No doubt, your organization offers an abundance of feature-rich products and services to its members.
Whether its educational opportunities, valuable content, discounts, conferences, events, or special reserved benefits, today’s membership organizations are focused on delivering plentiful rewards in an effort to attract and retain prized supporters. The problem is that everyone values different things. And that’s when those abundant offerings you’re so proud of actually become a confusing detractor.
Enter the personalized customer experience. We all have different needs, interests, and goals. For your members, real value comes when they’re presented with those opportunities that are the most personally relevant.
In the following article, we’ll explore five ways savvy membership organizations are utilizing personalized experiences to forge stronger relationships with their members and ultimately boost their bottom line.
- Drive membership with a few simple questions. Prospective members are likely to get turned off if they’re bombarded with too many options. Seeing an endless list of courses, events, journal articles, discounts, research and more when they visit your website can feel overwhelming and daunting. Depending upon their background, job function, goals, etc. they’re likely to value different aspects of membership. Asking a few basic initial questions can provide insights into what’s important for each individual member or prospect. Based on those responses, combined with AI-driven (artifical intelligence) personalization, you can tailor and position the most relevant services, offerings, and benefits to each person. Showcasing the value of membership to people based on what’s most personally important to them can pay off in a big way when it comes to your marketing efforts for prospects and renewals.
- Increase enrollment in your courses and other learning opportunities. Learning assets like live sessions, online courses, and certification programs provide another rich opportunity for personalization. Rather than presenting members with a massive product catalog, why not give them an opportunity to tell you which courses are most important to them, what topics are of interest, their specific career educational needs or requirements, which skills they’d like to improve, and more? From their answers, personalization technology then produces a curated list of your learning offerings that’s tailored to each member’s specific interests, needs, and requirements. When people are presented with the relevant programs that best match their interests and needs, enrollments and member engagement both get a boost.
- Encourage volunteerism. Virtually all membership organizations rely on some degree of volunteerism and personalization can encourage participation. For example, if you simply provide a long laundry list of available volunteering options, it’s incumbent upon the member to search and find what might be worthy of their time. But when you’re armed with information about their interests, you can find opportunities that match individual preferences. The message goes from, “Please come help us. Choose one of these options below,” to “We’ve got this great volunteering opportunity that we think you’ll love!” Which approach do you think will get a better response?
- Enhance conference and event engagement. Symposia and other events are particularly important for most professional associations and trade groups, but again, the sheer magnitude of offerings can seem overwhelming. Many association conferences offer a bewildering array of speakers, sessions, networking opportunities, exhibitors, classes, parties, and more. The vastness of choices can make it difficult for attendees to identify the right mix of opportunities that will deliver the best return on their time and investment. By assessing potential registrants’ interests and needs in advance, personalized programming for event attendees can be generated. Each attendee then receives a curated conference schedule with particular sessions, speakers, networking events and more, all tailored to their interests. It amplifies the value of attending the event or conference by clearly establishing relevance for the potential registrant. And because guests will be attending the most personally meaningful conference sessions, they’ll be far more engaged and impressed.
- Improve your offerings. Querying your audience also can provide deep insights into the interests, goals, and motivations of your membership base. These valuable insights can be used to drive more informed decision-making across your association, including marketing, membership benefits, product development, research topics, and more.
Unleash the power of personalization for your membership organization.
When associations personalize the membership experience, it not only adds value for affiliates, it also yields data to better inform decision making and deepens customer engagement.
For nearly 20 years, IBC has been helping associations, unions and non-profits drive member engagement with our state-of-the-art personalization strategies and innovative iMIS software solutions. To find out how we can deliver for your membership organization, please contact our helpful professionals today.
About IBC: At IBC, we have a deep understanding of the critical business needs and processes specific to associations, non-profits, and unions. We ‘get’ your culture, your goals, and what drives you, too. Focused exclusively on and dedicated to delivering the most effective AMS, LMS, and Virtual Event Solutions for our clients, we’re well-versed in identifying and applying the integration techniques that will save you time and money. Since 2001, our cutting-edge products, unparalleled responsiveness, and award-winning services have helped organizations like yours increase their operational and financial performance by leveraging best practices and proven solutions. For more information about IBC, please visit the website at www.ibconcepts.com or call 443.603.0215.
