Recruitment Hack: How Business Partnerships Can Attract New Members

When it comes to member recruitment, it can seem like your association has exhausted its resources for new and exciting ideas to get audiences interested.

In fact, recruiting new members to your association might seem impossible now more than ever. With the effort it takes to recruit new members and the cost put into attracting each new member, your association may feel like just throwing in the towel altogether. If only there were a better way to get audiences on your side. But what if we told you there was a way to easily recruit members with a low impact on your association’s budget while also saving time? It sounds too good to be true, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Say hello to business partnerships. We’ve discussed the benefits of business partnerships for associations in the past, but did you know that a successful business partnership can actually increase your chance of recruiting a brand new group of members to your association?

If you’re wondering how it’s done, you’re in luck. In this blog, we’ll show your association the proper way to use business partnerships to your advantage and reel in new members. So, let’s dive right in- and start your association on the path to better member recruitment rates today.

Business Partnerships: The Basics

If your association is unfamiliar with the benefits that come with a business partnership, let’s take a crash course at how they work.

A great business partnership consists of two different companies and/or organizations with similar missions and audience demographics. By working together, both organizations work to provide valuable offers and incentives for audiences, bringing them both exposure, revenue, engagement, so on and so forth. The importance of similarity is evident in business partnerships.

‍If your association is looking to bring in a new audience that will be interested in what you have to offer, you naturally should work alongside a company that has that type of audience. Working with a company whose audience has no interest in your association will prove to be useless, especially for member recruitment. But what else should your association consider before going into a partnership with a business you trust?

When scouting out companies, of course it’s important to pay attention to their branding, and mission statement. However, there are other factors to look into, such as the reach they have as far as audiences go. Will they be able to attract new members to your association? Is their influence on their clients impactful enough to bring their attention to your organization? Once you’ve factored in all of these questions and chosen a brand/company you feel excited about working with, your partnership can then begin to build and bloom into something positive for you both. Now that we have a bit of insight into the world of business partnerships, let’s relate them back to your membership and learn exactly how you can start the member recruitment process through this newfound relationship.

Connect with companies

So, you have a list of companies and businesses you’d love to go into a partnership with. It’s time to start reaching out and making your connections in order to start something great. Your association can create an email marketing campaign that allows you to make contact with businesses you’d like to work with. Your email can include an introduction, followed by a small description of your association and what you can offer these businesses if they choose to partner. When asking companies to work with you, you always want to show them what they can gain from the partnership.
‍You can also make contact with companies through their respective social media platforms. Just like your association, many companies use a variety of different social media outlet to reach out to their audience. If your association notices a company is active on social media, you can try reaching out to them through a well thought out message and/or post. After all, social media is a great way to engage with others!

‍Making contact and leaving a good first impression is essential for any association looking to work with a business. So, put your best foot forward and reach out to those companies you admire.

Create an incentive that works

Finding a company to work with is only half the battle. Your association and the company it partners with both need to work together to create incentives that will attract new prospective customers and members. Think about offers that both organizations’ audiences will be excited about. For example, if your association is looking to attract the younger audience of that company, brainstorm offers that a younger demographic might enjoy (think about things like discounts and resume building incentives!)Similarly, you also want to look at the benefits that your partner can bring to the table.

‍Are you partnering with a company that can offer your audience exclusive benefits and offers that they’d enjoy? If so, you want to tap into those incentives and see exactly what your partner can offer your audience. For something like this, your association should reach out to members and see exactly what benefits they need.

Sit down with your association’s team and brainstorm incentives that you can present to your business partner. Keep your members in mind in the process, but also look towards incentives that can bring in new members as well.

Welcome audiences with open arms

Once your partnership starts to pick up and gain traction, your association may notice a brand new influx of interested people. This is where it’s crucial for your association to stay on its toes in order to recruit new members. When interested audiences see the partnership you’re doing with their favorite company, they’ll naturally want to check out your association and learn more about it. So, in order to make sure your association stands out in audience’s minds and makes a good first impression, you need to do some housekeeping- especially on your website. If audiences visit a website only to see the information and format is outdated, they could become disinterested with your association and not consider becoming a member. So, be sure to keep your website up to date and aesthetically pleasing for the best chances at member recruitment.

You also want to have information prepared to give out to new prospective audiences. Consider making a welcome pack for anyone who find interest in your association. Chances are, anyone new to your website is going to have a lot of questions, and coming prepared with a pack that has all of the answers can save everyone time and frustration.

‍Be an open source of value and knowledge for any new prospective person, and you could see them quickly convert to a member. Recruiting new members to your association doesn’t have to take all of your time and energy. By using helpful hacks and partnering up with businesses, your association can have new members in the door in no time.