and fond of!) your association–they may even be willing to go the extra mile for you as your business relationship develops. Better still, by sourcing all your technology from one vendor, you’ll have fewer compatibility issues when it comes to expanding your tools (they know what you have and what connects to it, after all). Streamline your processes; go for a vendor that offers all in one!

Has your interest been piqued? By offering on-demand CE courses, marketing with economic tools and promotions, directing in a plan-focussed manner, creating varied membership packages, and unifying technology and vendors, your association will be able to boost its growth and increase its non-dues revenue!

The post Webinar Recap: 5 Powerful Growth Strategies to Boost Non-Dues Revenue for Your Association in 2022 and Beyond appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Even if your organization’s products or services don’t play as well on social media as Netflix’s, it’s still possible that you, too, can make use of memes for marketing purposes. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on your audience; however, it is possible to succeed if you observe and follow some of the cardinal meme-sharing rules! Before integrating memes into your marketing strategy, here are a few tips you should be mindful of:

Designed for Social Media

Memes and social media are perfect for each other. Memes allow for quick consumption of engaging, comedic bite-sized content, while social media provides the perfect sharing vehicle through which they can spread. For marketing purposes, the sharing of memes on social media sidesteps hard marketing in favor of brand awareness. After all, the most effective marketing memes rarely focus on brand marketing at all. If they did, the genre-savvy audience would catch the intention and the meme would fall flat.

Bring the Community Together

One of the main reasons memes are so effective for marketing purposes is that they are truly community-based content. Specifically designed to be shareable, funny, and engaging, memes unite members of a community by leveraging a shared knowledge. Typically, the greater the number of people that understand the meme’s material, the greater the number of interactions on a post. People thrive on being aware of trends and bringing others into the mix, and memes accommodate this compulsion like no other. Because of this, memes have dazzlingly high engagement levels, one of the most important factors for an organization’s social media channels. However, make no mistake: memes must be used carefully to be effective!

Stay on Brand

Memes can absolutely be used to build brand relevance and brand awareness, but organizations should be wary; make sure you’re sending the right message when using them! In other words, make sure the meme matches the tone, energy, and values of your brand. If this is done right, memes can help showcase and spread brand identity quickly and easily. If no current memes share the spirit of your organization, you can try your hand at creating your own. While this is typically more challenging, the rewards on success are much greater. The rules for creating are the same as sharing: keep them on-brand and aligned with your audience.

Make Sure There’s an Appetite for It

The environment for memes can sometimes be turbulent. In general, audiences love memes and seek them out, but be warned— people can relate to them very differently. Before you begin sending out memes, be sure you understand your audience and what their appetite for memes truly is. This knowledge will allow you to cater your content to your viewers. The way to do this is simple: observe your audience closely. Take note of the content that resonates with them. What type of memes do they like to share? Now, it’s unlikely that everyone will agree on just one theme or type of content, but you can use this information to find a middle ground. When you first set out, start by sending memes sparingly to test the waters before going all-in.

Use Them Properly

One of the most important things to consider when creating and sharing memes is how to use them properly. Depending on your organization, the language and tone of a certain meme may not be a good fit. Memes often leverage a very specific lingo, one that might feel forced or unnatural coming from the wrong source. To avoid this, you’ll first want to understand the meme, how it originated, and how it has evolved. Make sure that the spirit of the meme doesn’t clash with your organization or marketing goals. You also need to ensure that you use all lingo properly – people will spot an outsider right away. If you need help to accomplish this, it may be worthwhile to have a digital native create the meme for you.

Avoid Major Mistakes

Every meme has an expiration date, though unfortunately, not one displayed for all to see. Some memes gradually fade away, while others disappear overnight. It’s important to get the timing right. If you’re too early, your audience will miss the joke. If you’re too late, you could become the joke. Furthermore, before repurposing a meme or creating your own, you should check the rights of the images used to ensure that there’s no copyright infringement or unfair usage. If you do use an owned image, be sure to ask permission or credit the creator in the method they choose. It’s also a good idea to avoid any images or content that could imply endorsement of another organization or brand, especially if that brand doesn’t share similar values!

