Want to increase the member loyalty? Take a page from the playbooks of companies like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix. Your association needs to become an integral part of your members’ lives. Making it so they can’t even remember what life was like before they joined. You must build your association into something so indispensable that your members find the idea of not renewing laughable. 

It may sound a bit intense, but competition is fierce for your members. They have a lot of options for where they spend their time and money. Even within the most niche categories, multiple organizations are vying to win the same audience. For example, did you know that there are 70+ national and local associations for those working in the concrete industry? 

Creating member loyalty with key strategies at your side 

We have worked closely with associations for over a decade and heard firsthand which approaches to increasing loyalty are a home run and which can actually push members away. 

In this article, we’ll cover a few of the most effective member loyalty strategies our clients have used to boost member loyalty in their organizations, including the following: 

• Establish your association as the go-to for good content 
• Build an engaged online community 
• Offer an exceptional benefits program 
• Give members a voice (and listen to what they say) 
• Make it easy to renew 

Establish your association as the go-to for good content  

The ability to provide targeted, valuable content is the greatest opportunity for associations looking to improve their member loyalty. 

To capitalize on your members’ desire to stay informed, make your website the go-to place for the latest advice and insights. You will also need to alert members when you have new resources available by: 

• Featuring it prominently on your homepage 
• Promoting it in your newsletter and other emails 
• Post links to it on social media 

In addition to distributing content you’ve created, share articles from popular industry publications and other experts on your social feeds, too. Your members may be overwhelmed by the ocean of blogs, e-books, and infographics out there and if they know they can count on you to be a curator of helpful, relevant content from trusted sources, it will encourage them to stick around. 

Choose an online community platform that engages your members 

Hosting in-person events and regular meetups is a critical part of fostering member loyalty, but sometimes circumstances make that impossible. Even when everything is business as usual, engaged members can be too busy to consistently attend. In addition, geography can play a part in event attendance, particularly in larger states. 

While members in these situations certainly appreciate the association and its other perks, they may be missing out on one of the most attractive benefits of membership in a professional association: a sense of belonging. 

Building and maintaining an active online community is an effective way to ensure every individual has the opportunity to build relationships with other members. With online message boards, members have a forum to ask questions, offer feedback, voice concerns, and recount personal experiences with other members all over the country—or the world. You can also create a searchable directory of member-managed profiles. This can help members find others who work in similar roles or share common interests and easily connect with one another. Consider taking advantage of social media and establish a LinkedIn or Facebook group for your association.

Offer an exceptional loyalty  benefits program 

What makes your members tick? What are their motivations? Their frustrations? Their aspirations? Building an extraordinary benefits portfolio starts by answering these questions. This is because exceptional benefits programs provide benefits that are not only exclusive to their members but also personalized to their needs. 

For example, the Austin Young Chamber, a group for young Austinites looking to grow professionally, offers its members discounts on coworking space reservations as well as free admission to workshops hosted by the Baylor Executive MBA program. 

The benefits you provide must be substantial and worthwhile and should demonstrate your commitment to the well-being and success of your members. They should either support their professional goals, personal pursuits, or (ideally) both. Most importantly, your member benefits should act as a tangible representation of your appreciation for their decision to be a member of your organization.

Give members a voice (and listen to what they say) 

While one of the primary responsibilities of your association is to consistently share important news and information with members, just as necessary is allowing members to respond to your communications and express their opinions. 

Facebook and Twitter are particularly helpful for encouraging interactive, two-way conversations between members and your association’s administration. You can also use your social media accounts to poll members. Emailing surveys to your members and/or putting a questionnaire on your website are effective, as well. 

Members should feel comfortable being completely forthright and honest when sharing their opinions about the association. Even if some of their feedback ends up being a bit harsh, it is much better to find out now so you can make any necessary changes before your renewal rates plummet. 

Make it easy to renew 

You may not realize it, but your association’s renewal process may be affecting retention. If the process is cumbersome or time-consuming, it may be enough to push members to reconsider renewing. Your goal should be to make membership renewal as simple and streamlined as possible. 

One idea is to allow members to complete the entire renewal process online. Reduce the paper process of requiring them to fill out a physical form and/or mail in a check. Your members may not even have a stamp, let alone know where their checkbook is. 

You can also offer a recurring payment option for dues. In a recurring payment model, members provide their payment information and are automatically charged at specific intervals. The biggest advantage is that members don’t have to worry about remembering to pay, and you don’t have to worry about reminding them. 

To foster member loyalty in your association, offer an experience that demonstrates that you genuinely value them. Your members should be proud to say they are part of your organization and should want to promote it at every opportunity. If you follow the five tips above, you can build an association of loyal, lifetime members. 

