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Don’t let your member communication get in the way of how your association operates. Using these 3 tips, you can make sure to get your communication schedule organized and in a place you feel comfortable with.
Coming up with the perfect member communication schedule can be tough for any association. Figuring out when and how much to reach out to members can be a constant battle for those not looking to overwhelm their membership. Don’t we all wish there was some magical way to have a set, “one size fits all” schedule for reaching out to members? While this may sound like the dream, unfortunately it’s just not possible.
In fact, According to research conducted by SmartInsights, even professionally trained email marketers haven’t figured out a solution to the outreach frequency conundrum on everyone’s minds. So, what is there to do? Organizing your association’s own member communication schedule can take time and a higher understanding of your own membership. But if you’re looking for a few tips to get the organization process started, we can help.
Let’s take a look at 3 ways your association can start fleshing out a better plan to communicate with members. With this advice, you’ll be on a better track to increased communication, engagement, and open rates in no time.
Want to make sure all of your association’s staff and members are on the same page? Then make sure you’re all communicating using the same tools. No matter how important or valuable your association’s messages are, they can get lost in translation if you aren’t all using similar methods of communication.
For example, if your association is one for sharing announcements, news, and updates on its social media platforms, you should make sure all of your members are plugged into this platform as well. The same goes for email, online community portal, phone call, etc. Organizing what tools you use to communicate with members is a great first step in creating a member schedule that works.
Stick to a core set of communication platforms and let members know which tools you’ll be using to share information during your onboarding process. This way, there will be no confusion when members need to tune into what your association has to say. And, you’ll hopefully drive up more engagement on your messages.
Chances are, your association has repetitive message it sends out to its members from time to time. Whether it’s onboarding, newsletters, or renewal reminders, there are some messages that just don’t need to take up as much mental capacity as others. This is where automation comes into play. If you can set up routine emails to go off at a time and date of your choice, you’ll be able to free up a lot of time and leave frustration behind as well. Think of email automation as a “set it and forget it” type of tool that works in everyone’s favor, especially yours.
If your association isn’t sure how to automate emails on its own, there are plenty of free or low-cost tools it can use to help get things running. An email automation service is a great tool to have, so be sure to do your research and select an option that works best for your communication needs.
Once you’ve found the best way to automate your routine communication, you can then focus your attention on building deeper relationships with members through other forms of communication.
Does your association use member segmentation to hone in on similar member groups and better target/communicate with them? It should. Member segmentation is a great method that can actually help your association design its member communication schedule on a refined level.
Dividing your members up will help you focus on a much smaller subset of members, then allowing you to develop a schedule that works around their needs. The way your association segments members is entirely up to you, but should promote better communication in the long run. That being said, try to group your members based on how they communicate in order for best results. Do you have a subset of members that prefer to only talk on the phone? What about those that prefer social media to receive updates? These are all important to note when segmenting members.
Using segmentation can help you organize your association’s communication schedule by allowing you to scale things down to a micro level and tackle issues from the inside out. Don’t let your member communication get in the way of how your association operates. Using these 3 tips, you can make sure to get your communication schedule organized and in a place you feel comfortable with.
