When someone becomes a member of your association, they join a valuable community of like-minded individuals with shared interests. Whether they engage with that community regularly or not can make a big difference in the quality of their experience with your association.
There are plenty of steps you can take to improve members’ online experiences and increase their likelihood of engaging on a regular basis. In this article, we’ll discuss three ways you can boost engagement with your members’ online community:
- Use a member engagement app.
- Create branded eCards for members to send.
- Provide exclusive content and opportunities.
You know your members best, so make sure to tailor each of these strategies to their preferences. Now, let’s dive into these creative member engagement tactics.
1. Use a member engagement app.
58% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. This means that a majority of your members likely access your association’s website on their phones. It’s important to cater to these members’ experiences by optimizing your website for mobile, but you can take it a step further.
Give your members a more streamlined and intuitive mobile experience by using a member engagement app. Invest in association management software (AMS) that includes a mobile app your members can use to access information and connect with each other.
To turn your app into a digital hub for members, leverage these capabilities:
- Member chat: Your members are used to texting and mobile messaging platforms, so chatting with other members using an app may feel more natural and appealing than using message boards.
- Surveys and polls: Answering survey questions and voting in public polls are fun, quick ways members can engage with each other and make their opinions heard.
- Content library: Host members-only content directly in the app, so members can access resources easily from anywhere. We’ll dive deeper into the types of exclusive content you can offer to engage members later in this article.
- Event schedules: With your app, members won’t have to spend time searching your website to find information about speakers and event activities. Plus, they can get push notifications for any important updates.
Keep your app up-to-date and take any member feedback into consideration to make the most of this tool. If members love your app’s content library, for example, don’t hesitate to expand it with more resources.
2. Create branded eCards for members to send.
Providing opportunities for member-to-member recognition can greatly improve the quality of your online community. When you encourage members to support each other, you’ll create space for more positive interactions, leading to increased overall engagement.
Make it easy for members to recognize each other and add another layer to their online experience by creating a collection of members-only digital greeting cards. Members can send these eCards to each other to celebrate accomplishments, facilitate discussion, and build relationships. The process is simple:
- Design a set of branded eCards. Consider designing eCards for a variety of purposes and occasions, from saying congratulations to wishing someone a happy holiday. Take inspiration from eCardWidget’s top Christmas eCard designs, then put your own spin on them. Add your association’s name, logo, branding, and custom imagery.
- Add a sending widget to your website. Use an eCard platform to embed a widget into your member portal or website. From here, members can easily choose an eCard, write a personal message, and send it via email or text to another member.
- Promote the eCards to your members. Send an announcement email or add a section in your newsletter about what members can do with eCards. Explain how they can send cards to celebrate birthdays and holidays, congratulate other members, or thank someone.
By adding eCards to your engagement options, you’ll give members a unique, thoughtful way to interact with each other online. If you want to add some creativity to your fundraising strategy as well, consider using eCards for fundraising. Supporters can send an eCard when they contribute in honor of someone or share with friends that they donated to support your association.
3. Provide exclusive content and opportunities.
According to NXUnite, access to exclusive content and activities is a key membership benefit that your members expect to receive. Exclusive content can come in a variety of different forms, from conferences to discussion boards to your monthly newsletter.
Build out a robust library of members-only educational content and an exciting schedule of informative events to make sure that members always have resources to engage with. Increase accessibility and attendance by providing options for both in-person and online events like webinars.
As you compile these opportunities and resources, remember that your content must be relevant and personalized to genuinely add value for members. To ensure your content engages members, take these steps:
- Survey members frequently about their content preferences.
- Take stock of any opinions on the content you see in community discussion boards and comment sections.
- Analyze page views, bounce rates, webinar and event attendance, and other engagement metrics to see how many members engage with specific content.
- Send out post-event surveys to gauge overall satisfaction and solicit feedback on how you can improve future events.
Keep in mind that it can also be beneficial for your association to open up some content to non-members. Prospective members will explore your website before making the decision to join, and giving them a taste of the insights you offer can assure them that becoming a member is worthwhile. Pay attention to industry trends and other associations’ websites to find the best way to strike a balance between exclusive and open content.
Remember to maintain accurate member data in your AMS or CRM and supplement these strategies with personalized outreach that caters to members on an individual level. When it’s time to renew their membership, they’ll remember the feelings of community they experienced and how much you valued their opinions.