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Callie Hinman is the Content Strategist for AffiniPay, a provider of online payment technology for professional services, associations, and nonprofits. She is a proud graduate of the University of Texas. And staunchly committed to following Ann Handley’s Rule of FIWTSBS (“Find Interesting Ways to Say Boring Stuff”). 

The post 5 Ways Associations Can Boost Member Loyalty appeared first on Personify.

By: Ashly Stewart, Content Marketing Manager

Marketers have repeated one mantra over the past five years: content is king. And even though people are starting to get tired of hearing it, there’s a reason that marketers have been chanting it for so long. It’s true! 

According to the 2018 Nielsen Total Audience Report, nearly half an adults’ day is dedicated to consuming content. 

And with nothing else to do but watch our favorite streaming shows and read articles from our favorite online sites during the pandemic, global online content consumption doubled in 2020. 

While it may seem hard to imagine, while your members are binging Netflix shows and devouring opinion pieces, they’re also turning to online communities for content. 

What kind of content do members look for in online communities?  

While each association and nonprofit has a unique member base that prefers to talk about specific topics in different formats, the common thread is that people turn to online communities for the content they can trust.  

What draws people toward an online community and, just as importantly, what keeps them there is a sense that the people are genuine, the common cause is worthy in their eyes, and the organization that hosts the online community is a reliable one.  

Ultimately, whether it’s a post on a newsfeed, a relevant article in a conversation thread, or a video posted in a forum, people want to feel like the community is there for the right reasons and with everyone’s best interest in mind. This need for authenticity is why many people are starting to spend more time on online communities and less time on social media for finding genuine connections. 

If you listen, they will come 

It’s important to listen to the needs and wants of your members before you start to truly break ground on building your online community and creating content.  

Many association and nonprofit leaders have an uncanny ability to understand their members, but that shouldn’t stop your team from doing the important work of listening to what your members want to read about (and what they’d want to contribute to). Oftentimes, what your team knows about your members is confirmed. Other times, you’ll learn things about your members you’d never thought about before.  

Here are some ways to get your members talking, so you can start building a content strategy for your online community.  

• Create a quick survey to include at the end of an upcoming webinar or post-community event email. That way, you have an audience who you know has recently interacted with you and is already engaged.  

• Create a poll that can be built directly into your organization’s most popular social media profiles. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter all have features that allow you to easily create a poll that could ask your members if they would like to talk about their hobbies/interests, hear success stories from the mission, get community event news faster, or all the above. With just a few clicks, you can gain valuable insights into the type of content your members love.  

• Put out a call for volunteers for a special community committee or task force that meets monthly or quarterly to share trends and insights they’ve seen regarding what content is resonating and valuable and what content is not as interesting to your members. 

Get the guide: An Essential Guide to Building an Online Community  

4 ways to create content that will grow your online community 

1. Ensure that your Newsfeed is the welcome, active heartbeat of your community 

The Newsfeed is the heartbeat of your online community because, well, it’s the first thing your members see when they sign on. The Newsfeed model was popularized by Facebook, but the idea of showing real-time interactions and promoting the most updated news is now a common feature across popular websites and online publications.  

What some people don’t realize is that the Newsfeed isn’t only the first thing members see — it’s the ONLY place some members will spend their time. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re being strategic about your Newsfeed as much as the other areas of your community. 

Here are a few ways you can make your Newsfeed shine and encourage engagement across your community: 

• Pin important, relevant posts. If you have an upcoming event or if you have a deadline for scholarship applications, create a clear post with all the info and pin it, so that it stays at the top of your Newsfeed and on top of people’s minds.  

• Encourage multimedia use. 78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% view online videos every day. Look for opportunities to post videos and images to increase engagement and sharing.  

• Tag your members in relevant posts. The best way to ensure people are interacting with each other on the Newsfeed is by tagging members in your posts. For example, if you write a post asking your members to share their favorite memories from a past fundraiser, tag members who you know have been to past events ( “What’s your favorite memory from our annual event? @johndoe @janesmith @joesomebody has some great pics from last year’s fundraiser — we’d love to hear from you!). 

• Share links to relevant resources. Share relevant articles, blogs, and videos that you know your members are talking about. If a chamber of commerce sees that people are talking about holiday discounts in town, share an article or blog post that breaks down all the businesses offering holiday deals.   

2. Emphasize the community forum space 

Forums actually came before online communities and even social media. The first forum was created in the  1970s, if you can believe it! Initially called “internet forums,” “online bulletin boards,” or “chatrooms,” forums have long been a place for people interested in a niche topic to find comradery.  

Today, forums continue to grow, and online communities have become the perfect space for our safest places.  

To draw attention to your custom, community forums, consider featuring a handful of your most popular community forums with a button that says “Find your group” that directs to the community forums page.  

For example, if you were an association that helped people navigate parenthood, your most popular community groups could be “First–time parents,” “Baby Product Reviews,” “Daycare Questions,” and “Mental Health.” By highlighting your most popular forums, new members to immediately connect with your community and gives them an opportunity to plug into a group, which builds engagement and loyalty.  

