Caring is connecting; caring is relatability, a necessary ingredient in today’s meetings and membership virtual world. The first thing to do is to ask members what they want: do a survey, ask them what their priorities and preferences are during this challenging time and also ask what the association could provide virtually that they haven’t in the past. Keep the survey to ten questions or less and ask them to rate the services they’re currently receiving.
Offering free online content on a subscription basis is a way to hook members’ interests and draw non-members to your website. Non-members may be eager to locate free and low-cost content when educational opportunities are slim. Providing access to webinars that non-members would normally have to pay for is one way. This would be especially valuable if continuing medical education or continuing education credits were available via online quizzes to keep their skills sharp. Utilize sought-after speakers that would be considered a premium draw at your meetings. Offering other ways to interact via free online chat rooms to discuss their industry’s latest concerns is another way. And non-members will remember the goodwill you generated for them when you send them a membership application later and ask them to join.
Another option to consider is providing current members with a one-time renewal discount or extension of their dues renewal period, if your budget can sustain this downturn of expected revenue.
Mentoring is another way to add engagement across all categories of membership, irrespective of age or experience level. It’s a good opportunity to share best practices, provide support and foster networking virtually when in-person opportunities are absent. By providing access for members and non-members to link up and share insights on your website will help fill a void normally addressed at in-person settings. Mentoring can be for a short or longer period of time, based on the need or it can be very brief, utilizing a ‘micro-mentoring’ concept, dealing with only a specific topic that the individual needs to learn more about. A list of these topics can be placed on website discussion boards. Members could also list their area of specialization in the online directory or on social media and connections could be made that way. The demographic data associations may already have is perfect for creating these matchups. Allowing people to interact online during live webinars or virtual annual meetings is invaluable and offers additional opportunities for mentoring.
Utilizing video as much as possible is another engagement tool, since people remember more about what they watch than what they read. Posting it on social media and inviting comments is another great option. Telling your association’s story or a member’s story that might have particular significance during this time will heighten interest and be sure to share photos. Keeping to a regular schedule for this or any other type of communication, such as blogs, press releases and newsletters, is crucial in terms of increasing engagement and demonstrating value. Whatever you do, make sure the quality is good. Make sure your video is well-lit and the sound is free of any background noise. Participants should look into the camera and not at phones or other distractions. Copy for newsletters and blogs should be relevant and address current and future needs.
Make sure your board and staff are reviewing analytics to understand which form of communication is preferred and which topics attract the most interest. Your future communications should be based on that information.
One bright spot is understanding that your association could be attracting more members and non-members virtually than ever before, individuals who perhaps couldn’t obtain funding to go to the annual conference or attended other conferences due to convenience, proximity or cost. Exhibitors may also find additional value in connecting virtually rather than staffing booths for several days with little interaction. Even other organizations that might be considered competitors could participate in these learning and outreach sessions that could lead to collaborations in the future to address common industry and professional concerns.