4 Tips for Maximizing Your Association’s Membership Value

Why do members join your association? Are they looking to expand their professional networks? Do they need to develop skills and earn credentials? Or do they want a reliable source of information about news in your field?

Whatever the reason, members join your association because they think your organization can provide them with valuable offerings. Studies agree, with associations claiming to have a compelling or very compelling value proposition citing positive renewal rates and membership growth.

When it comes to elevating your membership value, associations should consider both their actual offerings and how well they’re articulating their products, services, and programs. In this guide, we’ll explore how your association can use its software, staff, and strategies to improve your membership value proposition. 

Improve your association website.

Your website is your association’s information hub. While offline events are vital, your website provides continuous value by giving members a place to access your online offerings, stay up to date on related news, and connect with other members. 

You can improve your website to acquire more new members and improve your member experience in general by following these tips:

• Perform an accessibility audit. All of your members should be able to gain value from your website. You can improve your site’s accessibility by following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines revolve around making your content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users, regardless of their abilities. 

• Expand online features. The more content you host online, the more value your members can gain from their memberships throughout the year. In addition to providing information about upcoming events, consider offering a job board, revamping your member directory to increase networking potential, or launching an online member engagement site where your community can connect from anywhere. 

• Build an extensive digital library. Your association generates valuable content for members. From webinars and podcasts to videos and research reports, your website should host a library of content so all members—new and old—can access it at their convenience. 

• Maintain an active blog. In addition to major value offerings, such as events and educational courses, your association should routinely share content that members can engage with easily. Blog posts provide value to your members and demonstrate your knowledge of your field, which can increase their investment in your organization. Additionally, you can write articles on a wide range of topics, from technical deep dives to burnout prevention tips to updates on industry trends.

Keep your website design fresh to ensure you’re following modern design standards and maintain a positive user experience. Web designers’ opinions vary on how often organizations should update their websites, but most agree that approximately every two to five years is appropriate for most sites.

Nurture online communities.

As your association grows, encouraging active online member engagement ensures your community stays unified. Many professionals join associations specifically for networking opportunities, and cultivating an active online community ensures members continually see your association’s value. 

To enable members to form an online community, first assess your technology. Determine if you have tools that enable a convenient, accessible community engagement experience. While some associations use free third-party websites, like LinkedIn or Facebook, opting for a tailored community engagement platform provides numerous benefits, allowing you to:

• Facilitate focused member communication. On a community engagement platform maintained by your association, all focus will be on your association and your members. Members can participate in online discussions, knowing their comments and questions are directed to other trustworthy, knowledgeable members of your association.
• Control their initial impression. Your community software is branded to your association, creating a far more professional impression than a Facebook Group. Additionally, you can direct members to other benefits with ease, such as promoting events, highlighting educational offerings, or sharing sponsor posts.
• Maintain member privacy. Social media sites are free to use because they generate revenue from collecting and selling users’ data. As such, your members will feel far more secure sharing their information and voicing their thoughts on a secure, private platform. This is especially important for maintaining your member directory, as members can feel confident sharing their phone numbers and email addresses without worrying about receiving spam. 

Your online community also serves as a bridge between in-person events, allowing members to follow up on connections they made and establish new ones they can meet with at future events. This means that your online community provides members with additional valuable networking opportunities and makes your events more compelling. 

Hold engaging hybrid events.

We’ve already touched on the value of in-person events, but virtual and especially hybrid events can also elevate your association’s membership value. 

Virtual gatherings can improve educational content with live instruction, enable casual socialization through low-stress coffee hours, and accommodate presenters and guests who cannot travel to in-person events. However, even with these benefits, there is no understating the value of face-to-face conversations that in-person events provide. 

This is where hybrid events come in. Adding a virtual component to your in-person gatherings allows you to engage all of your members. To determine if hybrid events are right for your association, follow these steps:

• Gauge member interest. Survey your community to discover if there is a demand for hybrid events. For instance, if your association has a highly local membership base, they may see little need for virtual attendance. On the other hand, organizations with far-flung members may view hybrid opportunities as a necessity to help limit travel costs. 

• Assess technology. To host an engaging hybrid event, your association will need the right software. Determine if your AMS and event management software are equipped to track guests’ data, ensure a smooth registration process, and create hybrid attendance opportunities that feel interactive and meaningful. 

• Consider event types. Some events lend themselves to a hybrid format better than others. For instance, during a conference, you might livestream workshops to a virtual audience and have a staff member monitor questions from online attendees to share with presenters. In contrast, you may decide that a lecture with no or limited Q&A time might be better as a recording that you can upload to your website later. 

When hosting any event, ensure your plans are aligned with audience interests and expectations. Some guests may attend events specifically to network with presenters and other guests, while others may prioritize the educational aspects of these gatherings. 

Essentially, you can host better events by understanding why your members attend them. As such, even if your association already has a strong hybrid event setup, you may still benefit from surveying members to learn what types of events would most interest them.

Leverage AI-powered personalization in communications.

Nonprofits, businesses, and associations have all come to the same realization: consumers today expect highly personalized communication. To maximize audience engagement, all organizations need to create cultivated experiences that align with individual preferences. 

Hyper-personalized communications may seem impossible to achieve at a large scale, but associations can speak to all of their members individually by leveraging AI. New developments in AI make it possible to automate and streamline communications without taking on additional cumbersome, time-consuming processes. 

When it comes to AI tools for associations, look for:

• Predictive analytics. AMSs and online community engagement platforms record your members’ data, and built-in AI tools can then use this information to predict their future behavior and provide engagement suggestions. For instance, your AMS might pinpoint members who may be receptive to promotional messages encouraging them to upgrade to your next membership tier. 

• AI chatbots. With a chatbot, you can get members the help they need quickly and reduce staff time spent troubleshooting the same problems over and over. Program your AI chat tool to answer commonly asked questions, connect members with features they might be looking for, and work through simple, recurring problems, like resetting a forgotten password. 

• AI-powered recommendations. Personalize members’ experiences by using an AI-powered algorithm that considers each member’s past experiences and stated preferences. For instance, after browsing several videos on your website about a specific topic, a member’s personalized algorithm might recommend another related video, blog post, podcast, or white paper. 

• Content curation/planning features. Generative AI tools can help your association create new content quickly. However, your content’s value comes from its uniqueness and your writers’ expertise, not how you’re able to produce it. Use AI as a planning and idea-generation tool, not a replacement for writing and fact-checking. For instance, AI can instantly generate hundreds of potential topics for new blog content. 

Ultimately, AI is an assistive tool that can ease access and better connect members with your valuable offerings. However, it should not be used as a replacement for any benefits. After all, professional associations thrive due to their active user bases of members. 

Be aware that depending on your association’s field and user base, some members may have ethical and privacy concerns about the use of AI. As such, if you plan to roll out user-facing AI tools, like a chatbot, be sure to have a statement prepared that explains why your association has decided to use AI, the extent of that usage, and how members should voice any concerns. 

Your association’s membership value is determined by the quality of your organization’s benefits, how you deliver those offerings, and whether they align with your members’ interests. Start providing a better member experience by connecting with your members to discover how you can improve your current offerings and what new ones to provide. 

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