3.Make your online community the source of truth 

In addition to building trust, another big reason that associations and nonprofits turn to online communities instead of social media group pages is that an online community offers an element of control and focus.  

You can ensure that your members are getting the most recent version of policy documents,  board meeting minutes, the most updated dates for your events, current and past newsletters,  and the most updated member directory profiles by housing it all in one place that your team manages.  

4. Make it easy for your members to generate their own content 

One of the biggest things that separate an emerging community from a thriving one is how much member-generated content is being created. Doing a quick audit of your community to determine how much of your Newsfeed posts are created by your team and how many posts are created by members is a good place to start. Another tell-tale indicator of your community’s health is seeing how many of your member profiles are complete and updated. 

Make it easy for your members to help generate your community’s content by including a  button on the Newsfeed that reminds them to update their profiles, make sure that members can upload files in their posts and forums, and don’t be shy about messaging a member directly if they’ve posted something interesting asking if they’d be willing to write a blog post or be featured in a Member Spotlight.  

After some ramp–up time, you want your community to be something built for your members and maintained by them, too.   

Start creating your community content today 

Launching or reviving an online community can seem overwhelming, but if you start by listening to the things your members enjoy talking about, you can build a content strategy for your online community that’s responsive, relevant, and valuable.  

And you can make big strides towards building your thriving online community in the first 90 days. Join us for our upcoming webinar, What to Expect: How to Grow an Online Community in the First 90 Days after Launch on September 2 at 12:30 ET to get a roadmap for growing your online community in the first 30, 60, and 90 days after launch! 

The post 4 Ways to Give Your Online Community the Content it Craves appeared first on Personify.

Another channel? More places to post content, sites and logins to manage?

I get it. If you’re a nonprofit lean on time and resources, it can feel like you’ve tried everything — emails, printed magazines, Facebook events — in an attempt to break through. Yet new research from Personify’s recent Member Experience 2.0 omnichannel report suggests that Instagram could be the key, with multiple member groups citing it as the most effective social media channel.

Indeed, since its debut in 2010 Instagram has grown to over 1 billion monthly active users, 71% of whom are under the age of 35 making it one of the most powerful channels with Millennials and Gen Z – a trend we noticed and documented in our Young Members 2.0 report and shared thoughts on in this blog post.

The numbers offer additional compelling evidence of Instagram also boasts impressive engagement metrics, with over 60 percent of users logging in each day, second only to Facebook for the most engaged daily users. Users spend an average of 32 minutes on the app per day (more time than many people spend showering, eating, or doing other daily activities) and they’re not just scrolling through images. Instagram has a very high user interaction rate. According to a 2016 Forrester report, Instagram has a 2.2 percent per-follower interaction rate. That beats the other social networks – including Facebook with its 0.22 percent rate.

Nonprofits of all kinds have taken notice, using Instagram to share behind-the-scenes content designed to make their organization more accessible, high-impact visual proof of the value they’re delivering to their constituents and community, images designed to inspire action and more.

However, sharing the right content is only half the battle. Instagram is used to post over 55 million photos and videos per day. In June 2018, the site reported 49,830 photos were posted per minute. Moreover, 53 percent of users report following their favorite brand on Instagram and it has grown into the second most commonly used social media platform for marketers.

Constituents want to hear from you but in a sea of friends, influencers and commercial brands how can you make sure your Instagram content doesn’t get lost in their feed?

Never fear! We’ve got ideas to help you make the most of Instagram. Join us for a free webinar, at 11:30 AM CT on Thursday, October 24th, as we share the hacks, tips and tricks of making your organization Insta-worthy and show you how to attract members by creating posts that get noticed. You’ll learn:

• The types of content you should be creating to get maximum response from your members.
• 5 quick and inexpensive ways you can use Instagram for to find new members, engage them and keep them.
• Expert tips for incorporating Instagram into your broader campaigns for an even greater impact.
• And more!

Save your seat today!

http://go.personifycorp.com/insta.html

The post A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words appeared first on Personify.

A funny thing happened earlier this summer.

In anticipation of our research on the evolution of the member experience to be more omnichannel in nature, I traveled to Washington to observe a focus group at ASAE. A variety of association executives, who work across multiple functions and from organizations of all sizes, gathered around a conference room for a conversation about the techniques and strategies they were using to drive engagement.

That’s when it started.

“We’re using print. Our members are telling us that they can’t handle more email.”

“Really? Us too!”

Here’s the thing. I receive an email to my inbox. And I keep getting messages over the course of the day and if I haven’t read it? Then it gets pushed to page two. You’re lucky if I ever see it. But if I get a magazine? That magazine will sit on my coffee table. And I might not read it today or tomorrow, but I see it and I’ll eventually pick it up.

