Membership marketing is essential for gaining new members, boosting member engagement, and improving renewal rates — all while increasing your reputation.
The challenge is choosing the right membership marketing ideas to build into your marketing strategy.
To spark some conversation on your team, here’s a list of seven effective membership marketing ideas (with examples) that you can begin using today.
Members who have a great membership experience are likely to spread the word about your organization. And that all starts with the member benefits you offer!
Here are a few ways you can boost membership engagement:
While engaged members may be more likely to refer your organization to others, you don’t have to leave it all to chance. You can maximize how many referrals you get by creating easy ways for your members to share the word.
The idea behind a referral program is simple: provide members with a genuine incentive to refer others, and they’ll be more likely to do so. For example, you could give them a discount on their annual renewal up to a specific limit (e.g., 5% off for every member referred, up to five).
When setting up a referral program, be sure to:
Membership drives or campaigns are great for when you’ve hit a lull in membership sign-ups. Use them to get your organization in front of as many prospective members as possible.
You can do this through a multi-pronged approach that includes:
Hosting a free event gives prospective members a sneak peek into what it could look like if they were to join.
Just make sure you’ve fine-tuned your strategy for promoting your event, ensuring your event gets the attendance it deserves.
A few ways to do this include optimizing your communication strategy (for example, segmenting your email lists) and launching retargeting ads. Retargeting ads remind those people who made it to your registration page but didn't end up signing up that time. They're obviously interested in attending!
For even more ideas on promoting your free event, learn more here.
Partnering with other businesses improves your visibility, drives attendance, and boosts membership. These partnerships are a win-win; you get extra exposure through access to their audience, and the business increases sales through association with your organization and the access they gain to your membership community.
Traditionally these partnerships took the form of corporate sponsorships. For-profits paid to be associated with specific events and have their branding on marketing materials.
But today these relationships are more dynamic, with businesses wanting to be actively involved in offering their skills or in volunteering opportunities.
To initiate an interaction with a business, send a letter, drop an email, give them a call, or — if they’re okay with it and you ask first — drop by their office and introduce yourself. Who knows what type of relationship could blossom!
Social media advertising, geofencing, and search engine advertising are even more ways to create awareness for your membership program.
Driving awareness with these tactics never guarantees a conversion, especially as most people rarely make a purchase after their first interaction with an organization.
But it’s an essential step in moving prospective members through the membership journey. You’ll have to supplement any campaign with engagement tactics like webinars and other content to help them take that next step.
Tiered membership levels are one membership model that allows members flexibility in defining how they relate to your association. And, it also increases your revenue by upselling existing members on the best things your membership affords.
You can organize tiers by:
When organizing by value, a common approach is to offer three membership packages next to each other. Each subsequent package offers incrementally more value at a higher price point.
For example, you could offer a:
Knowledge is power, and having the right ideas when it comes to membership marketing can make all the difference. Referral programs, free events, or digital membership campaigns can help your team sail past your goals this next year.
In life, deciding on which direction to go can always be tricky. But if you take the time to get to know your members and what appeals to them, you’ll be able to take a more strategic marketing approach. And when you do reach out to your people, it's going to resonate, leading to more engagement and ultimately membership sign-ups!