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Putting together a membership marketing plan is the first step to successfully recruiting new members. And understanding the appropriate elements to include in the plan and the investment associated with them are fundamental to developing a successful plan.

This edition of the MGI Tipster reviews six critical elements to include in your master member recruitment plan for 2012 and beyond.

Element #1: Economics

The plan starts with an analysis of the scope of the member acquisition program and how much can be spent on acquiring new members. How much is a member worth? This is a calculation made from several sources.

First, figure the income from membership dues and non-dues revenue and multiply it by the number of years the average member stays with the organization. That calculation is based on the inverse of the renewal rate. An 80% renewal rate is equal to 100% divided by 20% or 5 years. Then subtract the annual incremental cost of servicing the member to derive the net income from each constituent over their lifetimes.

With that in hand, the number of new recruits expected to be brought aboard multiplied by their net income results in the anticipated revenue stream that a new member will generate. That tells marketers a lot about what a member is worth and how much the association can afford to spend on the recruitment campaign.

Element #2: Target Market

Next, it is important to decide just whom you want to reach as a prospective member. This includes where potential members can be found and what lists of prospects are available in your targeted market. Examining the target market for its size, composition, and competitors enables the membership marketer to gauge how available and how easy or difficult attracting each new member will be.

A SWOT review (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) will also help to understand the recruitment potential. It pays to be realistic in determining the target market because the reality of the market potential will play out in real life month by month.

Element #3: Membership Offer

The offer is the second most important element in the success of membership recruitment (the first is the list). What will a member receive? The membership benefits bundle is the starting point because it defines the value that membership will provide to the prospective member.

Special incentives to sweeten the membership offer are also effective in encouraging the member to join now. Effective membership recruitment incentives might include free months of membership, dues discounts, premiums such as coffee mugs, or special drawings.

Element #4: Marketing Message

The message conveys the offer and convinces prospects of the reasons for joining. The message should be built around the value proposition and employ the USP or Unique Selling Proposition. The USP is the benefit that sets your membership organization apart from all others.

The message should be thorough, succinct, and persuasive to describe why a prospect should join. Successful messaging is a combination of words, layout and design, and brand building that work together to create a compelling argument that answers the prospect’s basic question about investing in a membership—What’s in it for me?

Element #5: Promotional Tactics

Once the organization has learned where to find qualified prospects and what to offer them, the decision must be made about how to recruit them. Tactics are the day-to-day decisions that best carry out the overall plan comprising the six elements. Tactics describe how a member will be reached, and there are a number of choices and combinations of choices that come from basic marketing principles and experience over time.

This includes selecting the optimum marketing channel or channels to best convey the message to the audience, such as direct mail, telemarketing, email, web promotions, and even one-on-one personal sales, or all of them if appropriate.

Element #6: Testing and Tracking

Membership marketers should never stop testing their overall marketing plan by examining the results of each recruitment effort and comparing them with what has gone before. Test messages against one another. Test offers. Test channels. Test lists. But be sure to test just one item at a time or run the risk of having no idea which tested element caused the new results.

Testing requires patience, a willingness to risk some of the marketing budget to discover the optimum elements, and a rigid methodology that makes certain that the tests are meaningful, measurable, and accurate.

Final Words

Marketing plans that are kept simple are more likely to be implemented. So, once the organization’s membership marketers have considered the six elements outlined above, it makes good sense to act on only the areas that are relevant to an organization’s situation.

Finally, membership organizations should not fall into the trap of spending more time planning than actually doing. That is unproductive in and of itself. Just as important is to consider the marketing plan a living document that can be altered to adjust for the unexpected and what actually happens as the plan is carried out in the marketplace.

If you need help developing your membership recruitment plans to enroll more members, please feel free to contact Tony Rossell, MGI’s Senior Vice President, at 703.706.0360 or by email at Tony@MarketingGeneral.com.

In the November edition of the MGI Tipster (Volume 10, Issue 11), we examined several elements of a successful renewals program, including messages and the importance of a well managed member database. In this issue, we explore the options to achieve a balance between simple and complex renewal schemes to optimize results.

Investment and Complexity

Renewals programs can be uncomplicated or extremely involved, from a once-a-year mailing to a monthly series that includes mail, email, the Internet, and telephones. Whether an association has adopted a calendar year or an anniversary membership structure plays a large part in determining the resources and the intensity that membership organizations must devote to the renewals process.