As someone who has long been involved in using – and tracking – digital marketing, the enthusiasm for print caught me off guard, but it probably shouldn’t have. According to Marketing General’s 2019 Membership Marketing Benchmarking report, members receive an average of 4 emails per week from their association while Personify’s recently published Member Experience 2.0 report suggests that only 12% of members want to hear from their association more than once a week.

For many organizations, email fatigue is real. While print has become a slightly niche proposition in the past few years, it hasn’t gone away. A magazine or annual report offers a unique opportunity to deliver powerful, engaging and creative content. Aside from bills, members may not receive a lot of traditional mail pieces. Those that do make it to their mailbox stand out and provide a way to potentially reach and engage members in a memorable way.

While a majority of members surveyed in our research expressed a preference for receiving digital materials from their association, 45% still reported that they prefer print, especially boomers who told us they prefer print by 22 percentage points. And although a plurality of members said that email was the best way to reach them, print wasn’t the worst way – in fact, it outperformed social media, the darling of digital media, by 15 percentage points.

How Does Print Factor into an Omnichannel Strategy?

In an omnichannel experience, which Hubspot defines as “the ability to deliver a seamless and consistent experience across channels,” print offers an interesting alternative but it must be used differently. The challenge is how to leverage the power of print with other omnichannel media.

Whether you’re sending out a quarterly magazine, a direct mail postcard or a journal with new research, here are some best practices for incorporating print into your omnichannel marketing:

1. Connect Channels with QR Codes

One of the best ways to drive action through your print assets is by leveraging quick response (QR) codes on all print collateral. In the one-click it takes your member to scan the image with their smartphone, a QR can send your member directly to a specific landing page where they can find out additional information, register for an event or share information.

2. Include social media handles in all print

Although members surveyed in our research had mixed feelings on social media, it’s still worth ensuring that its part of your omnichannel mix and integrated with print to create that seamless experience. Whether it’s a direct mail piece, newsletter or a magazine ad, you should always add your social media handles so members know how to connect and further the conversation.

3. Understand the role of print media as part of the big picture

It’s no longer enough to focus on highlighting benefits when creating a magazine or printed postcard. Consider the context when developing new content and how it connects to the larger narrative that your omnichannel efforts are trying to tell about your organization. How will your print campaigns offer relevant and valuable information to get your member more engaged or closer to a specific goal?

If you’re interested in learning more about the channels members are using to engage and how to incorporate them to maximize value, check out our Member Experience 2.0 report and on-demand webinar.

The post 3 Tips for Making the Most of Print appeared first on Personify.

August 13, 2019 – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofits and corporations, today released findings from its new research, Member Experience 2.0, on association professions and the future of multichannel and omnichannel engagement that was conducted in July 2019 with more than 300 members in the United States.

Key findings from the research include that:

• While members of all ages and groups value membership, 43% of survey respondents say associations seem out of touch and nearly a third do not understand the benefits.
• Respondents expressed a preference for digital engagement channels with younger members more likely to choose digital channels over print (73% for Gen Z, 64% of Millennials).
• Across all groups, members report that email is the best way to reach them with a large majority (82%) of those surveyed ranking email first or second.
• Nearly half of all members surveyed report that public social media sites are the worst way to engage and least effective.
• The phone was ranked as #1 and #2 as the channel of choice by 46% of those surveyed. Overall, 45% of members told us they “liked” or “loved” receiving a phone call from their association, with 51% showing the same level of appreciation for text messages.
• A majority of all members surveyed (52%) indicated events were “very valuable” in making them feel engaged with their association. This number was significantly higher with African-American members reporting events were valuable in terms of engagement (75%, +23 percentage points higher than average), and LGBTQ members sharing the same sentiment (62%).

An upcoming webinar, hosted by Personify will dive deeper into the findings of this research and share how association leaders can apply these findings to their organizations.

In addition to the new research, Personify announced the recent release of its Wild Apricot member management software at the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition conference. The latest version introduces new features and an updated look and feel for the user interface.

Recognized by Capterra as the leader in member management software for the past six years, the latest additions to the Wild Apricot solution will help streamline the member experience and include two new payment features for Wild Apricot Payments allowing users to activate recurring donations and simplify the checkout process. Additionally, Wild Apricot users will experience a new modernized look that is unified under the Personify product portfolio.

“Helping organizations better connect and engage with members is at the core of what we do,” says Eric Thurston, President and CEO of Personify. “We’re proud to bring new features to the Wild Apricot solution to help associations and nonprofits provide a seamless user experience, and we continue to innovate, creating tools designed to meet the needs of today’s organizations.”

Association professionals experienced Personify’s new capabilities and learned about the Member Experience 2.0 research during the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition that took place August 10-13 in Columbus, Ohio.