When running your organization’s social media, it’s important to stay equipped, making use of every item in your arsenal. After all, it’s dangerous to go alone —so why not take a meme?

The post What if I Told You Associations Can Use Memes to Grow Membership and Drive Member Engagement? appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Marketing online CLE courses requires a different strategy than marketing in-person CLE sessions. For example, it’s not enough to simply rebrand all in-person sessions as “virtual” or “on-demand” without any additional information. As some members may not be comfortable with taking online CLE, let them know that it’s easy to sign up, that there’s technical support if they need it, and if offered on-demand, that they can access the CLE courses at their own convenience. For that reason, marketing is a complimentary service Vocalmeet provides to all our legal clients to help them increase their online CLE sales.

Additionally, a concrete marketing plan must be accompanied with a solid website. How a website looks and functions is every bit as important as the content itself. Your website content could be relevant and meaningful, but your members may still ignore your message if it is not designed well.

Continue reading below for our top 10 website design best practices to help drive traffic to your site and increase your online course sales. Incorporate these tips as you see fit and make your association’s website the best resource it can be!

Top 10 Website Design Best Practices

1. Set a Goal and Follow Through

When designing a website, it’s important to make a list of goals that you want your website to accomplish. Do you want it to drive membership, teach viewers the benefits of joining your association, or convince them to purchase courses? Try thinking about these goals in terms of a “call to action” to better help formulate your goals. After ranking this list in order of priority and importance, identify and implement as many ways to achieve these goals as possible.

2. Audience-Driven Design

If you want your website to attract an audience, you need to know who they are and what they like. If you have this information, you can better direct your design, tone, and content to match your target audience. Identify them by demographic. For example, what kind of work do they do, and what interests them the most? What other products and services do they use?

3. Simplicity Over Everything

A simple and clean aesthetic is one of the most effective design decisions you can make for your website. An uncomplicated design and user-friendly interface allow for clean navigation and accessible options. In general, clutter can have a negative impact on viewership and engagement. Too many options or pages, regardless of how amazing their content may be, can lead to “paralysis by analysis” for viewers – a form of overthinking that can be counterproductive for a website. As a result, websites should limit the number of overall pages, as well as design each page with plenty of white (or “negative” space) in order to give each item of content or image the space to breathe and be experienced.

4. Responsive Design

Responsive design almost always refers to the ability of a website to automatically accommodate the screen size, viewing platform, and screen orientation of each visitor. All modern websites should take into consideration a diverse array of viewers and devices. In this case, however, responsive design also speaks to a design that reacts quickly and effectively to user decisions while browsing. This means that the images, videos, and playable media of a website should load quickly. It also means that users should receive responses to their requests in short order. Additionally, organizations should ensure that all contact is met with a confirmation immediately after processing any kinds of requests.

5. Helpful Color Schemes

The choice of website colors can make or break a website. Colors can invoke specific emotions in viewers. They can help people better identify with an organization, as well as instill stronger brand recognition among visitors. It’s also important to ensure that colors are used effectively with each other. Websites should be designed in a way that has the text popping off the background color without putting too much strain on the eye. This is usually done by using a dark font over a lighter background. Try avoiding using similar shades, hues, and saturation alongside each other as well, as this can lead to a distracting effect where the colors meet.

6. Strategic Design

While common sense and thoughtfulness usually go a long way, there are some strategic choices that organizations can make for their website design. Organizations may, for example, employ the rule of thirds, which breaks the screen into a grid of two evenly spaced horizontal lines and two evenly spaced vertical lines. The four resulting intersecting points on the screen are your thirds – the points on the screen to which the eye is naturally drawn. It is on these intersections that a website’s most important features should be placed, such as the call to actions. Another option is to connect components into thematic groupings by using similar shapes, colors, and fonts. This allows viewers to subtly associate different on-screen elements with each other.

7. Proper Structure

How a website is structured can help users navigate and browse more easily. One of the most important structure elements is the header. Headers should only be used sparingly and should accurately explain and contextualize the content below them; this aids visitors in interpreting and digesting the material. Websites should also include tools like “breadcrumbs” so users can retrace their steps when desired. If your website incorporates forms, they should be clearly labeled and easy to complete. Be sure to provide clear instructions and information – assume that everyone is unaware of the typical process and new to your webpage (and organization!) as a whole.

