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Membership
2.0: Using Social
Media for Recruitment
and Retention in Membership
Organizations
By
Jacqui Olkin
[Reprinted
from the March 2008
Membership Developments,
a Newsletter of the
American Society of
Association Executives
(ASAE)]
The
latest social media
tools offer great
potential for enhancing
your services and
increasing member
engagement, and thereby
boosting recruitment
and retention.
The
social media buzz
has spread quickly
through the association
world as professional
organizations adopt
blogs, wikis, discussion
boards, RSS feeds,
and other "Web
2.0" tools to
provide value to members.
But social media also
can support your member
recruitment and retention
efforts.
Make
Your Member Directory
Your "Killer
App"
Your
member roster and
the people on it are
your association's
most valuable assets,
so why not use them
to increase the value
of membership and
boost participation?
Member and staff directories
have become an essential
resource for many
organizations across
the association, commercial,
and federal markets.
The new-generation
directories include
a wide range of information
and multidimensional
search options to
help you find members
easily to answer questions,
join a committee,
develop content, serve
as mentors, or speak
at conferences and
events. Further, a
social media–powered
directory allows members
to form their own
affinity groups, keeping
them active between
conferences.
An
enhanced directory
makes the most of
the intellectual capital
that resides with
members and encourages
wide participation
in the work of the
association. As we
know, more involvement
with an organization
typically means higher
satisfaction, which
translates into member
retention.
To
entice nonmembers
to join, you could
show them only basic
directory information
but make it clear
that members can log
in to access more
information and functionality.
Interact
with Your Membership
Social
media can help an
association anticipate
and respond to members'
needs and questions.
A survey or polling
tool enables you to
determine members'
highest-priority needs
and concerns and solicit
feedback on member
benefits and services.
Discussion boards,
online chats, messaging
tools, and blogs provide
a public forum in
which the association
can answer members'
questions. Archiving
answers and making
them searchable prevents
association staff
from having to answer
the same questions
over and over—and
gives members access
to information 24/7.
If
your organization
already uses social
media, read the user
contributions to track
hot topics and when
in the annual cycle
members are discussing
them. Armed with this
knowledge, tailor
and time your communications
to members and prospects.
Augment
the Value of Events—for
Members Only
To
provide additional
value to members and
entice nonmembers
to join, offer event-related
online discussions
or groups that are
evident to nonmembers
but only available
to members.
Turn
training or conference
participants into
a learning cohort
by providing an online
means of meeting one
another before the
event and staying
in touch afterward.
Post webinar or conference
presentations online
after the live event,
and allow members
to interact with the
presenter and/or each
other through the
use of a blog, chat,
or discussion tool.
Another
option: Use social
media as a sales tool
by showing who's registered
for an event and allowing
members to recommend
an event to others.
The
Generational Argument
If
you're aware of a
generational split
among your membership,
give your members
the tools they need
and understand. More
tenured members might
be less inclined to
embrace a robust suite
of social media, whereas
younger members will
expect online professional
networking and an
online forum for dialogue
with the association.
Common sense tells
us that as more Millennials
enter the professional
world, associations
will need to do more
to serve and communicate
with members online,
using the latest tools.
Staying
Focused
You
have many options
for choosing and using
social media tools.
Get started with these
strategies.
- As
in all technology
decisions, form
should follow function.
Decide what you
want to do, then
choose the tool(s)
to help you do it.
- Choose
tools that are easy
for nontechnical
people to use and
administer. Test
usability before
you launch, and
tweak any problem
areas.
- Don't
let your website
look like a patchwork
quilt just because
you launch new tools.
Try to create a
consistent look
and feel for your
website, whether
the user is on your
homepage or a membership
directory page.
- Single
sign-on is vital
to a good user experience.
If you can prevent
members from having
to log in more than
once on your website,
they'll tend to
stay on the site
and access members-only
tools and content.
- Think
big, start small.
Everyone is new
at this, and every
implementation is
an experiment. Start
with a vision of
the future and a
modest toolset.
See how members
respond and expand
the toolset from
there as needed.
A modular social
networking platform
can help you scale
up over time while
providing good analytical
reporting from the
start.
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Jacqui Olkin is principal
consultant of Olkin
Communications Consulting,
in Reston, Virginia,
which specializes
in content management,
social media, usability,
and Web redesigns
for associations.
E-mail: jacqui@olkincommunications.com
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