To learn more about Personify’s solutions for associations, charities and corporations, visit, www.personifycorp.com.

About Personify

Personify is the market-leading Constituent Management and Engagement (CME) platform that empowers organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. For over 20 years, Personify has served as the technology foundation for a diverse group of organizations including associations, nonprofits, event professionals, YMCAs and JCCs. For more information, visit https://personifycorp.com/

The post Personify Releases New Member Research appeared first on Personify.

Imagine a potential attendee has landed on your homepage for the first time. They’re considering your show and possibly two others. They are immediately distracted by various pop-up ads, complicated hero sliders transitioning way too fast and an endless sea of content. Frustrated, the user gives your event one last chance by surveying the top navigation to check out registration pricing and speaker details — but sadly, these items are hidden beneath three layers of navigation and odd naming conventions.

This is a snapshot of what users may experience when it comes to event websites. We’ve rounded up several best practices and concepts to guidelines to optimize the experience for users when planning for your next event.

Provide clear event details.

Where is your event held? What are the show dates and times? How can an attendee or exhibitor contact the event organizers if they have questions? This one seems pretty obvious, but there are many event websites that overlook this step.

Prioritize your most important content.

We know you have a lot to say to your audience and a limited amount of time to convey it. Try using a rotating navigational menu for your most important messages throughout your show cycle to simplify options. Also, consider limiting your navigation to six or eight menu items (or less) with one layer of dropdowns for related content. That way, users can find what they need quicker. There is an emotional satisfaction we experience when we are able to locate exactly what we’re looking for.

Make naming conventions consistent.

Content will forever be king, but without a consistent tone and language, it is without a crown. Consider and reconsider what your navigational items should be called. Make note of these names and do not stray from this formula. If you’re calling it an exhibitor console a year out from the event, it should be called an exhibitor console up through show week. Most users will visit your site multiple times for various reasons, so make it easy to remember where they left off.

Simplify the interface.

There’s no other way to say this: “Don’t make me think!” Users don’t need to experience every single aspect of the show on your homepage. Break down your top three or four priorities for the show and start building from there. Break up your content dividers with areas like testimonials or a sponsor carousel. A well-thought-out site should provide your users what they are looking for within the first 20 seconds they are on your site.

The events industry is constantly evolving, and competition within this space is more nuanced and intense than ever. Creating relevant and fresh content to increase engagement and drive registration will always be a priority; taking a step back to understand the value and importance of your user’s experience (UX) is the key to a successful and engaging event site. Be on the lookout for part two, coming soon.

Need a high quality, user-friendly, event website for your next event? Learn how Personify can help you develop a website for conferences, expos or commercial events.

The post UI/UX Considerations for Event Websites, Part 1: Why Content Creators Should Care appeared first on Personify.

For the unfamiliar, Caboodles were the must-have accessory for teen girls coming of age in the late 1980s. A molded plastic cosmetic case based on the functional design of a tackle box, Caboodles included all the compartments necessary for your blue eyeliner and frosted lipstick, a mirror and came in all the pastels you could imagine.

And, although it had been years since Caboodles had been on store shelves, their magic was in full effect with the display surrounded by wide-eyed young girls eager to take one home.

Then I went to the mall and saw, on a hanger in a trendy chain store, a black and blue checkered sweater I’m fairly sure I owned in 1991, a black and blue checkered number I was going to wear to the MTV VJ audition I was convinced would happen at any moment.

Retailers routinely turn to what’s been tried and tested to boost their odds for success. Television networks and movie studios do the same, introducing reboots, because these characters and the stories they tell are familiar, beloved parts of our lives.

When it comes to programming, there’s no reason nonprofits and associations can’t do the same. Constituents have a relationship with your organization and trust the content you produce. While delivering fresh information and perspectives is important, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. It’s also OK to open up the archives and find new inspiration in existing material. There are many benefits to finding fresh ways to bring new life to old favorites including:

• Sharing with New Audiences: Maybe you published important research but your members hadn’t yet joined your organization. Or maybe they’re already a member but didn’t have the time to read a white paper or attend a webinar? Share existing content in a new format or channels such as rich media syndicated through new threads or discussion topics in your community, social properties and content forums.
• Elevating Old Favorites: Have a timeless classic on your shelf – the piece, guide, tip or campaign that was a huge hit with your constituents the first time around? Consider bringing it back for an encore performance or update the information with new data for a refresh that extends the outreach to new and old audiences alike.
• Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck: Developing and delivering quality content is hard work – there’s a lot of effort that goes on behind the scenes. Take information that you and your team spent time curating and writing, and give it more runway. Consider updating with a slant towards your SEO keywords and common search terms. Elevate its reach across platforms for an integrated outreach of your programs.

