Five marketing tactics to increase your association’s membership

Members are the driving force behind any association, from the revenue they generate to the connections and resources they create. Additionally, focusing on growing membership ensures a larger, stronger membership base for your association’s future success.

When recruiting, put yourself in the shoes of a prospective member. What about your organization is unique? What motivates your members to keep their membership? If your association is struggling to increase membership year after year, here are five marketing tactics to recruit and retain quality members.

1. Market where your member demographic spends time.

   Advertise in industry-specific publications to attract relevant professionals. If most of your members are active on a specific platform, such as LinkedIn, be an active voice  on those platforms! Fostering discussions relevant to industry topics on social media will ensure that prospective members remember your organization's name.

   Make sure you are utilizing your organization’s social media presence to share relevant industry news to your members and prospective members, and use relevant hashtags.

2. Personalize your recruitment marketing to non-members.

   Marketing that emphasizes how important your prospective members are to your association not only attracts their interest but also shows your association truly cares about its members and will take an interest in their development.

3. Conduct and share industry research.

   Creating and promoting timely, relevant content to your industry is an investment with a two-fold return: it will be beneficial to your existing members, and it will demonstrate value to non-members in the industry.

4. Maintain and promote members-only features of your association.

   If your association has access to a lot of industry-specific information that would be useful to prospective members, make it clear in your marketing. Outlining the clear benefits of joining your association to prospective members allows them to make an informed decision about whether your organization is the right fit.

   If your association requires a monetary commitment, consider allowing prospective members to experience what a membership with your association has to offer, on a trial basis, before becoming a full-fledged member.

5. Get feedback from your existing members.

What do your current members value about your organization and about their membership? What would they change, if anything? Getting regular feedback from your current members is crucial market research. Additionally, your current members will be delighted their voices are being heard, and potentially share with their network.

If you believe that members are the most important part of your organization, prove it with your resources and priorities. It takes hard work and time to achieve sustained member growth, but these ideas are easy to implement and will keep your existing members happy, while also creating interest among potential new members.