10 Strategies to Drive Member Engagement for Associations

Does your association have a successful member engagement strategy?

Many associations are challenged with engaging members on a consistent and ongoing basis beyond events. For most members, your events are your association and where your members engage with you and with one another.

But what about the rest of the year?

In this blog, Results Direct | RD Mobile shares essential tips for:

• Understanding your members’ engagement needs


• Driving greater member participation


• Engaging your members before, during, and after your events

  

Strategies you can implement now

Here are 10 Strategies that you can implement now to drive ongoing, year-round member engagement:

1. Leverage Multi-Channel Communications - Different members have different preferences when it comes to consuming information. While some of your members may read your emails, others may prefer short videos or social media feeds or mobile push notifications. A successful strategy connects you with your members through a variety of communication channels and devices - including mobile.
   
   
2. Get Personal - Personalization builds relationships with members, and you can leverage member data to curate experiences and target content for them - whether they're on a desktop computer or mobile device. By recognizing the individual interests and generational preferences of members (Millennials, Gen X, Zoomers, Boomers), you demonstrate a commitment to their needs.
   
   
3. Facilitate Year-Round Networking & Community - Year-round networking opportunities enable members to drive the conversation and stay connected between events. Think beyond your website to use mobile-based tools for topical discussion groups or peer-to-peer information exchanges. By creating a sense of community, you get to keep members engaged with your organization and with one another even when they’re not face-to-face.
   
   
4. The Medium is the Message - The medium you use to deliver your message can be as important as the message itself. Consider that, in 2025, 75% of the workforce will consist of Millennials and Zoomers (Source: Deloitte). It's essential to deliver experiences that align with the preferences of these groups -  such as mobile push notifications, texts, and app-based content, communities, and tools.
   
   
5. Deliver Content in the Format(s) That Members Want - We know that members consume content in different formats. While some prefer written news or reports, others prefer short videos or audio podcasts. By providing options, your multi-generational members will engage with your association's content (not Google’s) – on different devices and at times and locations that suit them best. 
   
   
6. Create Experiences - Your organization can leverage technology to enhance experiences and create a lasting impact on members. Think outside the box to create culture and community through the exchange of digital business cards at events or social sharing via mobile devices. 
   
   
7. Incentivize Engagement - Incentivizing member engagement can boost participation and loyalty. Offer rewards and recognition to encourage networking through your mobile app at conferences. Award points for engaging with other attendees, through posts and digital card exchanges, and connecting digitally with exhibitors and sponsors. 
   
   
8. Engage Members Before, During & After Your Events - Engagement doesn’t have to start and end at your events. You can engage members year-round through a mobile member app by sharing exclusive content, mobile push notifications, and forums to connect before, during and in-between events. Extend engagement post-event by connecting members and promoting on-demand content and learning, career opportunities, and surveys.
   
   
9. Capture Moments of Time - Meeting the needs of members with different attention spans and limited time requires different strategies to engage them. Mobile-friendly content such as micro-learning, streaming video that’s consumable on the go, and push notifications about issues impacting members are perfect opportunities to capture moments of time in your members’ busy days. 
   
   
10. Create an Integrated Engagement Strategy - Creating a successful member engagement strategy means starting with the end in mind. Identify what “success” looks like (growing membership, increasing retention, attracting and engaging younger members), then determine the right mix of technologies and communication strategies to support those outcomes. And going forward, it's imperative to incorporate mobile into your member engagement mix.
    
    

To hear more, you can access this brief recording from our recent Results Direct | RD Mobile  webinar: 

_________

Results Direct | RD Mobile  has worked with 100s of organizations to integrate mobile apps into their member engagement strategies. We're here to help you too: Schedule a meeting