8. Consistency

A good website is an extension of an organization. The tone and feel of the website should be consistent with the overall brand. There should also be a consistency between the pages on the site, a natural flow that is present throughout. However, the website should be consistent not only with itself, but with the conventions of the rest of the web as well. While it can be tempting to be unique and artsy, being too adventurous and unconventional can lead to miscommunication. When using call to actions, for example, users should be able to easily identify and understand them. You may wish to follow some of the language and conventions used by major online brands, like Amazon, Facebook, or Google.

9. Avoid Automatic Media

While more of a faux pas than a rule, automatic media has quickly become a major no-no in the design community. Things like scrolling text, auto-playing sounds or videos, carousels, and sliders are more distracting and harmful to a viewing experience than anything else. Additionally, organizations should consider allowing users to alter the text and layout of a website. Locking down the text size can be very limiting for some viewers, especially those with poor vision.

10. Track, Report, and Adjust

If your goal is constant website improvement, you should use every tool in your belt. Don’t be shy about testing something new, but be sure to track and analyze how effective it was. Make sure to take advantage of website analytics; organizations can now identify how viewers find their page, where they go first, and where they stay longest. They can measure how people scroll and how they interact with the site. If an organization finds that certain elements are underperforming, they should be moved or replaced altogether. Use the available data to optimize every component of your website, and your organization will enjoy more satisfied viewers and higher conversion rates.

By taking all of the above into account, your association will have a sleek new website in no time!

The post Why Legal Associations Should Care About Their Website to Increase Online CLE Sales appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Can associations use the same strategy to market online events as they would in-person events? Well, not necessarily.

Welcome back to our conversation on proven strategies that associations have used to run successful online events with Dr. Laurelle Jno Baptiste, Vice President of Professional Services at Vocalmeet. In Part 1, we focused on the key factors that associations must explore before choosing an online platform. In Part 2, we discussed the different hybrid formats and how associations can offer hybrid events cost-effectively. And last but certainly not least, in Part 3, we address how associations can generate revenue with online events.

Q: Many associations fear that members do not see the value in paying for online events, and so they decide to offer these online events for a significant discount or even free. Consequently, some associations haven’t been able to generate the same level of non-dues revenue from online events, as they would with in-person events. Based on your work with association clients, would you agree that online events should essentially be offered for free?

A: That is 100% a myth that must be demystified. Helping members and other attendees see the value in online content requires a shift in mindset. And that shift in mindset must start with the association. What do I mean by that?

1. To start off, the traditional in-person format means that the financial benefits of these in-person events are singular and often marginal, as in-person events cannot be recreated once completed.
2. With online events, associations can get a longer-lived value from the investment of time and money. This means that with pre-recorded sessions or sessions that are recorded during the live events, associations can continue to generate revenue by selling these sessions on-demand long after the event has ended.
3. The shift in mindset comes from understanding that there is value in convenience, reduced expenses of attending online events, and flexibility for members to access on-demand sessions at any time afterwards.

In fact, through our work with association clients, we see first-hand how much members do see the value in convenience and not having additional expenses around travel, accommodation, and taking time off work. For example, associations we work with typically attract about 10% of their total membership base to in-person conferences. Of course, you can argue that members who attend in-person events regularly value the in-person networking opportunities. But what about the remaining 90% of members?

Well, I mentioned earlier in Part 2 that although some members are eager to network, others may simply wish to attend education sessions. Removing the traditional barriers to attending events, and offering sessions on-demand afterwards, have certainly helped our clients significantly increase the percentage of the membership that are engaged in their events and programs in general.

Q: That’s a great point, and engaging more members throughout the year with online events will surely help with membership retention as well! You mentioned that associations need to help attendees see the value in online content. Can you share some strategies on how to accomplish this?

