Membership Challenge  

Conservative, slow-growing budgets

A demanding, diverse membership

A business model heavily reliant on perceived value

As membership organizations seek to serve a growing, global member base, many are encountering significant challenges scaling services to meet member needs. Members want rich, relevant resources that address their personal and professional interests, while reflecting their geographic and cultural diversity. Time-pressed and choosy, they may not use traditional membership resources, such as annual events, member magazines, and online directories. Yet they must still perceive high value, if they are to renew memberships and pay dues.

Online networking tools point the way to solving the membership challenge, providing robust tools, powerful analytics, and test-and-learn marketing capabilities. As member organizations evaluate technology solutions, they should ask themselves whether they meet the four imperatives of community management.

• Does this solution provide the interactivity, collaboration, and personalization my members seek?
• Will it drive my members online—and keep them there, with user-centric tools to increase interactivity and deepen loyalty?
• Can it be localized to meet the needs of individual chapters and diverse geographies?
• Does it empower users to create their own resources, including blogs, events, information, and documents?

• Can I leverage tools like blogs, events, and online chats to increase member involvement?
• Am I marketing and communicating with my members online?
• Can my members pay for dues and resources online?

• Can I see what my users are doing and how they are connected to each other?
• Do I have the online insights and analytics I need to enhance the community experience for my members?
• Can I identify and leverage my most important “tipping point” members?

• Can I segment my users to see where value creation opportunities lie?
• Can I do test-and learn marketing, creating effective campaigns by piloting them with select user groups?
• Can I translate user needs and behaviors into revenue-driving products and resources?

An effective community management solution should do more than just create community. It should also provide powerful tools to manage, measure, and optimize community, allowing organizations to create a seamless, integrated online experience that grows membership, increases revenues, and reduces servicing costs.