How to Improve Your Membership Organization with the "Membership Lifecycle"

How to Improve Your Membership Organization with the "Membership Lifecycle"

Use the membership lifecycle to analyze your membership organization's marketing strategy.

Is your organization having problems recruiting and retaining members? Perhaps using the "membership lifecycle" to analyze the membership experience in your organization will help you identify and fix issues. The membership lifecycle is a concept that was developed by the membership marketing company Marketing General, and it consists of the following five stages:
 

Awareness

During the awareness stage, prospects learn about your membership organization's existence and you learn about your prospects. After all, you need to know who your prospects are in order to effectively recruit them. Therefore, the goal of the awareness stage is mutual awareness. Tools that organizations may use to build awareness include a membership organization website, PPC advertising, search engine optimization, and social media marketing.

Once your prospects determine who you are and you know who they are, cultivate a relationship with them. Try to get them to sign up for your email newsletter, download your white paper or register on your website during the awareness stage, so you can take the relationship to the next level.

Recruitment

Recruitment is the stage when prospects choose to join your organization and see what it's all about. All successful membership organizations have a proactive recruitment plan in place, which may include experimenting with different marketing channels as well as tracking and analyzing different messages and offers. The goal of recruitment is to maximize results while using the most cost-effective methods.

Engagement

Engagement is key to the sustained growth of your membership organization. By successfully engaging new members, you can convert them into active, loyal members of your organization. Keep in mind that new members of your organization are the ones who are least likely to renew their memberships. Members who are the second least likely to renew their memberships are those who aren't involved or active in your organization. That's why having an engagement program in place is so important - engagement is a vital step that leads to renewal. Here are some tips for increasing engagement within your membership organization.

Renewal

Renewal is the stage when lapsing members decide whether to stay with your organization. If your members feel that they've received value from their membership, they'll likely renew. Renewals are a critical component of organizational growth. Just making phone calls or sending out letters here and there encouraging members to renew isn't enough. In order to maximize the results of your renewal efforts, you need to continue sending out renewal notices until it would no longer be profitable to do so.

Reinstatement

Reinstatement involves presenting former members with new offers and fresh messages that entice them to become members again. Make reinstatement a component of your membership organization's marketing strategy to give lapsed members the opportunity to return to your organization.

Grow Your Membership Organization with efelle

efelle is a leading online marketing and web design & development agency based in Seattle, WA that offers a complete range of services designed to boost awareness of your membership organization and enhance your recruitment efforts. For more information about our services or to set up a free consultation, give us a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form

See Also:
5 Tips for Increasing your Membership Organizations Renewal Rate
5 Key Component of Website Design for Chambers of Commerce