But not all content deserves a new lease on life. Times change, technology continues to evolve and trends today may be different than they were last year or the year before. When looking for content to repurpose, ensure the topic is still timely and relevant. Determine how much updating needs to be done—a guide talking about Netscape as an internet browser or resurrecting a blog post on MySpace strategy may not convey the message you’re looking for.

In addition to details, understand if it’s a topic or broader area of interest for your members by digging into your website analytics, e-commerce data in your CRM or event details to understand if it is something people are eager to hear about.

Already have some pieces in mind? Here are four that are top of mind as we head into 2019:

1. Send Your Blog Posts on the Road as Podcasts

Those of us in Austin, like many of your members throughout the world and country, spend a lot of time commuting to and from work, darting through airports or running errands around the city. Podcasts have exploded as a way to make the most of this time, with a wide variety of available topics and lengths that go from snackable, bite-sized tidbits to multi-episode, deep dives into a very narrow topic. Want to get started with podcasts but don’t think you have content? Look back in your blog archives and pull a couple of favorites to record.

2. Reinvent Blog Posts as Guides

Have you blogged a lot about a particular topic, trend or new regulation? Maybe specific to your industry, the history of your organization or how to do something that’s of unique interest to your audience?

Packaging multiple blog posts together as a single guide not only ensures your audience understands everything you have to say about a topic but creates tremendous convenience as well. You can even spin the guide into an email campaign, social media posts, a webinar…the list goes on!

3. From PowerPoint to View Point – Infographics Made Easy

Those who know me well know that I love nothing more than a good slide deck. And before presenting a Personify webinar or live event, I spend a lot of time on my deck. Sure, a lot of it is formatting – making sure everything is aligned, the colors are right, the charts aren’t fuzzy – but more of it is focused on the narrative.

• What story does the presentation tell the audience?
• What do I want them to know?
• What should they take away?

This focus on storytelling and plot also serves as the foundation for great infographics. Infographics are taking a star turn right now – they’re informative, easy on the eyes – but they can be a lot of work, requiring huge amounts of research and design support. But with the right presentation you’re off to a running start – your story is already laid out, facts assembled and even some of your graphics are in place and ready for their close-up.

4. Highlight your Members Stories for Impact

Do you have a number of success stories showing the impact that your organization has had on members and donors? Real people and real stories have a real impact on your mission. Whether short quotes, self-directed video shorts, guest blogs or a Q&A in the community—flip the script from your team creating all the content and give your members a platform to co-create with you.

Your constituents are looking for a place to learn, share and grow their passion with your organization– whether it’s in your community, on your website or at live events. Repurposing content and supporting co-creation of content can be an easy way to make the most of resources already stretched thin, allowing you to quickly fill gaps quickly with relevant outreach efforts because the heavy lifting has already been done. Take a look at what is in your content Caboodle and consider bringing it back for a makeover – it’s not as hard as you think.

The post What’s Old is New Again: 4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Existing Content appeared first on Personify.

The Left Brain Meets the Right Brain

While marketers in the past could be analytical or creative, the modern demands on the NPO marketer mean having an intellectual ambidexterity that hasn’t existed before. Online giving grew by 12.1% in 2017 and is projected to grow in 2018 and 2019, and the face of the donor may be younger than you think. While 11% of total US giving came from Millennials last year, 59% of Generation Z donated based on a message or image that they saw on social. Not only are young people more aware of issues, but they’re more willing to donate both their time and money to the causes that speak to them.

These younger audiences spend upwards of 10 hours a day consuming content. This means two things:

1. In order to stand out, your campaigns must be targeted.
2. In order to convert, your campaigns must be interesting.

While a simple “Please give” CTA may have sufficed in the past, digital audiences are far savvier and more educated. They want to know who your organization is, where their donation will go, what their donation will do to help, and why they should give their time and monetary donations to you instead of the one of the other 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the US.

Right Brain: The Artist

With the rise of the educated donor, strategy and creativity must collide in a big way. By creating interesting, beautiful and highly targeted content, you can reach the right people at the right time. However, it’s crucial to remember: your content is one in a sea of other messages, so your messaging must be relevant as well as creative.

Creative marketing includes the following disciplines that you’ll need to reach the new, digitally-savvy market:

Email Marketing

The NOW effect isn’t just about text messages—Millennials actually prefer their communication through email. With that in mind, creating beautiful and engaging email marketing campaigns that speak to your target audience can help you educate and convert right from their inbox.

Content Marketing

Blogs, testimonials, white papers—whatever you create should tell a story and urge an action. Let your content be the soul of your creative strategy: use different writers to present different perspectives, let people share their stories. This type of authenticity appeals to demographics of all ages.

Social Media Marketing

Despite many pronouncements to the contrary, social media is not dead. In fact, more and more users are logging in and staying logged in—consuming content across multiple platforms for up to 10 hours a day. New social algorithms are putting content with lots of organic engagement at the forefront so be creative with your messaging and encourage users to share their stories on your page and share your posts.