Using the calendar year model, if all of an association’s memberships begin, say, on January 1^st and end December 31^st, the renewals process is relatively simple. All of the work is concentrated in a short time frame, and then the job is finished until the next cycle a year later.

On the other hand, if members renew on the anniversary of their join date, the process becomes more complex. Most associations batch each month’s lapsing members and send several notices over several months. This means that a series of a dozen notifications are initiated, each on a different schedule and all running simultaneously. Adding additional notices and different channels such as email and telephones adds additional layers of complexity.

Add to that personalized messaging, and the complexity continues to grow. References to transactional information, specialty section memberships, and chapter affiliation, for example, are often effective devices, but that serves to further complicate the process. Associations must decide whether the complexity and the investment to sustain these touches result in measurable and worthwhile improvements in the renewal rate.

Control and Simplicity

A well managed process is often the most important contributor to a successful renewals program, and simplicity encourages better control, helps reduce errors, and lowers cost. For some organizations, just getting renewals out consistently is a challenge in itself. A missed renewals mail date is likely to impact cash flow, which may be critical. Simplicity may be the best remedy. On the other hand, the more complex renewals scheme may be worth the trouble because of the lift in response it generates.

Membership organizations should also make the process that members follow to respond to the renewals invitation simple and easy by giving them a variety of ways to contact the association. Offer a toll-free phone number to member services, an online website address, an embedded link in emails, plus a fax number and a postal address.

Affording membership dues should also be as accommodating as possible. Offer a variety of payment options including monthly installment plans, electronic funds transfer, and/or automatic annual renewals via credit card. Keep it simple, offer a wide choice of response avenues, and make available easy-payment options.

Measuring Value

Renewals are an excellent opportunity to restate the value of membership and, by the response rate, to measure the value that members attribute to the organization. Renewal rates are a good measure of the value members believe they receive. Poor actual or perceived value almost always results in lower renewal rates. But if renewals are declining despite a strong renewal program, a member engagement plan or a lapsed member reinstatement series may be in order.

Whether sent by email, surface mail, or linked to the web, renewal notices should leverage the association’s brand and continue to build recognition and awareness. Make the renewals communications you send work in several ways at once.

Never Stop Talking to Members

Marketing General’s 2010 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Survey pointed out that associations that have attained better than 80% renewal rates are those that continuously ask their members to renew, often using high message frequency and multiple channel touches. This suggests that renewals contacts should begin early, be delivered consistently, and continue well after their member’s expiration date. This continuous renewal process is effectively an engagement program.

At MGI, we have found the optimum number of renewal messages hovers between 7 and 10. Touches may include various combinations of surface mail, email, and telephones. Emails should have embedded links to connect with micro sites for ease of contact, and outbound telephone calls should be dialed at different times on different days to improve the chances of reaching members to renew.

Remember to Thank Them

Members are the life force of associations. “Free” may still be the most powerful word in membership acquisition, but for renewals programs, saying “thank you” is just as important. Members who are actively engaged in an association are more likely to renew. So listen to them, talk with them, and involve them as you design or redesign your systems to create the most effective membership renewal program possible.

If you would like to learn more about renewals and the best practices for implementing them, contact Rick Whelan, MGI’s President, at 703.706.0350 or rick@marketinggeneral.com.

The Importance of Renewals

Renewals are a vital component of an association’s lifeblood. They are very often the primary income generator and it’s critical that the renewal system be consistent, on time, accurate, and appropriate. By appropriate we mean that it best suits the association’s membership design. Here are the most important factors that come into play.

Perhaps the most common reason members do not renew—other than a breakdown in the value equation—is that they simply forget. That should be kept in mind when designing a renewal program’s timing and messaging. Membership marketers also know that retaining current members is a much less expensive investment than acquiring new ones, and because renewals are such an important revenue source, it is important to put in place the strongest and most successful renewal program possible.

Marketing General Incorporated manages many association renewal programs for various clients. While each has its nuances based on the renewal cycle, number of members, database limitations, and available investment, there are commonalities that we can share with our readers.

The Appropriate Plan

How many renewals touches should there be? Marketers should test various combinations of email, mail, and phone renewal messages to discover which works best. Say the renewal series includes seven touches, but it could easily be more.

Email is less expensive than regular mail, so the renewal message series should begin with it, move on to regular mail notices, and end with a phone call, the most expensive channel. The final communication may link to an online survey to discover reasons some members do not renew.

