Members form the core of an association, providing funding, energy, and support, so it's not surprising that increasing membership is a priority for many associations and one of their biggest challenges. Members move, retire, and change careers, making it critical for associations to seek ways to attract new people to replace them.
There was once an expectation that professionals would join the association corresponding to their profession, but that's no longer the case. With competition from social media and websites like LinkedIn, people have more choices than ever when deciding how to network, connect with others, and develop professionally.
Outreach, recruitment, and marketing are at the heart of attracting new members to your association. Having a strategy for attracting new members to your association will help you keep your membership rates high and generate the revenue to continue offering the high-quality services that your organization is known for.
In this article, we explore how to attract new members to an association and how to keep them engaged and retain them.
Enlist the Help of Current Members
Enlisting current members is at the top of the list of how to attract new members to an association. Your current members are your organization's best advertisement, as they're satisfied with what your association offers and can best articulate your mission. People are more likely to trust people they know, so if their friend or coworker has something positive to say about your association, they may be more willing to join.
Encourage members to invite their friends or colleagues to an association event, such as a meet and greet. You can also organize a "bring a friend" membership drive, where current members can invite friends and colleagues to learn more about your association and network with others.
Another effective strategy is organizing online events with the help of current members and asking them to share your association's newsletter to help spread the word about what your association offers. Furthermore, requesting testimonials from existing members about their experience with your association is a powerful way to attract new members.
Use Social Media
We live in a 24/7-connected society, with people checking LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook on their smartphones throughout the day. Social media platforms offer a large pool of potential members within your industry, making them ideal for attracting and engaging with people who might be interested in joining your association.
The first step to using social media to your advantage is finding out which social media platforms your prospective members use and making sure you have an active presence there. Then, create a social media strategy to inform prospective members about the perks and experiences they can gain by joining your organization.
Simply having a presence on social media isn't enough; engage your followers by sharing information about your association. For example, share posts showing members receiving industry certifications and post photos from conferences and events that your association has held.
Since LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for professional networking, create a profile on the site so your association members can add it to theirs, which can help attract others with similar backgrounds. Also, encourage current members to share association activities on their social media accounts, and ask permission to tag them when sharing event photos.
Offer Online Courses
The learning opportunities from associations come up in many discussions about how to attract members because professional development and continuing education are two primary reasons that people join associations.
Ensuring that prospective members know about the opportunities that your association offers increases the likelihood that they'll join. Your LMS is an excellent tool for attracting and retaining members. Use it to provide online courses and on-demand educational opportunities to busy members who don't have time to attend in-person or hybrid events.
Also, if your association hasn't already done so, it should consider offering professional development and certifications, including access to timely and relevant industry information. To keep members engaged with online learning, ensure that course content is tailored to member and potential member interests.
Host In-Person and Virtual Events
Use events as an opportunity to showcase the benefits of your association to prospective members. Consider extending your reach by hosting various events in different formats, such as webcasts, online conferences, and webinars.
An effective way to showcase what your organization offers is to bring together members and potential members for networking sessions, where attendees can learn about what your association offers and how it can benefit them professionally. Invite industry leaders to speak at events that are open to non-members to encourage them to join.
Use Video to Tell Your Association's Story
Your association should harness the power of video to reach prospective members and keep existing members engaged. Video can supplement your online learning program and event strategies by providing another way to connect with your association.
Recording events and making the video available on-demand on your LMS or website enables potential and current members to revisit what they learned during in-person and live-streamed events.
People like video because it's engaging, entertaining, and digestible. Also, prospective members are more likely to engage with and remember video content than text-based content.
You can help build your association's brand by incorporating high-quality video content into your marketing strategy to attract new members. Record testimonials from current videos and share interviews with industry experts. You can also post promotional videos on your association's social media pages and encourage current members to share that content to reach a larger audience.
Final Thoughts
Association members expect value from their memberships. By keeping them engaged and showcasing what you offer, they'll want to be part of your organization well into the future. Implementing the strategies listed here will go a long way toward answering the question of how to attract new members to an association by ensuring that your association retains existing members while attracting new ones.
Here at Cadmium, we make it easy for association educators to deliver personalized learning to members to keep them better engaged and improve content satisfaction. To see how we can help you better engage your association members, reach out to our expert team today!
