Most membership organizations have two main goals: to acquire and retain members. You should note that members are the core of any membership organization. Without recruiting new ones and keeping them happy, you will find yourself in a big problem.
This is where marketing comes into play. It can be used to help acquire new members and even reinforce value proposition to the existing ones. A lot of membership organizations avoid marketing because they consider it to be time consuming and expensive. Fortunately, in this post, you will get useful marketing activities that can help grow your membership organization.
Understand your customers
There is a need to understand who your main customers are. They can be split into two main categories: those who are not members and need to know why they ought to join you, and the current members who want to know what they stand to benefit by subscribing again. You must find out who a typical member is. For instance, you should know their profession, problems they are facing, and their hobbies. By understanding the buyer persona, you can create marketing messages that target them.
Utilize your website
You need to create your online presence. This can be done by building a website. This is an important and cost-effective tool you can use for marketing. Ensure you squeeze all benefits you can accrue. The following are some things you can do:
- Optimize your website for search engines to ensure you are found online
- Allow members to log into a service portal to make purchases and register for events
- Integrate social media feeds
- Allow social sharing of pages and documents
Create useful, engaging content
It is advisable to create content that members and prospects will want to share and read. In this way, you can boost your website in social platforms and search engines. Moreover, you can drive traffic and even position yourself as an industry leader. This will encourage a lot of people to get back to you.
Encourage online discussions
You should allow non-members and members to communicate through the integrated self-service dashboard. Also, they can engage with a forum or social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. In this way, you can share the latest issues, problems, and industry news. Moreover, you can use the platform to market to existing members.