It might begin with an email to members three months before their expiration month. If they are going to work at all, email renewal notices usually generate a response (whether opening the email, clicking on a link, or renewing) within 48 hours. For this reason, including an email early in the renewal cycle may reduce the need for additional and more costly channels.

If they do not renew from this email, both email and mail notices may follow up at two months, and again at one month before the expiration month. Then send another mailed notice in the month of expiration.

Mailed notices can be sent each month, while phone calls are effective to “bring back” members who are past their renewal dates. Phone calls can be used after expiration to reach members who have still not responded. By analyzing response rates from each renewal touch, marketers can eliminate messages with low response rates and increase messaging in channels that perform strongly.

Messaging and Database

Effective renewal programs and the individual messages within them rely heavily on an accurate and up-to-date membership database. An organization’s credibility and attention to detail is on display when members receive their renewal notices, so all information should be accurate. At the same time, renewing members should be given the opportunity to correct inaccuracies in their records.

Keep the message simple and relevant. Include the date the membership will expire, the cost of renewal dues, how to renew (phone, fax, email, mail, or web), and the benefits that will be lost if the member does not renew. Renewal notices can remind members of the value of their benefits over the past year. Personalization of members’ renewal notices can include savings on purchases, continuing education credit, and annual meeting registration discounts.

However, marketers should resist the urge to add additional materials to renewal notices. No surveys, no annual meeting information, no offers to buy books. As tempting as it may be to save postage by packing the renewal envelope, these additional components only serve to dilute the most important message—Renew Now.

Great copy makes writing seem so easy. It flows. It’s conversational. It’s even captivating. But most of all, it engages and it sells.

Copywriting is both art and science, method and creative. In this month’s MGI Tipster, we examine some of the basics that are so important to direct marketing copy creation and provide some tips on how to make your copywriting even better.

It all starts with “Dear”

You are set and ready to write your direct marketing letter, email, postcard, advertisement, webpage, or products description. You have prepared the ground work…you have your sales points sharpened and have developed a solid offer. And you start to type:

Dear…

But who are you contacting? How much do you know about the person on the receiving end of your communication? And how does that influence what you say?

Before you write your very first sentence, take time to understand to whom you are writing. What are the interests…hopes…fears…and goals of your reader? Your message to a small business CEO will probably be different from the CEO of a multinational company, and equally different for a student, middle manager, or administrative assistant.

Tempting as it might be to send a one-size-fits-all message, your job as a marketer is to convey how your product or service fits the reader’s best interest – not yours.

Think of this: is it easier to have a conversation with an old friend or a new one? You are likely to be a lot more comfortable talking to someone you know than someone you don’t. So be sure you know your reader. And…

Be yourself

A direct mail letter is a discussion and a dialog with a customer and a friend where you actually participate in both sides of the communication. Good copy builds a relationship and engages your readers as though you were in the room talking with (not to) them. You must be familiar, respectful, understanding, friendly, and professional all at the same time. Your conversation is your opportunity to share good news about the advantages your product will bring to the needs of your good friend, the reader.

Ask questions. They enhance the conversational feel of your letter and further engage your reader. A question begs an answer, and as you ask, you are satisfying curiosity while you share the benefits of your product or service.

Features tell…Benefits sell

Membership appeals are notorious for presenting laundry lists of supposed member “benefits” such as award-winning magazines, education programs, conferences, e-newsletters, webinars, and insurance programs. Yes, the list goes on. And while we tell an awful lot about what members get, we say very little about what they get out of it.

These so-called member “benefits” are actually “features.” You want to make them relevant to prospective members, have them come alive, and be not only useful but also necessary solvers of problems your prospect may not have known she or he had. You need to turn that list of “things” into opportunities.

Try this exercise:

1. Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper from top to bottom.
2. On the left side, list features of membership, i.e., the monthly magazine, industry email, lobbying, certification, career center, professional development, and so on.
3. On the right side, write a corresponding benefit, i.e., advance your skills by…prove your value by…save time by…save money by…use research to support programs…protect your interests…etc.

See what is happening here? You are taking inanimate objects or services and giving them life by showing what they do for people and how they help them. Then, when you write your letter, use the right side of the list to develop copy points that address the needs, wants, and desires of your prospective members. That is relevant writing that speaks to your reader.

