5 Strategies to Encourage Member Engagement Digitally

No matter how large your association is or how widely your members are spread out around the country and even the world, the internet has the power to keep you all connected. This is especially useful if a global pandemic prevents your regular in-person meetings and member engagements.

Maintaining an accessible and multifaceted online presence will keep all of your members interested in your association’s offerings.

Whether you want to make the most of the features offered by your membership management software, use your website to better tell your association’s story, or provide new types of online opportunities for your members, it’s always a good time to improve your digital engagement.

Let’s take a look at how you can use your association management system (AMS), website, and additional software systems to:

1. Create programming to suit your members’ needs.
2. Engage members in learning opportunities.
3. Invite members to a conference or live event.
4. Strengthen your brand through eCommerce.
5. Keep members updated using your website.

When the courses, events, and other programming that you offer members closely match their professional needs and interests, they’ll be excited to remain involved in your organization. Use the member information you have collected to create programming they’ll be excited to get engaged in.

1. Create programming to suit your members’ needs

Continuing education courses, conferences, live learning events, and other types of programming expand your members’ professional networks and help them grow in their careers. When it comes to developing the programming that will benefit your members most, the information stored in your AMS and other software solutions provides a wealth of valuable insight.

If your association is considering upgrading your AMS as part of your digital strategy, you can boost member engagement by choosing a system that offers:

• Native to or Integration with your CRM. Associations that are currently using a customer relationship management (CRM) system to gather and store member data will want to ensure that the AMS they select integrates with their current system. An even more efficient solution is an AMS that is native to your CRM platform.
• Customizable member profiles. In addition to the information input automatically from your AMS and CRM, your members should also be able to update their own profiles. Member profiles should be capable of displaying information that includes professional certifications and areas of specialty and are a valuable resource for members seeking to widen their networks.
• Automated communications. Especially important for large associations, automated email communications ensure that your team can keep members updated on the latest news, events, and offerings coming from your association. If you have chapters, the leaders of these smaller groups should also be able to make the most of automated communication features.

When your association has plenty of updated information about your members, you’ll be better prepared to appeal to their interests and encourage future engagement in the process. To learn more about the data management capabilities you should look for in an AMS, check out Fonteva’s guide to the best association management software.

2. Engage members in learning opportunities

Among the many pieces of information your members’ profiles contain are their continuing education records. You can help them explore even more educational opportunities by offering them additional courses.

Your members joined your association because they value opportunities for professional development and growth in their careers. Continuing education courses are a valuable—and often necessary—component of that growth. Your association can facilitate your members’ continuing education by offering them courses through an association learning management system (LMS).

Whether your association is choosing an LMS for the first time or upgrading your current system, be on the lookout for features that the best LMS software solutions offer, including:  

• Customizable courses and modules. When your courses match the specific educational needs of your members, they’ll be eager to participate. Select an LMS that allows you to customize the content of all courses and modules to suit your members’ needs and save your most effective modules for use in future courses.
• Gamification and interactive learning experiences. Your members will be more motivated to complete courses when the learning experience is fun. Gamification elements such as scoreboards and interactive, multimedia presentations of key information keep learners engaged in their courses.
• Social learning opportunities. Social learning features such as discussion boards, live chat options, and even the opportunity to host live learning events for members within specific geographic regions all promote increased participation.

As with your association’s website or any other system your members use, effective design is essential to keeping them engaged. Test your LMS and the courses you create before offering them to your members to ensure that the user experience is positive.

3. Invite members to a conference or live event.

Your digital strategy isn’t limited to the continuing education courses and other activities your members complete online. Use your AMS to help boost attendance at your next conference or other live events, whether virtual or in-person.

Members will be excited to meet and learn from like-minded professionals. Well-attended conferences and events help them grow their networks and encourage further participation in your association’s offerings. Use your AMS to facilitate event registration and management and increase turnout.

Your members will be excited to register for your event when the process of doing so is easy and they’re well-informed about the experience in advance. Your AMS can help:

• Facilitate the registration process. When members are signed in before they register for your event, they won’t have to input the information that’s already stored in their member profiles or your CRM, saving them time. Additionally, the information they provide will be stored automatically in your member database for the future.
• Offer branded merchandise. Merchandise is an excellent way to encourage registration and commemorate a successful event. You can offer merchandise to early registrants, event attendees, and even sell it year-round as a member engagement tactic through your eCommerce platform.
• Provide opportunities for regional chapters to host their own events. If your association is large, it’s likely that not all of your members will be able to travel to attend your association-wide events. Select an AMS that allows the leaders of regional chapters to create and manage events for their members. 
• Connections to other platforms for virtual events. Being able to quickly pivot to virtual events is critical, especially in the modern age of associations . When you can store data in your AMS and conveniently connect to platforms like Zoom, moving a traditional in-person event to the virtual realm is much easier! 

To encourage event registration, create a marketing plan that includes automated emails, website notifications, and any additional online methods your association uses to stay in touch with members. When they’re well-informed and able to register easily, they’re sure to attend.

4. Strengthen your brand through eCommerce

Selling branded merchandise in connection with events isn’t the only opportunity you have to increase your association’s revenue. Your digital strategy can help you expand eCommerce opportunities year-round. 

When members want to buy your association’s products and services, the eCommerce features of your AMS should offer an easy and secure purchasing experience. 

Whether you’re spreading the word about your association by selling branded merchandise or distributing continuing education courses, your AMS should be able to help you:

• Set custom pricing. If your association has different membership levels or you want to reward early event registrants with discounted tickets, ensure that your AMS offers the ability to create tiered pricing levels. The discounts will apply automatically to eligible members when they complete their purchases.
• Make payments secure. Your eCommerce page should feature your association’s branding and appear consistent with the other components of your AMS that your members see. This familiarity builds trust and encourages further purchases. To ensure that transactions are secure, check out Soapbox Engage’s list of PayPal alternatives to help you choose the right payment gateway for your eCommerce solution.

With plenty of options and a convenient, trustworthy eCommerce system through which to purchase, your members will be eager to take part in everything your association has to offer. Whether you’ve recently added new options to your online store or you have other news to share, you’ll want to keep your website updated so that members are always in the know.

5. Keep members updated using your website

Your members know to check your website when they want to stay updated on recent developments involving your association. Make it easy for them to find the information they need—and explore more of your association’s offerings—with an easily navigable website.

The best association websites are efficient, interactive, and versatile. Much of your material can be presented in the form of web pages, and it’s essential to keep this material updated for your members. As you evaluate your website, make sure that:

• The layout is clean and modern. An easily navigable layout helps members find what they came for and encourages further engagement with your site contents. If your site needs a makeover, you can learn more about web design essentials here.
• The most-used pages are easy to find. Event registration pages, member login links, and other frequently used sections of your site should be easy to see as soon as visitors land on the site and accessible from your homepage with one click.
• Your team can update your site easily. Your website’s efficacy depends on whether your members can use it to stay up-to-date with your association. Make sure that you choose a content management system (CMS) that your association’s staff can work with easily so that your site stays updated and useful for your members.

When your association’s offerings are tailored to personal and professional needs, your members will be eager to stay engaged with your association.

Reaching your members online is the most effective and efficient means of staying connected with them and encouraging future engagement. A digital strategy based on the needs and interests of your members is sure to help your association’s programming succeed. But to do so, you’ll need a dedicated membership management system and comprehensive tools to rely on.