A: It all comes down to marketing, and I can’t stress this enough: marketing online events requires a different strategy than marketing in-person events. It’s not enough to simply rebrand all in-person events as “virtual” without any additional information. Be mindful that some attendees may not be comfortable with technology and especially with attending online events. That said, it’s critical that associations outline the benefits of online events:

• Address the technical concerns by letting attendees know that it’s easy to sign up for online events and that there’s technical support if they need it.
• Highlight the savings they obtain from not having to travel and still getting the value of the education sessions (not to mention access to the on-demand recordings for as long as the content remains relevant!).
• Remind attendees how the online sessions can help them improve their skill sets for their professional work; this is even more important if the sessions are voluntary and not for continuing education credits.
• One of my colleagues wrote an article for the American Society of Association Executives on Why Associations May Be Disappointed in Their Online Course Sales – it’s worth reading! The article covers how associations can mitigate the challenges around having to compete with so much content available online today.

That wraps up our conversation! Thank you for joining us, and we hope you gained some valuable insights on running successful online events. We understand that every association has different goals and mandates. If you’d like a second opinion for your upcoming events, send us a request and we’d be happy to share additional insights into what our association clients have done.

The post Proven Strategies for Associations to Run Successful Online Events: Part 3 appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

As more events are being cancelled, many associations are opting to ramp up their online continuing education sessions and conferences in order to soften the negative financial impact. Some are pre-recording their sessions and making them available on-demand, while others are choosing to live-stream on the scheduled date.

So, how does the shift towards virtual events impact sponsors and exhibitors?

Many associations rely on sponsorships to fund their in-person events and conferences. In return, sponsors and exhibitors are looking for marketing exposure and opportunities for attendees to better connect with their brand. As a result, being able to show sponsors and exhibitors the value of sponsoring virtual events is key.

Here are some of the online initiatives that you can do to continue to offer sponsors and exhibitors the benefit of exposure to members and attendees.

1. With paid on-demand events and courses, consider offering discount codes for members with the sponsor/exhibitor name.
2. Place sponsor/exhibitor logos and links to their website on the event webpage or on the online learning platform for a period of time.
3. Encourage sponsors and exhibitors to sponsor individual sessions or courses.
4. Sponsors and exhibitors can create short promotional videos to be placed on the event webpage or on the online learning platform
5. Sponsor/exhibitor videos and links can even be embedded directly into on-demand videos.
6. Consider promoting the “sponsor/exhibitor” of the week through the event webpage, social media, email campaigns, etc.
7. Ask speakers to mention the sponsors and/or exhibitors before or after their online presentation.
8. For live online events, sponsors and/or exhibitors can join for opening or closing remarks.
9. Promote sponsors and exhibitors, while enticing attendees, with sponsored raffles for gift cards and other virtual giveaways.
10. If your association has a community platform for members to communicate and network online, consider utilizing the platform to provide more exposure for sponsors and exhibitors.

There are many initiatives that are easy to implement for sponsors and exhibitors to reap the benefit of exposure online. As critical as it is for associations to engage their members virtually, it is equally important for associations to ensure sponsors and exhibitors are incentivized to continue to provide funding for virtual events.

The event delivery method may be different, but the goal remains the same. In today’s digital world, associations need to think outside the box and find new and creative ways to continue to engage members, attendees, speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors.

The post 10 Ways for Associations to Offer Benefits for Sponsors and Exhibitors Online appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Social media can yield many benefits for an association. In the marketing world, social media represents one of the strongest tools available. Utilizing this avenue can create more brand awareness than traditional advertising, increase traffic to your website, and help improve conversion rates for visitors and consumers. Yet there’s more to social media than just blindly posting in the hopes of being seen. With a little thought and strategy, every association can turn social media from a mystery into a strength.

Create Meaningful Interactions

In order to get the most out of social media, associations need to do more than simply broadcast information. In fact, Facebook announced that its algorithms are moving toward promoting meaningful interactions ahead of all other posts. Now, this includes “engagement bait” posts as well. These are posts that ask for likes to create the illusion of meaningful interactions. Therefore, associations need to drive discussions that encourage thoughtful responses and queries from viewers in a more natural way.

Try using hashtags to create a more focused discussion, and don’t be afraid to be conversational. Social media users are well-versed in marketing speak, so try to use regular language to break through. In addition to increased brand awareness and interest, the results of these interactions can be enormous. Though social media interactions don’t directly increase search engine rankings, they can help influence them. Meaningful interactions also help to build relationships and create more involved members.

