Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I run the www.NMOA.org and would say that for marketing membership it's important to be able to evangelize it in a way that people understand why it's important to their business. What's in it for them.

There used to be some third party prestige and additional credibility that went with membership in organizations. But I think that value is diminishing.

Today I think an association needs to build benefits into the club that actually help members grow their business. And have fun and interesting networking events.

Most importantly, on a local level, your leaders need to be dynamic and charismatic. You need people that others want to hang with.

If there is a board, they need to be able to make quick decisions for the group. Not talk things to death before action is taken. Committees filled with doorknobs will run off good people.

So, in a nutshell, people will not upgrade if there is no "real" value, or if the people in charge are not dynamic leaders. People will drop in short order if it is too hard and frustrating to get anything done.

And finally, when someone new does come in, you better have a social butterfly introducing them to everyone like they are a king or queen.

Hi. I am a premium plus member of this great membership site - you may have heard of it - Marketing Profs. As a marketing professional, I had several sites and associations to choose from. I won't list them here out of respect, but I can tell you I didn't just stumble upon this site and sign up right away. The way Marketing Profs inspired me (and others) to first join the site and the increase our memberships is a testament to good membership marketing.

First, you can get a newsletter for free. This newsletter gives away some information, but it also provides a great tease about what else you could be getting. Does your site tempt people into membership?

Second, I find great content here. I actually signed up for another membership site that was more of a professional association, but found the content to be of little value.

Third, this site creates a feeling of community. The content here tells the story of real marketers in real life situations. The webinares allow us to interact with experts. This forum gives us a chance to ask and answer questions about our profession. All of this adds to the feeling that I am getting more value for my money than just a static site.

Fourth, the design of the site is happy, easy to read, and intuitive to navigate. Members want to feel like guests invited over to a friend's home for dinner. Not like acquaintances who meet at a formal dining hall.

So, now back to the core of your question, direct marketing. In addition to taking a cue from the newsletters Marketing Profs uses, you may also want to pull people in through offers only available to members. Depending on the business you are in, you can partner with companies who sell the kind of products your members are interested in and negotiate a discount. Then do a co-campaign where you state that members get a discount. That way you can make the offer of the product to your direct mailing list and the partner company's list. It's a win-win.

Hope this helps!

Alexa