Member Acquisition
Successful membership growth depends on strong renewals but relies on successful acquisition. The fact is that it’s impossible for an organization to renew its way to growth, so membership acquisition must be an ongoing effort or the organization will shrink.
Awareness … when prospects first discover you.
The first step in the MGI Membership Lifecycle is Awareness—recognition of the organization by the segment or profession it serves. While prospect Awareness before an acquisition begins is not mandatory, recognition—assuming it is positive—can make the work of the acquisition effort much easier and more successful.
Member Acquisition makes use of a variety of messaging formats and communications channels. Just four of them are:
- Advertising in targeted publications and other media, but it is hard to track
- Direct mail, known as the workhorse of direct marketing, and for good reason
- Email, a low cost narrow or broadcaster, often combined with other messaging
- Web advertising, now reaching its prime as e-commerce continues to expand
Recruitment … when prospects choose to try you.
Recruitment begins by understanding target prospects—who, what, where, when, and how they are reached. This is arguably the most important component in member prospecting.
Messaging evolves from the Unique Selling Proposition and an organization’s indispensability—the one thing it does better than anybody else—with copy that is benefit, not feature oriented.
Creative design is intended to drive interest and promote receptivity to the messaging. It is the most fickle ingredient in membership acquisition and relies particularly on testing to get it right.
The membership offer seeks to strike the optimum balance between what prospects will give up and what they will receive in exchange in order to be a member. It’s often the final and most critical hurdle in prospects’ decision process.