Be Present and Active

Social media allows people to connect with organizations better than ever before, but visibility isn’t enough. To make social media work for you, your association must be present and active, responding quickly to queries and joining conversations. In fact, many people now use social media for customer service inquiries the moment they need them. Although you can schedule your content submission to ensure that you’re posting regularly, try to communicate with your audience at different times.

In addition to being a space for basic customer service, social media allows for personalization. Use the platform to provide information to inquiring minds. Don’t be afraid to jump into relevant conversations and help people asking general questions about the industry. A continued social media presence can help with brand awareness and generate interest in the association without requiring much in the way of advertising dollars.

Learn from the Experience

While social media offers excellent opportunities for providing information to current and potential members, it is also home to a large congregation of professionals from every industry. Use this as a source of information and insight into what professionals are looking for, what industry trends are popping up, and what topics are generating the most interest. By incorporating these topics and trends in various ways, the association demonstrates it’s tapped in and paying attention.

Furthermore, like any customer service experience, social media interactions provide a great source of feedback and constructive criticism. Associations that use this information and build from it illustrate how they are willing to adapt and grow. On social media, this happens in real time and in front of many eyes, which provides plenty of great opportunities to provide excellent customer service.

Track your Results

After posting on social media for an extended period of time, it’s time to start learning from your experience and perfecting the artform. From the beginning, track your results to get the most from each post in the future. Measure what hashtags perform the best, and see what comments get the most likes. Ask yourself, what times do posts get the most interactions? Do posts with images do better than those without? While tracking can be done manually, various software and applications make this job easier and more automatic. Before long, your social media work will be more efficient and effective.

Mix Things Up

A little mixture goes a long way on social media, so it’s important to vary the type of content you post. You want to avoid strictly posting at people. Join in conversations, post about things outside your direct lane, and most importantly, avoid always self-promoting. Not only will constant self-promotion hurt your visibility on social media, but people may react negatively to your posts. Do all these things, but don’t stray too far off topic or relevance. People want their associations to be involved in industry- or professional-specific conversations. Last but not least, avoid posting the same thing on different social media channels as people will see posts as ads and not meaningful content.

The post How Associations Can Benefit From Social Media appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Not everyone feels the same about technology, so associations shouldn’t expect every member to welcome technological changes with open arms. Each generation and each individual relies on technology in considerably different ways. While some use it in nearly every aspect of their lives and can adopt new innovations easily, others use it more sparingly and may find it challenging to learn new technologies.

For those members who interact with technology infrequently, innovative changes can be met with resistance, which can be the result of discomfort, insecurity, and fear. That doesn’t mean that these members will never adopt new technology, it just that technology changes need to be implemented carefully and with intention. The following information highlights just some of the steps that associations can take to ensure every member, irrespective of their level of technological comfort, is prepared for a technology update.

Understand the Fear of Change

To properly address member’s feelings toward change, associations must first understand them. Psychologically, the fear of change is connected to the fear of the unknown. In regards to adopting a new technology, this fear comes from the uncertainty of success while using it. Older members or those more unfamiliar with technology are likely comfortable completing tasks in more traditional ways.

To help overcome these fears, associations can provide some clarity to members. This might include clearly explaining what the technology is, how it works, and how it benefits each member. Ensure that hesitant members feel assured and confident that their concerns are heard and supported. Keep the communication lines open and the messages clear to help ease the transition along as best as possible.

Show Them the Value

When presenting the prospect of change to an unsure party, a powerful way to get buy-in is to demonstrate the value the change will bring. Rather than provide a list of features offered by the new technology, show users how this change will result in time or cost savings. Show them how tasks will be made simpler and easier to manage.

How value is communicated is also important. Focus on the intuitiveness of the technology. Keep the messages themselves simple, using analogies and relatable examples. Avoid any jargon or tech-speak to ensure all members get the message. This should not be limiting either. Instead, it should help keep the communications clear and concise, as well as understandable for a diverse member demographic.

