Most associations are awash in content, and that content is a shovel-ready avenue to member engagement as well as conversions for new members. The key is finding the intersection of what you have to say and what the members (or potential members) want to hear.
How do you drive your organization to that intersection?
The content toolkit
A good first step is developing a toolkit for creating or converting content into something useful for those consuming it. Who are those consuming it? That is determined by the foundation of your toolkit — the member persona.
More than just demographics, member personas explore the consumers' behaviors, goals, expectations and needs. Before you can effectively know what to tell people, you need to know who you're talking to.
The toolkit should also include details on how to keep the voice of your content consistent. Specific publishing guidelines, such as tone of voice, can help ensure your messages maintain uniformity and support the organization’s brand and mission.
Two-way traffic
Two-way communication is paramount to engagement. Your content should always allow for feedback and discussion among its consumers — whether it's discussion from members to association leadership or members to members. This can happen through online communities, social media or even a comments section on posted content.
A simple, effective method for two-way engaging content is the good ol' blog. Not only can reader feedback foster engagement, but it can also spawn the opportunity for guest bloggers — many of whom can bring in additional readership and potential conversions.
You've heard that success breeds success. Well, engaging content — especially user-generated — breeds additional engaging content.
Gamification
It’s no secret why most retail outlets have loyalty programs. The same concept can be applied to membership organizations.
Increase the payout for members to engage. Provide opportunities for members to accumulate points, badges or other rewards through participation.
Infographics
How can you turn a seven-course meal of information into a concise, easily digestible snack? An infographic. Everyone is pressed for time these days, so readers want direct and consumable information. The infographic solves this.
Pull the highlights from your textual content and make it visually appealing. Not only are infographics attractive, but they are also easy to share and embed, allowing members to pass along the information and enhance its reach. If your infographic is a summary of more in-depth content, always offer a link to the full source.
Make it mobile
Members of professional organizations are often on the go. But those who travel often also know that always being on the go sometimes means sitting in an airport or hotel room or office lobby. Making your content mobile-friendly encourages members to consume it wherever and whenever they have the opportunity.
Email updates
Many people complain about email overload, so you may be hesitant to send daily or weekly emails to members. Don't be. Those who are vehemently opposed can opt out. For other members, it provides a quick notice of what's going on with the association.
You're not so naive to assume members visit your organization's website every day, so quick emails can keep the association top-of-mind and provide members with reminders of important goings-on — be that events, advocacy or policy updates. Replies and click-throughs from email updates also provide one last all-important factor of creating engaging content — tracking it.
Analyze engagement
You can try every form of engagement possible, but it's difficult to say what works if you don't analyze the results of each. The luxury of digital content is you can more easily see what resonates with your members.
Seeing high click-through from your email updates? Consider sending them more frequently. Find that certain rewards entice more members to get involved? Shape your gamification approach.
The key to improving engagement is determining what works best with your typical members and tailoring that for them. Not every tactic may work, but by analyzing what does, you're already headed to member engagement easy street.
