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Keeping association members engaged during events and activities is essential for long-term retention. When members are interested, excited, and participating in what your organization is doing, it feels like a valuable experience.
How do you keep members engaged? Many different types of events, activities, and strategies can contribute to success. In this guide, we’ll provide you with 20 ideas that drive engagement and how tools like event management software for associations can help. Keep reading for all the details.
What Is Member Engagement?
Member engagement for membership organizations refers to how much members participate and interact with the organization.
Many types of member engagement activities can show that members are staying interested and active, such as:
- Attending and participating in events
- Connecting on social media
- Talking on association forums
- Taking continuing education courses
The exact characteristics that define engagement can differ by association and industry. For example, some associations may focus on events and networking events, whereas others focus more on continuing education for professional development.
Defining and measuring member engagement is important to understand what it looks like for your organization. Then, you can track when members are at risk of becoming unengaged, which often correlates with reduced retention rates.
Setting KPIs For Member Engagement
Once you determine what activities show that your members are engaged, you can set KPIs related to them that you can track to measure success. Some common member engagement KPIs for associations are:
- Event attendance rates
- Online member community activity
- Survey response rates
- Number of committees served on
- Continuing education credits earned
- Social media interactions
- Email open rates and click-through rates
Using software with analytics and data tracking will help manage these numbers. For instance, Cadmium’s event management system, Eventscribe, can help you track many engagement metrics, such as attendance, participation, and time spent on the event app.
Why Is Membership Engagement Important To Association Strategy?
Engagement is an important metric for association strategies because it’s a key sign that members are still interested and involved. Essentially, it’s a sign that what you’re doing is working. Members are attending events, serving on committees, and building connections that are leading to personal and professional growth.
When those things are happening and members are participating, it’s less likely they’ll want to cancel their membership. An increase in member engagement usually corresponds with higher member retention rates and increased member loyalty.
That’s why you’ll often see member retention strategies and membership retention plan templates emphasize ways to boost engagement.
Even if members have become inactive lately, member retention strategies for nonprofits and associations that regenerate interest and get them involved again can be the difference-maker that reminds them why they signed up in the first place. So, let’s look at some options that can help.
What Are Top Association Member Engagement Strategies?
Some of the top association member engagement strategies include:
Onboarding Programs And Welcome Committees
One of the best member engagement ideas for new members is starting an onboarding program or welcome committee. When someone first joins your association, they may feel unsure where to start or unaware of all available membership benefits.
Your welcome committee or onboarding program would provide guidance, introduce new members to other members who are part of the association, and get things rolling so they start participating in events and activities right away.
Member Engagement Surveys And Feedback Loops
Surveys and feedback loops are great engagement ideas for current members. Sending surveys to your members provides an opportunity to gather member feedback and make sure their voices are heard. It’s especially helpful if they’ve noticed anything you could improve upon.
When you receive that feedback and make changes based on it, you create a feedback loop that shows members are a valued part of your community and reinforces the impact of their involvement.
Targeted Communications For At-Risk Members
Targeted communications are a good choice if you’re looking for engagement ideas for members at risk of lapsing.
For example, you could segment your email list to all members who haven’t renewed for the next year yet. Then, send a message with an incentive for attending your next event or a special discount on continuing education courses.
Incentivizing or offering special opportunities that encourage participation can help regain lost interest as members start to get involved again.
Adding Learning Opportunities For Members
If you haven’t updated your continuing education options lately or haven’t added continuing education as a benefit of membership with your association, it’s a smart option to consider when your members are becoming unengaged.
Association members are often looking to develop professionally, and new learning opportunities are a great way to spark interest. It can help to look at current industry trends to think of course ideas. For example, a medical association may want to create a continuing education course on virtual healthcare.
Leveraging Member Engagement Software/Tools
Adding the right software into the mix can help create more engaging experiences for association members.
For instance, you could add an event management software that helps you create more interactive activities at conferences, like scavenger hunts and a real-time audience response system.
You could also use a membership management software or learning management system (LMS) to update, organize, and track engagement on continuing education courses.
Cadmium’s event management software and LMSs are used by leading associations to create engaging and immersive experiences. These solutions can be integrated with the software you already use, like your association management system (AMS), to help unify content across platforms and accurately track key metrics.
How To Increase Member Engagement Through Community-Building
Member engagement and community building often go hand in hand. The people involved are the heart of your association, so facilitating connections is essential. Connecting with the right people can be the difference that keeps members showing up and wanting to get involved during each activity. Here are some ideas that can help:
Launching And Managing Online Community Platforms
Having a place where your members can communicate and stay up to date on association events and activities is a great way to build a sense of community. Online community platforms could include social media groups, association forums, an event app and website, or social sharing on learning platforms.
