Personalisation is important and we would even say vital for membership organisations – you want to show your members you know and understand them. But what level of personalisation is needed and how it gets delivered needs to be honed and tailored for each organisation.
From a business perspective, personalisation refers to the means of meeting an individual’s needs more efficiently and effectively, making interactions easier and faster.
Personalisation can have knock-on benefits; increasing customer satisfaction, engagement and in the context of the membership sector – renewals. When personalisation is delivered effectively, a consumer (or member) does not only have their needs met, but preempted.
Here are a few pointers and provocations on the subject of personalisation to guide and inspire:
What does personalisation involve?
From a membership perspective, personalisation covers a broad range of activity. This includes self-service, personalised email marketing, website personalisation and applications. In the future, this will mean more chatbots and AI tools tailored to individuals.
Over time, personalisation has evolved from being a vehicle for “showing off what you know”, to an opportunity to deliver a more relevant service to members. Consider what is important to change – what will make a difference. Just because functionality is clever doesn’t mean it adds value to the membership experience.
Kick-start with a winning first year
The Year 1 experience is extremely important and should offer a warm, guided welcome and is even better when tailored to the specific needs of new members. This could be extended with a ‘starter pack’ of resources, feedback loops, and special events for new members, all of which would be recommended.
What are the challenges of personalisation?
Our insights in our annual Membership Forecast indicate that virtually all organisations are covering the basics. However, there is room for most to be more sophisticated and key to this is having data fields to inform the personalisation. This is further echoed in the MemberWise Digital Excellence 2021/22 Report that cites a higher take up of basic personalisation (via member details, interest areas and location), however much lower numbers using more sophisticated approaches (e.g. member segments/personas/behaviour/purchases).
A multichannel marketing estrategy relies heavily on communication between datasets and efficient cross-referencing. Without this, membership organisations will find it hard to deliver a personalised digital experience to their members and website users.
Technology vs Data for Personalisation
At Pixl8, we like to start with the “why” first; What are the objectives? What is the business trying to achieve? Technology is just the enabler. We work with our clients to map out their needs and then align it to our systems; being sophisticated when important and also finding swift, simple results to answer urgent needs.
Simple can be effective
Sometimes the sparkly glint of new technology can be dazzling and it can be tempting to follow the latest trend. However, focusing on key journeys such as the welcome or renewal communications can be worth their weight in gold.
How can membership sector professionals secure buy-in for personalisation projects?
To secure buy-in from the top – which is key for any significant project – it is important to show the value of interconnected data and what impact it will have. Consider how it will uplift your satisfaction levels, boost data capture and grow your membership base. We have seen on many projects the commercial benefits to be realised from personalisation and digital transformation, as well as experiential benefits reaped by your members.
Ask your members what they want
Consider what you know now about your members. Do you need to find out more? If you want to achieve true personalisation, it is important to connect and show empathy as well as an understanding of their needs.
We have seen with our clients how the balance is a delicate one, but once honed can be rewarding on both sides.
At Pixl8, we deliver innovative solutions that drive our clients’ ambitions to improve the membership experience and boost sustainable income. We work with over 200 membership organisations to build integrated websites, bespoke software and more. Find out more about Pixl8
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