Say what you mean

Remember that you are writing to real people about real solutions to real problems. You are not writing an epic filled with fancy words to impress your readers. You are having a conversation. Write as you speak in plain language. Use short, active sentences that will work to move your reader through your message to real understanding. You want your reader to be energized and excited by the story you tell. And keep a close eye out for the passive voice, which generates overlong, mealy-mouth, timid prose. Use the active voice with punchy, active verbs.

It’s really important that you be genuine, honest, and authoritative. Leave the techno-speak for the brochure, avoid uncommon acronyms, and don’t use long words when short ones will do. You don’t want to talk down to your audience, you want to communicate with them. You are delivering a message of hope and opportunity, and that should be exciting. Testimonials offer real support and credibility to your message, so use them if you can. Your current, satisfied customers are your best advocates.

The key is to “act”

Every word, every sentence, every paragraph needs to drive your reader to respond to your offer. If you can’t get a sale, get a lead. Structure your offer to make it easy and safe for your reader to place an order, get more information, or request a sample or trial.

Guarantees offer a safety net and instill confidence in the uncertain prospect. Premiums offer incentive, perhaps that extra nudge that moves your reader from consideration to participation. And deadlines spur quicker and better response, which is what you are trying to do in the first place.

And most of all—always ask for the order! Then ask again. Call toll free. Go to the website. Return the order form in the postage-paid envelope. Make ordering easy, natural, and the logical next step.

In a nutshell

• Be conversational and speak to a person, not an audience.
• Peppering copy with the pronoun “you” is not a personalized message.
• Talk to your readers…not at them.
• Be genuine, honest, and authoritative.
• Write about benefits, not features.
• Ask for the order.
• Ask for the order again.

If you would like to know more about copywriting and how it works as a component in direct marketing and membership recruitment, contact MGI President Rick Whelan at 703.706.0350, or email him at rick@marketinggeneral.com.

Of the 650 association executives who responded to the survey, 57% reported new member acquisition increased from the year before as well as significant improvement from two years ago.

The Benchmarking Report is an annual study of association membership conducted by Marketing General Incorporated that serves as a bellwether for the industry’s fiscal fitness.

Positive indicators overall

The Benchmarking Report found that the major indicators of membership health—total membership, new members acquired, and members renewed—all showed substantial improvement from the 2010 findings.

In fact, just under half of the respondents—49%—said they recorded an increase in members over the previous 12 months, the highest percentage since the inception of the Benchmarking Report in 2009.

57% of association executives surveyed reported that new member acquisition increased over the past year. Renewals were also up from prior years with 32% of respondents saying they had an increase in overall continuation rates.

Cross tabulations reveal impediments to growth

New this year, the Benchmarking Survey uncovered correlations between perceived barriers to growth and actual performance over the past five years. Eight categories of impediments were examined for their effects on association membership performance. Some challenges, such as weak products or service offerings, insufficient budget, and lack of marketing expertise, had significantly more effect on membership outcomes than did others.

Membership Growth Challenges Over the Past Five Years

Challenge Past Five Years Membership Increased Past Five Years Membership Unchanged Past Five Years Membership Decreased   Insufficient staff       Weak product or service offering       Insufficient budget       Lack of strategy or plan       Market saturation       Inadequate association management database       Lack of marketing expertise       Inadequate research

Member involvement with association products, services, and activities is known to be a strong motivator for membership renewals and overall association health. It’s generally accepted that the more a member is involved in an organization, the deeper the member’s loyalty and likelihood to remain a member.

The 2011 Benchmarking Survey listed more than a dozen activities common to associations to discover which were most used as engagement devices. More than a dozen categories were included.

The Benchmarking Report also analyzed the impact of rising dues rates on membership growth, almost always a sensitive issue as associations balance revenue needs against member price sensitivity.

The 2011 Survey found that 30% of organizations expect to raise member dues in 2011, and 71% of those that raise them will increase dues between 1% and 10%. The majority of associations raise dues as needed and do not have a regular dues increase schedule.

The 2011 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report includes dozens more key findings that can provide insights and new directions for membership marketing programs. If you would like a copy of the report contact its co-author, MGI Senior Vice President Tony Rossell, at tony@marketinggeneral.com, or go to www.marketinggeneral.com/downloads/MGI-2011-Membership-Marketing-Benchmarking-Report.pdf to download a copy.