Hosting Live Events
Live events that get association members together can build a sense of community. It can help if events include group activities, networking, or fun games that get attendees active and communicating with each other.
Starting A Referral Program
A referral program is a great option when you’re looking for membership drive ideas, and it can also help expand the sense of community. Incentives for referrals get members involved and create deeper connections to the association when people they know join.
Facilitating Member-To-Member Introductions
Sometimes the introduction can feel like the hardest part of building connections, especially when new members join an association. Introducing new members to others early on and continuously finding ways to facilitate introductions between like-minded individuals can keep those connections growing.
Creating Special Interest Or Local Chapters
As your association grows, you may have members in many locations or with varying interests. Creating local or special interest chapters can help build community in a smaller setting, making it easier for members to connect on what they have in common.
For example, a marketing association may create chapters for social media marketers, email marketers, and marketing analytics specialists.
How To Increase Membership Engagement With Social Media
Associations wondering how to increase member engagement can use social media to build connections and keep members updated on new opportunities. Options that work well include:
Continuing To Build And Refine Your Online Presence
It can be easy for associations juggling a lot of tasks to neglect posting and engaging with members on social media. Therefore, make sure your team sets aside a bit of time each week to create and post content and respond to comments and messages from your followers.
Additionally, you can continue working on refining your online presence, whether it’s tracking engagement on posts to see what your followers enjoy the most or updating your membership drive slogans.
Running Targeted Social Campaigns And Challenges
Creating a campaign to improve engagement is often helpful. Challenges or contests are highly engaging options that can work well.
For example, a health-oriented association could create a fitness challenge for members where they can use specific hashtags while making posts with updates throughout. You could even create groups or chats where participants can encourage each other during the challenge.
Utilizing User-Generated Content And Testimonials
Posting user-generated content and testimonials is a great way to show the real-world impact of your association. It can even motivate current members to get involved in more activities.
Promoting Events And Opportunities
Social media provides a good place to post about upcoming events and opportunities. It can help you reach current members when they might not see updates on other association platforms, while also having potential for posts to reach prospective members.
Integrating Email And Social Media
Social media and email marketing for member retention can work together. For example, you could use social media to connect with your audience, post engaging content, and build relationships. Then, encourage followers to sign up for your email list for more exclusive content that’ll help them get involved with your association.
How To Increase Retention For Different Types Of Members
Member retention strategies can differ depending on the member type, such as new members who will benefit from introductions compared to members at risk of lapsing who need encouragement to renew. Here are some ideas for members at different stages.
Personalized Engagement Approaches
Tailoring and segmenting communication and engagement with members at different stages can help. For example, you could segment email communications for new members, active members, and members at risk of lapsing, so the messaging you’re sending relates to the needs of different groups.
Special Offers Or Exclusive Resources For Renewal
Members at risk of lapsing may need an extra push to encourage renewal. Special offers like a discount on products or services, or an exclusive career development opportunity, could make a difference and add value to membership.
Mentorship Programs
Mentorship programs are a great way to connect new members with those who have been involved with your association for an extended time. It allows mentors to teach valuable skills they’ve learned, while new members receive guidance that is key in professional development.
Retention-Focused Onboarding And Regular Check-Ins
Your onboarding program should focus on retention in the early stages, such as guiding new members on how they can get involved and resolving any concerns. It can help to set up regular check-ins to ensure members are doing well and offer new opportunities they may be interested in.
Tracking And Acting On Engagement Indicators
You should use software to track key engagement metrics and assess the numbers regularly. If you’re noticing dips in engagement, it’s a sign to act and work to make improvements. For instance, if your event attendance rates are dropping, you may need to reassess whether the topics being covered are relevant to current member needs.
Conclusion: Building Lasting Member Engagement
You can start implementing the member engagement ideas discussed here today. They can help you get on the right track before lapses or dips in engagement get out of hand.
Start by considering what ideas resonate the most with your association and try some out that you think would help. Remember to track progress and make adjustments as needed to ensure continued success.
How Our Cadmium Can Help
At Cadmium, we offer a well-rounded set of event, learning, and video technology that can help associations and nonprofits create more engaging experiences for members.
Eventscribe, Cadmium’s event management system, empowers organizations to add engaging elements to association and nonprofit events, such as live polls, an audience response system, and gamification with a virtual scavenger hunt. On top of that, you can track event analytics, manage logistics, coordinate speakers and presentations, and more. Click here to learn more about Eventscribe.
Cadmium’s learning management system for associations, Elevate, offers an organized set of tools for continuing education and professional development. It can help you create, host, and sell courses while tracking learner engagement data and managing member communication in one place. Click here to learn more about how Elevate can make a difference for you.