Know Your Audience

In order to present ideal communications and create an effective technology roll-out plan, associations need to know their members and what they need and want from their membership. When addressing the value new technology can bring, for example, consider what value means to the different demographics. Highlight various elements of the technology that might speak to the different subsets.

It might even be beneficial to create different value presentations and communications. Separate members into different groups and use targeted mailing or advertising campaigns, like Mailchimp or Facebook, to send personalized communications to them. Each group will see only the information, features, and the value that speaks directly to them. For the roll-out itself, offer different options for different members. Make training optional or provide different training courses so as to not alienate more tech-savvy members.

Provide an Orientation

Since members are on different levels when it comes to technology familiarity and comfort, what appears simple for one user might be quite complex for another. For that reason, no matter how basic or easy to use a newly introduced technology might seem, it’s important to provide usage instructions and support. This ensures that no member gets stuck or locked out of a technology based on their experience level.

Associations can post a recorded visual demonstration highlighting the primary controls of the technology. A written or visual walkthrough can be linked for additional support. Users should also get access to a glossary to help them identify any terms they may be unfamiliar with. Any training or support documents should be written clearly and headlines and sections should be plainly marked. For the more complex technology additions, associations may look at offering training courses. This can be a useful way to ensure users know enough to use the technology successfully.

Take Baby Steps

While some users can handle a full roll-out without any problem, others need a slower and more deliberate introduction. If any resistance is in place, a new technology can prove overwhelming for some users. Associations should take time with these roll-outs. Give users a chance to learn different elements of the technology, taking in small pieces at a time, before giving them the entire system. Offer small trial runs of a basic version of the technology to give users a running start.

Providing a slow roll-out can be done through communications or through training. With a paced-out introduction to technology, users can build some familiarity and comfort in one aspect before moving on. Problems can be addressed in sections and solved before they become too large and discouraging. This approach also demonstrates to users that the association is considerate of their feelings, taking the time to assist all members make the most of the new technology.

Ask for Input

The final step, and arguably the most important, for closing the technological gap is to ask members and potential users of the technology for their input. After introducing or proposing the technology, reach out to members for feedback. Ask them to voice their questions and concerns about the roll-out. What is missing? What looks most challenging? After they participate in training or demonstrations or they use the technology for a short period of time, ask members where they struggled or where the technology missed the mark.

Associations will still want to try and preempt these concerns in communications and training materials, but this input can highlight things that were not considered. It will also prove to members that their feelings are considered and valued, especially when the association follows through and addresses this feedback.

The post Taking the Fear Out of Updating Your Association’s Technology appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Most Associations strive to bring in more new members and keep existing members, but many don’t know how to accomplish this.

By observing the trends in The 2017 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, I created a best practices list based on the actions of the highest-performing associations with over 80% member retention yearly. The following list highlights what the most successful associations are doing to keep members interested and provides a helpful map of what others can do to follow.

1. Have a Strategic Engagement Plan

The most basic and perhaps the most important principle to increasing member retention is to have a plan in place. Of the associations with more than 80% retention rates, 68% have a strategic engagement plan laid out. The best of these plans start from the very first contact. Once a member joins, call them personally or send them a welcome kit.

2. Provide Benefits Right Away

A significant number of successful associations offer members a free trial membership to start. This helps build member loyalty right away. From there, many associations in the highest category offer membership discounts for the remainder of the year. Many even discount membership dues for the second year, keeping in mind that securing member commitments for first and second years are the most challenging obstacles.

3. Utilize Continuing Education Online

Associations reporting renewal rates of 80% or higher indicate that specialized information, continuing education (online) and advocacy are significant member drivers. This is compared to associations with less than 60% renewal rates that consider publications and supporting the mission of the association to be the reasons members join the association.

4. Embrace Mobility and Social Media

Associations in the top retention bracket also have the largest membership base of millennials. This could be because these associations put a substantially larger emphasis on connecting with members through social networking websites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Mobile access and ease of connectivity is also a major contributor to these associations improving their digital footprint and increasing the number of millennial members. It should also be noted that those that use digital marketing techniques for recruitment and retention, see more members retained year after year.

