For many businesses, associations, non-profits, and organizations, memberships are the lifeblood to keep business thriving through good times and bad. Designed to foster loyalty and repeat interactions, purchases, or visits, membership structures provide a segment of customers who will remain a brand’s most valuable over many years. Moreover, according to Forbes citing Bond, “members spend 27% more when [a] brand establishes a positive emotional connection.”
But fostering this cohort isn’t always easy. Members expect more from the organizations that they pay to be loyal to, and they want thorough communication, insider knowledge, members’-only perks, and a higher standard of treatment. Part of meeting these expectations requires that you manage their data well, keeping it up to date and using it to further enhance their experience with personalized communication.
To help you meet your membership management needs, we’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks for effective membership management:
Keep Membership Information Up to Date, Communicate with Members Frequently and Remember Important Dates
Many organizations neglect to regularly connect with their entire database of customers and, in doing so, overlook bounced email addresses, changed email addresses, or inactive members who could use some incentivizing to become active again. By keeping member info up-to-date, you ensure that you have the ability to reach out to members easily, so you can remind them of important dates, events, or offers that they might be interested in. Association Management Software and email automation platforms can make the process easier by tracking annual dates that are important to the members—dates such as annual events, birthdays, membership anniversaries, and renewals. When you communicate regularly about things that members care for, they’ll actively interact back, which is good for business. Keeping tabs on active and defunct email addresses also allows you to track your membership numbers so you can make accurate forecasts about this segment throughout the year. Eligeo’s eAMS solution for monday.com comes with built-in MailChimp integration so you can get your message across with beautiful emails within minutes. Check it out.
Be Proactive and Remind Members to Update Their Contact Information
While you can’t change a defunct email address into an active one, you can prevent this scenario from happening with a proactive request asking members to update their contact information. Members often want to remain members but forget to update their email addresses when they change them. A simply annual reminder can save you from losing a valuable supporter who simply forgot to update their info. If you worry that people won’t respond to the email, give them an incentive, such as a gift card, discount, or free event ticket to make sure they know you value their time too.
Dig into the Membership Data, Understand the History and Get Creative
There is no point in collecting membership data if you don’t put it to good use. The best companies use membership management platforms to get a complete picture of every member in their organization, helping them to understand each member’s needs, likes, dislikes and journey. A simple glance at their profile should indicate whether they’re newer or seasoned, or if they’re an ambassador or in need of incentivizing. Perhaps they’ve only had one interaction with the organization as a member and need more information on benefits, perks, or events. Or, maybe they’re a long hauler who needs an extra level of support to keep their interest piqued. With all the data that can be collected and organized, there is plenty of room to get creative with personalized offers and events for different member segments—and this can bring in big business that lasts a lifetime.
Eligeo’s robust eAMS can help you meet your membership management needs and reduce membership churn. Request a personalized demo.