Visual Content

Video and images are shared more than text (40% more, actually), so make sure you have striking imagery and video content for users to share to increase your organic reach and engagement rates. This means your content can reach more people in more corners of the world than ever before.

Left Brain: The Scientist

Every great artist knows that creativity is not the only part of inspiration—strategy, data, planning and intent can take something beautiful and make it successful. Here are some of the more analytical disciplines you’ll need:

Performance tracking

Simply launching a campaign and hoping it will do well is not an option. Using tools to help you track your performance ensures you’re on the right track and allows you to troubleshoot and optimize if you’re not.

Operations

Organizing your growing constituency is no easy task. Without the aid of a CRM, keeping track of who is who and what they are doing becomes almost impossible. Wasting both time and money organizing contacts and prospective members mean less time and money spent on new programs and campaigns.

Analytics

Proving the ROI on activities is a major pain point for a lot of NPOs and associations. A gut feeling is not an acceptable metric for success and so having an analytics tool to help you track success is critical.

Campaign Tracking

Speaking of tracking success—do you know how your campaigns or performing? Workflows, drip campaigns, pay-per-click, paid social—how are all of your tactics not only performing as individuals but how are they performing together? Tracking the performance of your campaigns is crucial—not just for tracking the success of today but for planning the growth of tomorrow.

Feeling a little overwhelmed? We’ve created an infographic to help demonstrate what you need to do and where you need to focus to create a truly data-driven and captivating marketing campaign.

The post Where the Left and Right Brain Meet: Nonprofit Marketing appeared first on Personify.

But as English poet Geoffrey Chaucer first noted in his “Prologue to the Clerk’s Tale” (published in 1395!), “Time and tide wait for no man.”

Born between 1997 and 2010, Generation Z is quickly coming into their own. According to MediaKix, Gen Z is expected to reach 2.6 billion people globally in 2020, with 85 million members in the United States. That’s 24.7 percent of the American population – Gen Z will outnumber the Millennial and baby boomer generations that came before them.

Who is Generation Z?

Through virtue of their youth, open-mindedness and prolific use of technology, Gen Z and Millennials are often lumped together into a more homogenous group. Yet there’s more to the story. As a 2015 article in the New York Times observed, “Millennials, after all, were raised during the boom times and relative peace of the 1990s, only to see their sunny world dashed by the September 11 attacks and two economic crashes, in 2000 and 2008. Theirs is a story of innocence lost. Generation Z, by contrast, has had its eyes open from the beginning, coming along in the aftermath of those cataclysms in the era of the war on terror and the Great Recession.”

This exposure to a time filled with life’s ups-and-downs, paired with unparalleled access to the latest news and global issues, creates a unique perspective. Their awareness of the potential for financial instability has made Generation Z more cautious, with 58 percent reporting they are either somewhat or very worried about their future and 57 percent reporting they’d rather save money than spend it immediately.

An interest in stability extends beyond finances. While some are years away from beginning a career, many members of Gen Z in the workforce display more traditional attitudes towards work and employment. On average, members of this generation say they want to work for only four companies through their careers, according to a 2015 study conducted by Robert Half. Similarly, they are more likely to indicate a preference for a traditional bricks-and-mortar workplace rather than working remotely. Generation Z grew up with technology, yet 53 percent prefer in-person communication over tools like instant messaging and video conferencing.

Yet they remain driven to make a difference. Per Time Magazine, Gen Z said that “having an impact on the world” is going to be important to them in their jobs. That’s a sharp increase from the 39 percent of millennials who expressed this sentiment in 2010, when they were in the same age range. They are socially aware and diverse, with more than half of Gen Z coming from a minority race by 2020 (US Census Bureau).

Capturing the Attention of the Gen Z Constituent

So how to attract this generation? We’ll be diving into this in more detail soon (stay tuned!). Every constituent is different, but there are some quick tips to get you thinking:

1. Meet them where they are

A report from Common Sense Media, notes teens and tweens of Generation Z spend between six and nine hours a day absorbing media on multiple platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. On average, Gen Z uses up to five screens to consume media. A lot of channels, a lot of screens creates competition for attention. It’s been noted that Generation Z has a short attention span, only eight seconds as opposed to 12 for Millennials.

When trying to connect with and deliver value to this group, it’s important to not only go where they go but to do so with the understanding of how the channels are used. YouTube attracts by far the biggest Gen Z audience as those users look for entertainment and fun content. They might be slightly less likely than Millennials to be Facebooking or Tweeting but are more likely to be watching which brands their favorite influencer is engaging with on Instagram or Snapchat.

Appreciate that messages across medium matter to Generation Z and that they’re taking action on what they’ve seen online. For an association, know they’re watching snackable content on a train ride via your YouTube channel. Donor-focused nonprofits should know, per the 2017 Giving Report, 59 percent of Gen Z reports being inspired to donate to charity by a message or image they saw on social media. Hashtags can help your messages break through and get discovered not only by those overwhelmed by their own updates but others who have not yet found you.

