The MGI Membership Lifecycle helps organizations develop comprehensive, integrated approaches to membership marketing. The Lifecycle has five steps: Awareness, Recruitment, Engagement, Renewal, and Reinstatement.
In last month's MGI Tipster we examined Awareness, when prospects first discover a membership organization. See Volume 9, Issue 9 on our website www.marketinggeneral.com. This month we review Recruitment.
Recruitment Step
An association cannot grow without new members. Current ones will ultimately retire or pass away, their companies may merge or close, or members change interests. Those who leave the organization must be replaced to stay even, and even more must be added to achieve growth.
Most marketers agree that the single largest factor in the success or failure of a membership organization is whom the promotion targets.
List Choices
List research should begin with the internal database. Internal records may include lapsed members, nonmember conference attendees, nonmember product buyers, and inquirers. These are some of the best prospects to contact for membership because they are already aware of your organization.
The Offer–What
Consider two levels when deciding what to offer in membership recruitment:
Incentives
Although member prospects may be aware of an organization, it often takes a special offer or incentive to effectively move them from shoppers to buyers. Everyone loves a sale.
Creativity comes into play to match the offer to the prospect's potential objections. Here are examples of special offers:
The Marketing Message–Why
Marketers must decide what they want to say to prospective members. The membership proposition succinctly answers the question, "Why should I join your organization?"
Think in terms of very real and practical needs that are met by your organization.
Benefits Copy–What
It is critical to convert an organization's key selling points into benefits. Approach the membership promotion as a conversation between your salesperson and a prospective member. Ask and answer the questions any prospective member would ask.
Promotional Tactics–How
Determine the marketing tools or media you should use to reach your target audience.
Testing and Tracking–Where
Perhaps the most important but most often overlooked membership recruitment discipline is testing and then tracking marketing results. Effective testing and tracking tells marketers how to deploy resources most effectively and economically among an array of available marketing options.
The Importance of Recruitment
In reality, having a great membership product that meets the needs of the marketplace is only the entry point today for doing business. Membership organizations that will thrive are those that will successfully target the best prospects with attractive membership offers and compelling messages. They test and track promotional efforts rigorously to build a highly effective recruitment program. In short, they use membership marketing best practices to attract new members and grow the organization.
Next: Engagement…when new members feel they belong with you.
Associations may recruit new members, but it's just as important to keep them. In the next issue of the MGI Tipster we will examine the processes of effective engagement programs to ensure that growth will succeed.
If you would like to learn more about the MGI Membership Lifecycle and how it can help your organization grow, telephone Rick Whelan at 703-739-1000 or email him at rick@marketinggeneral.com.