Providing a valuable experience for members is at the heart of what associations do. As a group of members with common goals or interests, you could be forgiven for imagining that driving engagement and member satisfaction would be easy. Yet, with over 68,000 associations worldwide, the breadth and size of the membership base is massive. Delivering an association programme that appeals to a wide and varied member base is a challenge. Traditional methods of keeping members engaged and attracting supporters are increasingly failing to entice younger members, which is why creating an engagement strategy that leverages technology is essential. Data gathered from a mobile app can provide insight into members’ interactions with your association and can then be used to structure your association strategy accordingly, but it can be difficult to create a member journey that really resonates with your association base without understanding what content appeals to them and doesn’t.

The Right Engagement Goals for Your Association

Associations often define active association member engagement as those who either pay annual fees or attend conferences. New technology has introduced multiple communication touch points for members and this calls for a much wider understanding of how we define engagement. Every association wants ‘active members’ who regularly participate and contribute to your community. Recognising engagement by each like, follow, comment, email and view of your online content is key when reframing your engagement strategy. The goal of building long-term relationships remains the same, but your methods should always include digital interactions. Using digital communication channels to reach and connect with your members can offer you insight into their behaviour. Understanding which channels and information are the most valuable to your membership base can help you improve the membership experience. A mobile app is an innovative way to begin mapping how you gather data from your members. The data you gather from your members depends on the purpose of your app. Guidebook works with over 550 associations who employ an app for a range of purposes. Some common use cases include:

• Speaker information
• Maps
• Agenda
• PDFs and Content -  to share policy updates or policy changes
• Events
• Surveys and Polls
• Member Handbook
• Regional Info
• Calendar
• Push Notifications
• Contact
• Inbox
• Direct messaging

Going digital can seem daunting but developing an app for your association doesn’t require an IT team or coding experience. Using a platform like Guidebook means that it’s easy to build an app with your branding and content.

Turn Data Into Action

There are a wide range of metrics that are provided for every app built on Guidebook’s platform, which can be used as actionable insights to build and develop your engagement strategy. Pay close attention to the numbers to understand the types of content your members want to see more of and get direct feedback on aspects of your association. Here are some examples of the metrics you can gather from your app:

• Most popular events. Discover what events are the most viewed on your schedule and tailor your event calendar to your members interests.
• What sections are the most used. Clicks on menu items are tracked so you’re able to see the items which are the most viewed. This can be insightful for understanding the information that your members are seeking out.
• Top menu items launched. See which menu items are launched the most frequently. Any item pinned to the menu such as a list item or schedule track may display here.
• Most viewed schedule sessions.See the most frequently viewed sessions in your schedule.
• Surveys. Gather feedback directly from your members.

Your app should fit into the wider ambitions of your association. Traditional tactics such as events and conferences are still a key part of offering an exceptional member experience but digital tools such as mobile apps can help you make the most out of these opportunities.

Want to Hear More?

Guidebook has worked with over 600 associations since 2011 and has powered the apps for world-leading associations such as the YMCA, the Rotary Club and the NUS. We’re passionate about helping associations leverage technology to truly engage their membership base. You can find us at London’s Association Congress on 17-19th December 2018. Richard Rowe will be hosting an expert briefing titled ‘Engagement Clinic: Get Mobile Fundamentals Right’ on Wednesday 19th at 10:00am.