Blog: Tips & Insights

Actual Photo of the Iceberg that Sank the Titanic

The Hidden Obvious – Search and Discover it Before Adding another Layer of Complexity.

I said this in the last Tipster I wrote: I am nearing retirement after 41 years of professional marketing. It has been an invigorating, aggravating, and enervating run. I vowed never to become “that guy” who pretends to aphorisms and witticisms about the many experiences I have had in this field.

But…

Finding the Problem to Fix Instead of Fixing the One that’s Not There.

More than one membership client has approached Marketing General and said: “Membership is dropping, our renewal rates are dropping and we can’t seem to grow.” We’re not rocket scientists, we’re…

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Tip #1 – Engage!

If renewal time is the first time throughout the year you’re checking in with your members, you’ve just become the relative no one talks to because he only asks for money. Have an on-boarding and ongoing engagement plan in place, check in with your members at various points throughout the year, and increase your efforts with your at-risk member groups.

Members who engage even one additional time with an association throughout the course of the year are significantly more likely to renew.

Tip #2 – Personalize your renewal communication to the user’s experience.

Know what your members did that year and remind them. Include the points of engagement someone had with your…

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The client was dubious. “Our members don’t use mail. They’re used to electronic everything. We don’t think mail will work as part of our renewal series.”

They agreed to test the inclusion of mail alongside email and Facebook advertising for one segment of our campaign target audience. If it didn’t move the needle, we wouldn’t repeat it.

So what was the result? The cell that received mail in addition to digital reminders responded seven points higher than the groups that did not.

Was that group’s cost per renewal higher? Yes, but the ROI was still positive with $12 made for every dollar spent.

When you consider the fact that according to the American Marketing Association, people are sending/…

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