If you follow MemberWise, you might have seen the annual Digital Excellence (2021/22) Report that dives into the current state of the digital membership space. The report discovered that although 95% of businesses cite members as expecting an experience that’s value-driven and engaging, only 35% have a strategy in place to make this happen. Less than 50% are employing automation tools for top-priority tasks, and almost 60% have bespoke CMS programmes.
But, as the engagement of your members should be your number one priority, things have to change. Members are now used to businesses doing all they can to deliver incredible experiences, and if you fall even just a little below that, you could lose out on members. To stop that from happening, here are some top tips to help you create exceptional digital experiences.
Seven Tools For Creating Top-Tier Membership Experiences
It’s not easy to bring faultless experiences to your members, and it can take time to get into a value-driven mindset. But, with the right tools and knowledge at your fingertips, it becomes much simpler.
1.Know Your Members Through Insights
To connect fully with your audience, you need to know the motivations behind their actions and what they’re looking for when they come to you. If you don’t, you’ll see low conversion rates and a decline in membership renewals. To tailor your messaging to appeal to your members and drive them through their journey with you, you need a 360° view of their insights. Make sure all of your systems can talk to one another for a fully-formed picture of your clients. From your member profiles to your event bookings and mobile apps, insights have to be consistent to create a personalised journey.
2. Optimise Your Email Marketing
If you’re not already creating email campaigns, now’s the time to start. Use customisable templates for professional, sleek emails that engage your members, along with automation tools to send well-timed messages. For example, if someone is about to reach renewal time, you can have an email that automatically sends an offer to keep them using your services. You should also take advantage of personalisation tools to make sure you’re always talking directly to your members, and use A/B testing to identify what works with your audience and what falls flat.
3. Intuitive Tools For Your Team
It’s all very well employing the newest, most expensive tools to liven up your marketing, but what if your team can’t use them? Your tools have to be easy to learn, allowing your marketers to work independently and without technical help.
4. Zones for Members Only
Your members need to feel important and valued. They want to feel special. By creating member-only zones you provide them with a feeling of exclusivity and belonging, and these areas allow you to add additional value to your services. These zones are fantastic places to host FAQs or self-service areas and to offer gamified content that allows members to earn points and see them in these zoned off spaces.
5. Personalise with Personas and Segmentation
You can split your members into groups based on similar characteristics using your collected data. This is a technique known as segmentation, and it can help you deliver differentiated content to each group based on what you believe will resonate with them. You can assign personas to these groups, too, to create a targeted approach that meets the needs of your members and encourages renewals. By targeting your content, nurturing leads will be easier and you should see member loyalty increase. Upselling and cross-selling will be given a boost, too.
6. Create Friction-Free Journeys For Customers
All of your processes and technologies should be complimenting your efforts to engage your audience. Simple registration and sign-ins, along with easy payment processes, are vital to creating a hassle-free experience for your members. You should also focus on optimal page speeds and intuitive navigation to drive your company’s digital maturity.
7. An Omnichannel Approach
In the modern digital world, members expect to be able to interact with you across multiple channels, on many different devices. It’s important that regardless of how they’re connecting, their experience is consistent. DXPs enable a consistent member journey across touchpoints, from social media to email marketing.
Strategy and Technology Are Key to Digital Maturity
As a company, engaging your audience should be your number one priority. Any strategies and technologies you employ should always include tools that allow your marketing team to create exceptional digital experiences across channels. These experiences should engage, nurture, and convert your target audience. Once they’re a customer, your strategies should then be focused on retaining them.
If you’re not sure where you are in terms of digital maturity and the experiences you’re delivering, it’s time to assess them. You must be a dynamic, flexible organisation that responds to change and evolves as your members’ needs do.
To find out more about how to measure your level of digital experience maturity, join GRM Digital and Kentico Xperience on our next MemberWise webcast here.
GRM Digital is an award-winning, full-service web development and digital marketing agency. If you would like to learn more about which CMS platform is right for you, get in touch with Ida Vejzagic at GRM Digital by calling 0203 397 3063 or email [email protected].
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