2. Tell Your Story and Tell It Well

Reaching Generation Z in the way, and places, that resonate best is only part of the battle.

Like their Gen X parents, Gen Z has had broad, lifelong exposure to media and expects authenticity from the organizations they interact with. Tell an inspiring story about your organization, paint a picture of how they can become involved and what the impact of their participation will be. Sincerity is key, and realistic narratives from people who look like them are particularly impactful in gaining and keeping their attention.

Next, bring your story to life. Meaningful relationships are built on trust and video offers one of the most powerful mediums for inspiring audiences. Visual content is key in telling your story. Show your purpose and illustrate possible solutions with actual donors and members. Photos and infographics also offer great ways to relay data in a memorable and digestible way.

3. Engage in a Meaningful Way

For the nonprofit who has captured the attention of Generation Z and compelled them to engage via a compelling story, opportunities are almost limitless. But to make the most of limited resources, it’s important to focus on programs and initiatives that may have specific value to this generation based on their experiences and where they are in their life.

For member-centric organizations, mentorship programs where Generation Z members are paired with others more experienced in their careers, can provide invaluable support during the transition from student to professional membership (not to mention the benefits of re-engaging your older members and allowing them to share hard-won knowledge).

Donor-focused charities have long engaged with Generation Z as fundraisers. Recent research from the Cassandra Report observes 26 percent have raised money for a cause and 32 percent have donated their own money (or allowances). But opportunities remain to connect supporters, deepen these relationships and allow this emerging group to exercise their social conscience. Tap into their entrepreneurial spirit and embrace their desire to use social media for social good, not social currency.

Provide them with the tools to stand up for causes they’re passionate about. For those not in the workforce, volunteer opportunities create an amazing opportunity to build their resume and contribute to their communities. (Fresh out of fundraising ideas? Our friends at Wild Apricot have rounded up over 200 fundraising ideas here.)

Gen Z is here and they’re looking for us. While Millennials represented a seismic shift for many organizations, Gen Z allows us to build on our knowledge of the importance of segmentation and allows us to apply what we’ve learned. Their awareness and enthusiasm represent a huge opportunity for nonprofits both now and in the years to come.

The post Gen Z: The Big Picture appeared first on Personify.

The number of books I’ve read in my life would surely number in the thousands by this point and while I wish I could say I remembered each of them, there are only a handful that stand out. Why?  

It might have been because of a great plot – the twists and turns to keep you hooked – but more often than not it was the characters. We read stories to learn about life, the world around us and how people react or behave in various situations. If we can relate to the character and internalize what the character is feeling, then we come away from the story and the experience feeling enriched, feeling more prepared than before.  

In recent years, I’ve realized that the love of characters I developed reading for pleasure is just as important in the work we do with nonprofits and associations. Understanding the characters – their attributes, their behavior, how they react in certain circumstances – is critical in writing a compelling, memorable story for your organization. This is especially true when your success depends on maintaining and deepening a personal bond. A character, aka a persona, can illuminate what your constituents are thinking and doing, creating a multi-dimensional profile and revealing insights about the emotions, passions and reasons they engaged with you…or have fallen off the map.  

Just like a good story, your organization’s narrative probably doesn’t just hinge on a single persona. You may want to create personas to understand your donors, new graduates, different categories of members (e.g. lapsed members)…the options go on and on.  

Sounds complicated? The good news is that it’s not. Building a persona doesn’t have to be the domain of an agency. Anyone can pull a persona together with some data and a little imagination. Start with the basics:  

• Demographics: Gender, age, education, socioeconomic status, stage of life and/or career. 
• Priorities: Why are they engaging with your organization? What do they hope to achieve? 
• Typical Behaviors: What does a day in their life look like? Where do they get their information? Are they heavy social media users? Are they introverted and prefer online communities or events?  
• Picture: Stock photos are a fun way to represent your persona (don’t use real members; I almost always use friends and family). 
• And, anything else you think would be helpful. 

Where can you find the information? Part of what you’re looking for is likely in your CRM or AMS but if you really want to know your members – ask them. Surveys can be helpful in gathering large quantities of data but picking up the phone or starting a post in your online community can work just as well.  

The result? Persona-driven insights mean better decision making and less wasted time and budget. The insights you get from personas can help cut through complexity. If you know exactly what your members/donors want—if you know what their sweet spot is—you can concentrate on giving them exactly that.   

Characters stick with us long after the story fades away. Make sure your organization gets the happy ending it deserves.  

What’s next? Once you craft your personas, deliver targeted messages to them using the PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned) Model.

The post Replacing Personas with Characters: Best Practices in Storytelling appeared first on Personify.