Think of Members as Consumers and Harness Your Member Data,

says Jenny Parsons, COO, ProTech

– the second in a two-part series, the first blog can be found here

 

Is your member data an untapped asset?

Why aren’t membership organisations and associations taking the same approach? Why don’t they analyse the data they hold on each and every member and harness it so that it delivers huge benefits and value to the organisation or association and its members?

Harnessed correctly the value of individual members’ data is almost incalculable. Personal data should be ‘spliced’ together so that similarities between members can be identified: demographics, specific preferences, what products and/or services are they purchasing, what online content they are consuming, which events are they attending, what CPD courses are they enrolled for and what qualifications they are working towards.

The harnessing of data in this way results in so called ‘predictive analytics’ (the use of data, statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data) which enables membership organisations and associations to take their member (customer) service to new levels. It is suddenly possible to drive engagement with members by providing products, information and services that you know they want and which matter to them.

Show your members you understand what they want

By understanding members’ shared characteristics membership organisations and associations can engage with individual members to highlight that their specific demands and requirements are understood.

For example, you (the member) attended Event X, other members who attended this Event have now enrolled for Event Y, you recently purchased Book PDQ, other members who purchased this book have found Book MSN helpful, members on the CPD course NYPD have found course BLT of benefit, etc. You will no doubt recognise this approach from your online experience with Amazon.

The Digital Excellence Report highlights that ‘associations and membership organisation still have very mixed views about the performance of their CRM systems’. A contributing factor could be that their existing systems do not allow them to use their members’ data to drive effective engagement.

Is your CRM solution fit for purpose?

Membership organisations and associations must choose an integrated web and CRM solution that supports the seamless capture of member data from the website directly into the CRM software, where it can be segmented according to member preferences, similarities, etc.

The more member data captured the greater the potential for segmentation and more relevant and personalised content can be delivered to members. The more relevant content they have, the more they will read it, comment on and sign up for – all leading to increased member engagement.

With an integrated web and CRM solution the CRM software can be used to deliver targeted marketing campaigns pushing the member towards further engagement and the purchase of services and products. The effectiveness of these campaigns can be measured enabling membership organisations and associations to accurately measure individual members’ engagement with them, not just at the macro level but also down to individual record level. This supports the ‘holy grail’ of being able to measure member engagement for every single individual or organisation.

Think of your members as consumers and harness your Big Data to show your members that you truly understand what matters to them (as individuals). This will no doubt increase their engagement with you because they feel that their relationship with your membership organisation or association  is a personal one.

For additional information around how to increase Member Engagement take a look at the MemberWise Engagement Hub. The content has been fully quality assured by 17 membership/association professionals responsible for member engagement and is a great resource.

For more than 20 years ProTech has been delivering specialist CRM software and change management services to the Not for Profit (NFP) sector. Its Pro-8 CRM software operates in a Microsoft environment and delivers easily configurable specialist NFP modules. ProTech delivers a Government ‘OFFICIAL’ security accredited fully integrated web and CRM platform and its Lean3S, change management methodology based on Lean and Systems Thinking, ensures that NFPs can fully optimise their investment in ProTech’s fully integrated web and CRM technology platform.

ProTech is a MemberWise Recognised Supplier – Find out more…