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1. Make newcomers feel at ease
Increase member engagement with seamless induction for the newly joined members. Consider a time when you were utterly unfamiliar with something, such as a new school, job, or even your association needs an LMS for Association. You had no idea what to expect, how to act, what to expect from the others, or how they expected you to work.
Starting with welcome emails is a great way to go. First, however, include guides, instructional materials, and other helpful information on your website to help members understand the association and their role in it. Then, use your association software to track the effectiveness of these new member campaigns so you can duplicate what works.
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2. Get new members up to speed
Getting new members on their feet cost-effectively and quickly is the key to increasing member engagement. Keeping your website updated with relevant, timely information for members at all stages of their membership is excellent for boosting engagement. You might also think about adding LMS for Association tools and interactive content to your website to give it more functionality.
Maybe your company is a professional association. You could provide a tool on your website that allows them to calculate the value of an advanced degree in terms of lifetime earnings. A trade association might offer a series of tutorial videos or how-to guides. Keep delivering relevant content so that your members get value out of their membership, and you’ll see an increase in member engagement.
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3. Create a vibrant community
Direct communication with association leaders is beneficial to members. However, getting members to communicate with one another strengthens a community.
The sense of belonging—the feeling that you are a part of something bigger and more powerful than yourself—is one of the most appealing aspects of joining an association. Through an active local or online community, assist your members in forming this bond.
This is usually done through regular meetings for local groups. Unfortunately, this type of face time isn’t generally possible in national or international associations with members scattered across the globe—except perhaps at an annual convention. As a result, establishing an active online community is critical.
When properly managed, community forums can be highly effective. Encourage member engagement and participation by keeping content fresh. If the information isn’t confidential, make it simple for members to share it via social media, email, etc.
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4. Maintain a laser-like focus on your associations’ mission and objectives
It’s a lot easier than you think to let the group’s goals take precedence over the associations’ mission. This is known as “groupthink,” It is a sociological phenomenon in which members are more concerned with the group’s cohesiveness than with achieving the mission for which the group was formed.
Keep your organization’s mission, purpose, and goals in mind. Sticking to the main objective of the association and its members is one of the powerful member engagement tactics especially if the association is just starting out.
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5. Organizing events
Meeting in person is one of the best member engagement tactics there is. Members feel more like they are part of a community focused on mutual benefits and shared goals when they see you and their fellow members in person.
The value of their membership in your association becomes more apparent as the network grows. For example, a dinner and awards ceremony could be part of an annual event to recognize your most active members.
As per multiple researches, organizing events has been reported to boost member engagement digitally with members able to connect from a remote location.
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6. Consistently communicate
Always keep the communication lines open for the members. How else will members be able to voice their concerns or express gratitude when a team member goes above and beyond to assist them?
Make sure you give members the option of communicating with them via email, text messages, e-newsletters, or snail mail. Include links to your social media accounts in your emails so that if a member cancels their email subscription, they can still connect with you on Facebook, for example.
Boost member engagement via maintaining a sense of belonging. Your members will be more engaged if they form a strong community. Start with online communities because they are the easiest to create.
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7. Customize the content
For survey respondents, a lack of personalized, relevant content is a significant source of frustration. It’s possible to tailor content to demographic segments of your member database. And you have to! One type of message may appeal to younger members, while another appeals to the association’s elder members.
Its apparent involvement fosters loyalty. And, because member loyalty helps your association grow, there’s no better time than now to start changing how you engage with all of your members, from those who have just joined to those who have been with you from the beginning. Set member engagement goals and determine what member engagement tactics your team will employ to achieve them.
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8. Automate the Processes
Making it difficult for members to engage with your association is easy to turn them off. Having an end-to-end seamless membership workflow helps increase member engagement
With membership software that streamlines two-way interactions and communications between your membership base and your association, you’ll improve your member engagement efforts.
For example, don’t make members jump through hoops to renew their memberships. Instead, invest in integrated membership management software that sends personalized automated renewal reminders and expiration notices on your preferred schedule.
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9. Participate in Online Discussions
If you want to send a message to your members, online communication is the cheapest, fastest, and most accessible option. You can reach out to your members via email, social media, forums, blogging and video.
Don’t just post updates or announcements when communicating with your members online. Instead, interact with members by initiating conversations and soliciting feedback on pertinent issues. Your members will tune you out if all you do is ask for donations or registrations
Invite members to unique mailing lists or social media groups where they can share their thoughts with other members to encourage engagement within the member community. When it comes to increasing membership engagement, a thriving member community is a bonus in and of itself!
