3 key strategies to grow your membership in 2014

Opening Remarks – DJ & Terry

SaaS Company (Software as a Service), Leading Software Provider to Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations

Established in 1996, 60 Employees, based in Indianapolis, IN

94% Customer Retention Rate

About WebLink


About WebLink

Association Management Software

Website Design & Development

Non-Dues Revenue Programs

Partner in Your Success

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• Insightful reporting

• Innovative

• Intuitive

• Complete and comprehensive integration

• Responsive and timely customer support

About WebLink


• 3 short questions at the end of the presentation

• Click on the screen to answer the questions

• We will email you the presentation and a link to the recorded video.

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Today’s Presenter

• Chris Bass, Director of Marketing @ WebLink

• 15 years experience in marketing, advertising and business development

• Focus on high performance brand strategies that fuel organizational growth

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-bass/4/6a7/589

Agenda We should offer tiered- dues.

We need an app to stay relevant .

We should create a blog to engage our members?

We should offer advertising opportunities through our website.

We need our own line of products to increase non-dues revenue.

We need to provide our members with better events.

We need to be the business learning hub in our community.

Social media is the ticket to more members.


“You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right

all of the time. Winning is a habit.”

- Vince Lombardi


Activate your best members to increase the speed of acquiring new members

Always be testing to determine which ideas contribute most to membership growth

Identify and inventory the metrics that will define success


You know we’ve been thinking that joining the association would be beneficial to our company and employees, but we’re just not sure.

Activate your best members to acquire new members


If you’re looking for an organization that can help you navigate the change that our industry is facing, you’ve got to check out American Marketing Association. They’re really on their game and will help you understand the changing landscape of social media. Not only that, but they’ve established guidelines for interactive marketing generally. The AMA is a great source of information.



Not only that, just last month at one of the events the AMA produces, we were able to connect with a few prospective customers that we might not ever have met this quickly. Being a member really has its advantages and when you look at the investment you’re making in the AMA you’ll find that your ROI is pretty solid.


Agenda


Team, we’re having a great year. Turnover is at an all-time low and we get resumes left and right. Best of all, memberships are up over the same period last year. At the end of the day, that’s the true measure of success, right?

Why are your members your members?

No doubt we’re having a great year. I was just talking to one of our members, and he was telling me he loves the events we produce.

Well, I was talking to one of our largest contributing members the other day, and she was telling me that she is engaged with us because we help them connect with more prospective customers.

Membership is up and that is what really counts. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. We’ll be fine if we just keep doing what we’ve been doing.

Agenda


Why are your members your members? Different points of view were exchanged.

There was no specific discussion of doing anything that would grow the organization next quarter or next year.

In fact, some don’t believe it’s necessary to do anything different from what they’re doing today.

Agenda


Why are your members your members? The metric illustrated in our story was membership sales. As a metric, membership sales provides undeniable evidence that prospects and members were willing to join your organization .

Sales is a great metric, but it only measures the member’s choice to join. It does not explain why your members joined.



Ultimately, to understand why your members joined you need to have a dialogue with them, but who are the best members for you to talk to?



Would you recommend ‘XYZ’ organization to your friends and acquaintances?

Promoters



Your best members are a rich, often untapped source of information that can help you grow your organization.

Their perceptions about your association can help you answer why your members are your members.

What Promoters say to their friends and acquaintances helps to grow your organization.

Their friends and acquaintances are likely an untapped source of qualified prospects that will help you grow your membership.



Promoters represent one way to define your best members.


LIFETIME VALUE REPORT



- Identify Your Best Members • Those who will recommend your association to their

friends and acquaintances. • Overall contribution to the organization.

- Understand Them • Your best members are a great source of information that

can help your grow your organization.



Your Association is what your best customers are telling their friends and acquaintances right now.

Not only that, just last month at one of the events the AMA produces, we were able to connect with a few prospective customers that we might not ever have met this quickly. Being a member really has its advantages and when you look at the investment you’re making in the AMA you’ll find that your ROI is pretty solid.

If you’re looking for an organization that can help you navigate the change that our industry is facing, you’ve got to check out American Marketing Association. They’re really on their game and will help you understand the changing landscape of social media. Not only that, but they’ve established guidelines for interactive marketing generally. The AMA is a great source of information.


The power of using Personas to activate your members

Connecting to Prospective Customers

Navigating changes in the

Industry

Guidelines and Best Practices

CEO Operations Manager

Business Development

Director



Creative and Aspirational Opportunities

Advertising on Your Associations

Website

Referrals Coming From Your

Association

Training and Employee

Development

CEO Operations Manager

Business Development

Director


I like the creative approach of the website, but I think the font is all wrong. Let’s take a look at a couple of different fonts.

I’m not sure it’s the font, I’m concerned about some of the copy. Let’s take another look at the copy.

I’m just not convinced the website reflects the personality of our organization.


One Key Element Remains


So the key elements of activating your best members to help grow your membership include:

Target Audience Insights Aspirational Opportunities





- Understand Them

• Your best members are a great source of information that can help your grow your organization.

- Craft initiatives They Will Share With Their Friends

• Be what your members are interested in.



1 day after release

• 1,000,000 hits

1 month after release

• 20,000,000 hits

http://www.bk.com/en/us/campaigns/subservient-chicken.html


LinkedIn eBook for Associations

http://info.weblinkinternational.com/linkedin-growmembership


LinkedIn eBook for Business






- Understand Them

• Your best members are a great source of information that can help your grow your organization.

- Craft Initiatives They Will Share With Their Friends

• Be what your members are interested in.


Always Be Testing


Always Be Testing

Click-Through Rate (CTR) Referral Rate

Agenda We should offer tiered- dues.

We need an app to stay relevant .

We should create a blog to engage our members?

We should offer advertising opportunities through our website.

We need our own line of products to increase non-dues revenue.

We need to provide our members with better events.

We need to be the business learning hub in our community.

Social media is the ticket to more members.


Always Be Testing

Mem

ber V

alue

Contribution to Association Growth

BEST IDEAS to PURSUE


“If you don’t know where you’re going. You’ll end up someplace else. ”

- Yogi Berra



“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

- Napolean Hill



LIFETIME VALUE REPORT


MEMBER RETENTION REPORT


MEMBER SEGMENTATION REPORT: SEGMENTED BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES



How do you define success?

• New members acquired • Members retained • Member contribution to the organization • Staff turnover • Increases in non-dues revenue • Other • All of the above


Coming up: 3 Questions


WebLink Recap: An Integrated Solution

• ONE web-based centralized database

• Prospects, members, non-members and all reps in same system

• Financials, events, email, committees, website, reporting

Central DB

Financial System

Website

Email Marketing

Members

Events

Prospects


Association & Chamber Websites

• 500+ client websites • WebLink Local business

directory drives 67% increase in traffic from organic searches

• Adds value for members • Non-dues revenue • Responsive website design

– automatically looks great on all devices


WebLink Website Management System

• Very easy to add pages and edit content

• Drag and drop new content sections

• Quickly modify the navigation menu

• Easily add photos, videos, buttons, documents, blog posts and more

http://www.weblinkinternational.com/products/membership-website-solutions.aspx


• Insightful reporting

• Innovative

• Intuitive

• Complete and comprehensive integration

• Responsive and timely customer support

About WebLink


3 Questions Please answer these to receive a

copy of the presentation.


Chris Bass

Director of Marketing [email protected]

WebLink International 3905 Vincennes Road, Suite 210 Indianapolis, IN 46268 P 317-872-3909 | 1-877-231-4970 | F 317-872-3929 weblinkinternational.com | weblinkblog.com

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