5. Provide More Membership Incentives

According to the Marketing Benchmark Report, associations with greater than 80% renewal rates find that granting members access to specialized content is a powerful driver for retention. For example, of these associations, 41% offer certifications as part of the membership package. Some simply package content or offer multiple years of membership at discounted rates.

6. Improve Engagement Opportunities

The more a member is engaged with an association the more likely they are to renew their membership. Therefore, the most effective associations focus on improving associational engagement opportunities. Associations that see increases in event and webinar attendance and/or growth in member website visits and service purchases are the associations that see the best retention rates.

7. Increase Non-Dues Revenues From Members

Members that rely on their associations for things like industry training, certifications, products, networking events, and subscriptions are much more likely to renew their memberships. This is fairly straightforward. To engage members in associational initiatives, the most successful associations find new ways of offering value to members and this often results in non-dues revenues increasing.

8. Offer Members a Sliding Membership Scale and More

For the associations that offer many different levels of services, the most successful see extremely positive responses to offering a sliding membership scale, giving members the choice of what benefits they wish to pay for and receive. Find out what members truly want through member research. Try different things and gauge the response.

9. Start Renewing Members Months in Advance

One of the things that most of the best-performing associations have in common is they almost all start the renewal process months before the membership expiration date. Most begin the process within two to three months before the membership is up, allowing members time to consider their options without going past the deadline.

10. Don’t Be Afraid To Call Members When It Comes Time to Renew

The vast majority of the most successful associations find between three and four contact attempts is the sweet spot when trying to get members to renew. They use different types of contact as well. This blend is important. While email is the most common starting point and the most successful touch point, only 15% of the associations with over 80% retention do NOT use the phone. In other words, 85% find that a phone call is a very useful, personal and necessary renewal tool for retention.

11. Call Your Members More Often For Improvements All Over

While 49% of the most successful associations feel that the phone is best renewal tool, the phone is also useful in other ways. Phone calls are the best way to create brand awareness in members as well. It adds a personal element to the association. The phone is also a powerful resource when trying to call members to action for a new association initiative, such as a conference, a webinar, or for a networking event.

12. Improve Your Email Touch Points

Though this may seem obvious, associations looking to improve retention rates should place a larger focus on the content and quality of emails. This is because the associations with great retention rates see much better open rates for emails than the others. It is integral that associations find a way to ensure members see a benefit to each email touch point and have a desire to open them.

13. Offer Renewal Payment Plans in Installments

Within the most successful group of associations, grace and flexibility are extremely common. The majority of these associations offer members the chance to pay dues as part of an installment plan (a percentage almost twice as high as those that require a lump sum).

14. Allow a Grace Period After Memberships Expire

One of the largest majorities within the successful associations in the Benchmark Report is witnessed in the grace period allowed after a membership expires. An astounding 83% of these associations allow members to receive member benefits for a significant period of time after their membership has run its course. Of that group, 70% give three months of grace. This is important because it allows members more time to reconsider letting their membership expire.

15. Don’t Give Up On Expired Memberships

Many successful associations find calling former members six months after the membership expired is a good time to attempt to recover former members. Offering these expired memberships discounts on the next year’s dues proves to be an effective strategy to inspire members to renew their membership.

Conclusion

Even though the focus of this best practices list is on member retention, there is a far-reaching and significant ripple effect demonstrated within the report. For instance, the associations that reported more than 80% renewals also experienced the greatest growth in both new memberships and overall five-year memberships. Interestingly, their growth isn’t the result of higher operating budgets, as the 80%+ group actually had a lower median operating than the associations with 60% retention or less. Another positive is that most of these successful associations found that raising member dues year over year (typically 10% or less) was completely acceptable for members.

Sources: The 2017 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report

The post Best Practices for Associations to Maintain Higher Membership Retention Rates appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.

Today’s online consumers report that ads are more pervasive, more plentiful, and more intrusive than ever before. As a result of years of being bombarded with ads, online users have developed banner blindness, the subconscious ability to ignore banner ads. While many believe this is only relevant to certain ad placement, it goes much further than that. According to a survey administered by Goo Technologies, 82% of Americans ignore all online ads, regardless of location. For online marketers, that’s a troubling statistic.

