Digital Strategies to Evolve your Association

Ghost of Professional Association Past

 

[Many associations] remain stuck in a rut of complacency. They deliver the same old program. They focus on the same old issues, generate the same old knowledge, plan the same old conference.

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Meanwhile, they bemoan the fact that membership is declining; that the Millennials seem to have little time or inclination to join them; and that the world is just becoming, well, too complex to deal with.

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So they form a committee, hire a consultant, study the issue, and lull themselves into a false sense of future-security.

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By doing so, they are almost guaranteeing themselves a march into oblivion. If an association "doesn't evolve at the same pace," Carroll says today, "or doesn't keep up, or doesn't define the future, it risks becoming obsolete."

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- Jim Carroll, Futurist

Should Associations Trade In Their Past? NPR, 2011

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What is Digital Transformation?

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For professional associations, digital transformation doesn't just mean delivering more of your products and services online. It means getting the right content, to the right person, in the right place, at the right time. 

 

Given how frequently your association “sees” your members and audience in person - most of this will be delivered via digital platforms: your .org website, magazine, email, as well as community, virtual events, and learning management platforms. But it's not enough to have these systems and deliver content through them - it requires your association to take a strategic and personalized approach to serving your audience with the most relevant and engaging content to them, on a consistent basis.

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Grow Your Audience

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Members are the people who pay you annual subscription revenue, and are the most dedicated core of your org - but anybody who interacts with you, or consumes your content is your audience. Your potential audience is likely 10-1,000x of your membership size.

 

In order for an association to grow, there must be digital strategies in place to focus on growing these three key association segments:

• Anonymous audience 

• Known audience (have name + email) 

• Members

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One way to build your total/anonymous audience is to pick a piece of content or several pieces of content which have performed well with people recently introduced to your association (new audience, new members). These can form the basis of a lookalike campaign...