Retention, Engagement, Growth: How the 3 Pillars of Membership Organisations Can be Supported by a Strong Digital Presence

In today’s digital landscape, membership organisations face a constant battle: retaining existing members, keeping them engaged, and attracting new ones. A strong online presence is crucial for success, but how do you navigate the ever-changing digital landscape? This article explores the three pillars of success for membership organisations – retention, engagement, and growth – and what your organisation should be implementing to succeed.

Retention

One of the biggest challenges for membership organisations is retaining their membership base over time. Your organisation needs to be able to keep track of members to engage regularly and collect key data to deliver personalised and valuable content.

1. Develop a digital strategy: A digital channel strategy will allow you to identify measures that create the greatest value for your customers. Digital strategy involves identifying challenges and opportunities for your organisation before building out a member-facing platform.
2. Composable architecture for your organisation’s website: For digital decision-makers, the pace of change in the online landscape is incredibly high. Systems become outdated quickly, but with the use of composable architecture, your organisation can implement the best solution from a multitude of systems to update your platform quickly.
3. Data-driven business development: Data is one of the most important aspects to your membership organisation’s website. Ensuring that you have an amalgamation of your member’s information means you can tailor their experience to their preferences and create a seamless user experience.

Engagement

Membership organisations typically find pain points for engagement when it comes to compelling design and customer experience. Creating online opportunities for members such as a member portal or webinars can foster engagement. This requires a seamless system from back to front end.

1. Branding: Your most valuable asset, aside from members, is your brand. Creating a distinctive perception of your membership organisation in a marketplace saturated with opportunities is crucial.
2. Mobile app development: Apps encourage engagement with your members and an additional touchpoint to personalise communication with them. Apps allow your organisation to stay relevant and provide members with the ultimate user experience.
3. Web accessibility: Accessibility matters. Not only will you reach wider audiences, but you’ll also increase your SEO and provide greater member satisfaction. It’s also the law – meaning from June 2025, all public and private mobile apps will be required to be accessible.

Growth

The common goal of membership organisations: Grow the membership base. Your organisation’s digital presence needs to be attractive, easy to use and optimised for search. Maintaining a growth trajectory means investing in marketing touchpoints and ensuring that your organisation shows up in front of new members.

1. SEO: Search Engine Optimisation is a crucial component to making your organisation stand out. If you are on page one of search, you are far more likely to engage with potential members. Your SEO strategy must be tailored to achieve this goal.
2. User experience and design: The better your user’s journey, the better your organisation. Your organisation needs to ensure that everything from content and features to structure and layout is optimised for your users. Prioritising the benefits of joining through easy-to-use navigation and cohesive design will appear both professional and accessible.
3. Inbound marketing: Inbound marketing is the cornerstone of growth for membership organisations. With the right tools, inbound marketing enables you to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time in their user journey. Inbound marketing can include email, content, or recommendations, and more.

Creating an effective digital presence for your membership organisation is paramount to the success and growth of the business. If your business is struggling to retain, engage and grow your membership base, reach out to Novicell today. We create bespoke solutions built on the foundation of specialist knowledge to boost your membership organisation’s digital reputation with all the aforementioned tools.