The digital landscape has shifted massively over the last few years, and many UK membership organisations are still struggling to find their footing it today’s digital world. The increased use of multiple devices to access information online, the plethora of social media platforms and the ever evolving world of search engine algorithms are only a handful of the digital challenges facing membership organisations today. These challenges, coupled with the fact that some membership organisations have a legacy of membership information stored on systems of varying age, or simply ones that aren’t linked to their website, make it all the more difficult to make the technological advancements needed to stay ahead in today’s market. But these obstacles are actually also a fantastic opportunity for membership organisations that are keen to make a leap into the digital future. The nature of these complex systems can actually provide a fantastic source of value if utilised correctly. The immense amount of data gathered over the years can be an invaluable source of information. It can also be used to provide insights into your membership audience and how best to engage with them and ensure their satisfaction and retention.
The Digital Landscape is Evolving
The digital world in an increasingly complex one, and to remain relevant you need to keep on top of the latest trends in your area of expertise. Here are just a few of the digital challenges facing membership organisations today:
- The use of multiple devices means your website needs to be adapted to them all. A responsive website is a must these days, and more and more organisations are adopting an omnichannel approach.
- The multitude of social media platforms requires your organisation to be familiar with the relevant platforms and decide where it is best to focus your energy in developing an online presence.
- The abundance of professional and social online groups is an indirect consequence of increasing time spent online. Google Circles, Facebook & LinkedIn groups, sub-Reddits, Pinterest boards and others are in many ways replacing previous forms of communication. These groups have become easier to join, more segmented and widespread. Online groups might be indirectly competing with your organisation, in that they offer a different space where members can interact and exchange information, but could also provide an opportunity if understood and utilised to your organisation’s advantage.
- Frequent changes to the Google search algorithm means that your website needs to be up to date in terms of the latest SEO requirements in order to appear in the search result listings.
The Membership Audience is Evolving
Your membership audience too is evolving, along with the technological advances. The average person picks up their phone 85 times a day and spend a total of 5 hours browsing the web and using apps, according to a study led by Nottingham Trent University. Your members, especially the Millennials (Gen Y) and Gen X, are increasingly performing more and more of their day-to-day tasks online. Be it grocery shopping, browsing the cinema listings or joining the children’s school WhatsApp or Facebook group, your members are accustomed to using technology to seek out information and perform daily tasks. For this reason, they also expect to be able to engage with the organisation’s website in a similar way.
But the time spent online also comes at a price, and people today are feeling less connected and more alone, according to a recent review of studies by the NHS. Since the essence of a membership organisation is the community it creates for its’ members, this very important feature could greatly be facilitated by the proper digital platform. Creating a living, breathing site where your members can communicate freely and form relationships around matters of common interest could be a valuable asset for your organisation and aid in member satisfaction and retention.
It is very important to understand your user audience, as this understanding will illuminate how best to serve and engage your members. A doctor accessing your site via her mobile phone on her way from the operating theatre and a mathematician browsing the site from his office PC will have very different needs and expectations in terms of your website’s content and user experience. Personas (like the ones described above) are often created on the basis of the information collected and gathered about your user audience to facilitate the creation of the right solutions for your specific audience. There are different ways of gaining insight into your user audience and much of the field of user experience (UX) research is dedicated to this issue.
Legacy Systems Might be Posing a Challenge
One of the biggest challenges of many membership organisations is their legacy database, CRM, billing or other technological system. The nature of membership organisations is that many have been around for centuries, and the data collected on these systems is vast and invaluable but the current systems might be out of date or simply not integrated with the organisation’s website. So that in fact, they are not allowing the organisation to utilise this important data in an effective way.
Deciding on a Digital Strategy
Many membership organisations understand that change is needed, but struggle to decide on their digital strategy. Some might disagree on the purpose of their website and the importance of the different elements on it. Others might spread themselves too thinly on social media platforms. Others still might be struggling to find where their members spend time online. It is often difficult to create agreement and stakeholder alignment on digital strategy. Your team members might come from different technological backgrounds and have different opinions on this matter. Finding a knowledgeable and experienced partner who can provide consultancy and also deliver the technical project build could be a good route in making sense of all this and getting on the right path for discovering and realising the right digital strategy for your organisation.
Making the Most of Digital Assets
Your organisation’s database, CMS, billing or other systems might be out of date and need replacing, but they might also just need to be integrated with your website. Making any changes to these systems may be daunting, but it is always worth the hassle. Having a website that is seamlessly linked to your organisation’s internal systems provides a multitude of opportunities for improved user experience and ways to achieve member satisfaction. If you focus on the data your organisation holds and disregard the technological obstacles for just a second, imagine the possibilities:
Providing Value for Members
- If your database contains member information, you could provide an online member zone with each member’s details, photo, hobbies, preferences etc. You could then allow your members to update their information online (for example their home address or interests).
- You could personalise this member zone and display information based on their selected interests or previous site usage.
- If you have member billing details, you could allow your users to easily sign up or renew their membership online in a secure and simple way with the click of a button.
- If you have member emails you could create a recurring newsletter linking to your blog or other content on your site.
- If you hold events or courses for your members, you could allow them to easily sign up for these on your website, or to directly take part in an online course or webinar.
- You could build a site that allows and encourages members to participate and connect with other members on the site, thus helping to form a vibrant, lively community.
Providing Value for the Internal Team
Many of your employees probably have an increasing involvement with your site, whether it be around marketing, member retention, billing, events or membership updates. If your site was linked to the other systems in the organisation it would make transactions seamless. Members could update their information online and all information entered on the site would be stored in your organisation’s database. Payments could be made online and invoices issued, printed and sent to your client’s home address with the push of a button. You could be able to update content on multiple sites or platforms with one click. Here are just a few tasks your digital assets could make easier for your internal team:
- Online billing
- Up to date information on memberships due for renewal
- Marketing Automation
- Managing member information
- Providing updates or information to your members in a segmented way
How it all fits together
The massive changes in technology and the shifts in lifestyle habits require membership organisations to create or re-evaluate their digital strategy. Membership organisations should be asking themselves questions about how they fit in the digital landscape and how they can provide value to their members – value that exceeds expectations and delights their members in such a way that will ensure their return to the site again and again – and the renewal of their membership when the time comes. Although this might seem daunting, and in certain instances might require a fair amount of work behind the scenes (for example in system integration), this will always pay off in a major way in the long run.
Bonus – Download our Free Guide to Improving User Experience on Membership Sites
If you found this article interesting, we invite you to download our free guide to improving user experience on membership sites. This guide explores three essential areas of a membership website: Member registration, events and qualifications (courses/workshops/webinars etc) and provides tips and ideas on improving these from a user experience perspective. Simply fill in your details below to download your copy instantly.
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Our Work with Membership Organisations
We have worked with various membership organisations over the last 15 years and provide a full range of services – Consultancy, research, user experience, website design and build, web support and managed services. Our clients include IOM3, The Fostering Network, The Pre School Learning Alliance, The British Orthopaedic Association, The Hellenic Society and Clinical Skills.
If you’d like to hear more about what we can do for your organisation, please contact us below.
This post was written by Sahar Dolev-Blitental, Marketing Executive. Sahar has over 10 years of experience in marketing and advertising, with a special passion for digital marketing.
The post The Digital Challenges facing Membership Organisations appeared first on Pedalo.