Invest in Your Future: Segmentation Recommendations

With Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) looming, many organizations are starting to re-focus their efforts on their data, and segmenting it so that communications sent to contacts are what they are looking for. We are bombarded by email messaging, and at times, tune out from what organizations are trying to tell us. What’s sad is that they are likely missing information that they should know, and want to know, all because it has become too much.

Here are a few examples/recommendations of possible segmentation best practices that may help:

• Communication types: Make a list of all types of information you are putting out there, and then identify if there are certain types of members (based on company type, job functionality, etc) who would most likely be interested in receiving it. 
• Offer corporate memberships? Do you have the main contact only (i.e. the one who writes the cheque)? Or have you assessed them early and obtained other contact names? Not every contact within the corporation will be interested in the same information; from C-suite contacts, to product designers, they have different goals, and value different information. Identify who should be on your list based on your types of communication, and make an effort to obtain their contact information.
• Offer industry and supplier memberships? Segment them. Supplier members may not be interested in all aspects of your organization. It’s a best practice to find out why they became a member, and keep them informed with information on what will keep them renewing. 
• For organizations that offer special programs or information to select portions of your membership, do not send information to your entire database. Those who cannot access it, or will not qualify, will only get frustrated that they are getting excluded.

There are several ways to segment your members. A best practice is not to assume, get them to tell you. Here are a few ways to help gather the information:

• Send a communication, other than an email, advising that your organization is in the process of segmenting membership in order to provide effective, streamlined communication. In this communication, tell them to expect an email inviting them to provide their preferences.
• Next step? Send the email. Prepare a landing page with all of their options, and ask them to select the categories that best suit their needs. Make sure that the information transfers easily to your customer relationship management (CRM) system.  
• Did you not get responses from everyone? Follow up with a phone campaign to get their preferences captured over the phone.

I fully realize that you will not get everyone’s preferences this way, but it’s a start. You can continue this effort throughout the year (at renewal time, while they are in the process of registering for a conference or event, etc). All of this effort should increase member satisfaction, engagement, and email open and click through rates. After all, keeping them happy will give you a better chance of keeping them renewing, right?

This post was provided by Meagan Rockett, who is the Director, Client Solutions with Greenfield Services Inc. and was recently featured in the recent CSAE Ottawa-Gatineau Executive.

Latest #CSAE Ottawa Gatineau Executive now available!

In this issue....

• Ottawa Rocks!  See who has won some of the awards at the September 2013 CSAE National Conference & Showcase from the chapter.  Congrats everyone!
• Our Chapter President, Susie Grynol, writes about the "New Now" in her Presidents Column
• Check out our re-caps on the September Kick-Off at the Brookstreet Hotel.
• Engaging Younger Generations is as hot a topic as ever - and the chapter had a panel discussion about this in September.  Check out the re-cap available if you were not able to attend.
• Are you thriving or surviving in your current work situation?  Alan Kearns of CareerJoy discusses Generational Leadership.
• View our most recent grads of the CAE Program - congrats to everyone!
• Carleton University Launches its First Master's Program in Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership - get more info here.
• Daniel Brunette spoke with us in October at our lunch on Successful Fundraising Strategies - read the re-cap if you missed the lunch
• Meagan Rockett talks about member segmentation and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation in the "Invest In Your Future" Article
• Do you work in (or, are interested in) Marketing & Communications, in the association space?  Our MarCom group may be just the thing for you!  Check out the line-up for discussions this year.
• In October, we also had a 1/2 day session on association tradeshows and non-dues revenue.  A great set of roundtable discussions, with a panel of experts too!  If you missed it, read the re-cap here

Delivering the Intangible Benefits of Membership – A Conundrum

Associations are in the business of connecting people, whether it is connecting members to government, members to members or members to products and services.  The irony of this is that as society becomes more and more connected, that associations some would argue are becoming irrelevant.  Gone are the days when belonging to a professional association was a given.  Back in the day, belonging came as second nature and it was the ‘stickiness’ of community that drew professionals into the association web of their peers.
Today’s professional is seeking a memorable user experience and the return on investment that they are seeking means that ‘one-size fits all solution’ no longer works.

Understanding and responding to our segmented communities is one of the keys to survival in the 21st century association world.

My association’s mandate is to be the voice of our profession and the federal government and other stakeholders turn to us for information or feedback on particular topics.  While this is a noteworthy objective, it could be argued that it is an intangible benefit that on a macro level benefits our community as a whole but has little immediate practical value for individual members.  One can argue that this benefit accrues to the whole community regardless of membership status and so is taken for granted.

Delivering value to my association’s present and future members means that we are working harder to demonstrate both the tangible and more importantly the intangible benefit to belonging.  ‘Belonging’ is the key word in that last sentence, because ‘belonging’ in my view is the key reason that members will join and remain engaged.  The challenge and opportunity for associations in general is that members and potential members don’t perceive this ‘belonging’ as reason to join and stay and so our challenge continues to be to quantify and market what ‘belonging’ means.   I believe that it entails a complex mix of elements but in essence it is in this complex bonding, that the core of membership value is to be found.  I would argue that it is only after a number of years that this benefit is manifest.  So how do we keep those new members from leaving after the first or second year, when they really have not experienced the full potential of the experience that long standing members value so much?

Many of the professionals who interact with my association are not members, but will identify with the community we serve in many ways.  Two years ago, we threw open our doors to non-members to engage with us and this initiative is being encouraged as a way to ‘test-drive’ the association to potential future members.  Grappling with this large non-member population is an interesting challenge, because while they are not (yet) members, they perceive themselves as having a voice in what goes on in the community.  The opportunities presented are many:  we are now in a position to communicate directly with them on topics that are of interest to them; we can promote opportunities to them to engage with members through research, and through our conference and professional development events and lastly we can offer our corporate members a wider viewing audience for their goods and services.

In this networked and connected world of ours, it can be argued that our members no longer need us to associate and collaborate.   I would argue that associations still offer a unique and valuable opportunity to bring people, ideas, products and services together.  Our challenge continues to be to offer the potential, new and longstanding member an experience where they feel valued and where they perceive that their collaborative efforts will support the community, strengthen relationships with stakeholders and government to better serve Canadians.  The associations that will survive and thrive will be distinguished by their courage and creativity and more importantly, members and non-members will have internalized the notion that the value of membership rests not just with tangible benefits but also in the intangible value of belonging.  Belonging means there is an interactive relationship between the association and the member, both are benefiting in different ways, with the net result being that the association and the community becoming stronger and more resilient.

Geraldine Hyland CAE is Member Services Manager with the Canadian Library Association.  She has worked for over fifteen years in charities and not for profit sector and received her CAE in 2004.