Online marketing changes all the time, but there are rarely philosophical shifts in regards to how ads are created. Sure, ads have become more intelligent and personalized, but the vast majority are still one-off advertisements hoping to catch consumers at the right place and the right time. Well, multi-channel marketing or omnichannel marketing is looking to move beyond hope. This new wave of online marketing looks to create multiple advertising touch-points spread across various channels, all connected in one cohesive campaign. The results from these multi-channel campaigns have been incredible, but, surprisingly, few organizations are taking advantage of the advertising strategy.

Here are the main reasons Why Associations Should Consider Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns.

1. Avoid Being Avoided

As consumers are becoming more blind to online ads, marketers need to find new ways of capturing interest. Each online channel, whether it is through Facebook, Twitter, video, or on a mobile device, demands a different type of interaction and engagement. Multi-channel marketing is much more than simply increasing the number of touch points. It is about customizing each touch point based on the channel it is on. By itself, this customization captures and challenges the consumer’s eye more than the standard ad. Together, as part of a larger cohesive campaign, the ad elevates.

When a multi-channel marketing campaign starts with a strong central idea, the individual ads all benefit from it. Each ad contributes to stronger brand recognition, but each ad also contributes to a larger message. Some associations may use a common color theme or slogan, whereas others may use a different device to connect the campaign. If the ads are consistent and connected, they can become an effective and memorable platform. In a small way, these interconnected touchpoints demand a level of problem-solving from the consumer which has a lasting and impressionable effect.

2. Spend Marketing Dollars More Wisely

Online marketers understand and accept that most ads are ignored and forgotten. The goal of multi-channel marketing is to create several standalone ads that are integrated into a larger common theme. This integration creates a cohesive, unified message. According to Kantar Millward Brown, these integrated campaigns are up to 31% more effective at building brands than the alternative. This is because, even though they may seem more complex, integrated campaigns use various visual and audio cues to trigger consumer recognition. The more recognizable an ad is the more memorable and effective it is.

There is another level to multi-channel marketing that makes it even more impressionable: customization. As discussed, the most effective multi-channel marketing campaigns are also customized to the different channels. As a whole, an integrated and customized marketing campaign catches the consumers interest in specific ways depending on the channel it is viewed on. Kantar Millward Brown’s study on multi-channel marketing suggests that campaigns that are both integrated and customized perform up to 57% more effectively than those that are not. This is because each touchpoint is not only performing at the optimal levels of effectiveness as a channel-specific ad, but they are also part of a larger campaign.

3. The Time is Right

Multi-channel marketing online is right on time. For one of these campaigns to be most effective, the customization on each channel must be optimized and the entire strategy must be integrated. Well, we know that consumers are no longer one channel users. In fact, millennials are often considered challenging targets for marketers because they utilize so many different channels. By targeting each channel and customizing ads based on how users interact with that channel, multi-channel marketing will become associated with this modern channel-surfing behavior.

Additionally, we know how users interact within each channel, meaning true and proper personalization and customization can be created. We know our consumers and how they consume, and we understand the technology. Finally, many of the different channels are being used more than ever before or ever again. It’s time that knowledge was put to use. This is the time to jump in and create a multi-channel marketing strategy.

4. More Accurate Data

For online marketers, multi-channel marketing has one major advantage over traditional marketing that might be the most beneficial: more accurate response data. Currently, simple push marketing provides associations with information about the consumer’s actions that is more about the channel than it is about the ad or the user. Since ads are not customized or varied between channels, marketers expect consumers to react and respond to each ad within each channel the same across the board. But we have the consumption data about each channel and know that isn’t the case.

Multi-channel marketing provides data that tells marketers exactly how an ad on that specific channel is performing. If one ad in the campaign is struggling, marketers can fix it or eliminate it based on the data provided. As consumer data becomes more effective, so too does multi-channel marketing. Furthermore, the current targeted ad technology in combination with multi-channel marketing allows marketers to create ads that are so customized and personalized that the consumer’s actions will be about as detailed and accurate as it gets. In advertising, knowing exactly where your possible consumers stand is half the battle.

The post Why Associations Should Consider Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns appeared first on Online Learning Solutions | Association Management System | Vocalmeet.