Great Marketing is NOT More Email

I am amazed daily at the number of emails that find their way into my inbox - reminders for events I never said I would attend, mock-personalized messages telling me what products/services/education I need though the sender has no clue who I am, 4-5 pages of single-space copy with a call to action that is near impossible to find - and that is just before 9am.  In the age of twitter and pinterest, of free video calls and meetings, marketing has to shift from full-frontal blast to dialogue.  Focusing on three core-areas for most associations, here are a few ways we could really start to connect value in not only what we say to our customers, but in what they can share with one another - let's call them the three C's:

1. Conferences

A call for sessions, a brief description in the program-at-a-glance, evaluations after each class - gargle, rinse, repeat.  There is so much more we can do for our speakers, for our attendees, for the association:

- Once we know what sessions a conference will have, ask each speaker to write a paragraph or two sharing an insight of what they will teach with a few open ended questions
- Create a messaging calendar so that each week a different one of these messages appears on the association's blog/website/social media page.  Utilize a format when professionals can respond to the questions, and then to one another.  Ask the speaker to check this page periodically to respond to follow up questions that come from readers.
- In the online session guide/program-at-a-glance, hyperlink each session to its individual conversation as an expansion of a description of what the attendee will learn.

This approach gives the speaker a venue to hear what questions attendees have on their given topic, allows attendees to start forming a knowledge community that will be able to largely meet in person at your conference - and most importantly gives the association dynamic marketing that encourages those participating in the conversation to attend.  The best part?  Every part of this is professional-created - the association simply has to create the conversation structure and connections.

2. Certifications

Most association approved certifications follow a format of covering a number of core competencies/domains that summarize the foundation of the industry.  Most professionals who choose to become certified enter into the process with expertise in some domains, some familiarity with others, and perhaps only the most basic of understanding of the rest.  Review courses, education, study groups - associations and their components often find ways to help those that want to become certified learn the information that they need.  Many will pair certification-takers with study buddy's who will support each other through the test taking process until that happy day when the letter comes in the mail - you are certified!  Here is your certificate!  Here is your pin!  You get a new ribbon at conference!

And that is about it.  Just to be clear - you have a professional that has spent time, often months, bringing their own expertise to the forefront, closely tied to your organization, and becoming a better student and teacher all at once.  And once they pass - then what?  How are we leveraging these new knowledge experts to have them share that fresh-experience with those who will follow?   For their own journey, how do we ask them which were the areas where, in spite of passing, they could use more information and experience - and then connect them with those opportunities?

In those we are certifying for our profession, we are not only creating better professionals - but also potential knowledge-based advocates on the importance of getting certified, the journey to get there, and how the association invests in their journey before, during and after certification.  Empowering our members to be lifelong learners means reinforcing their achievements as a student, serving as a guide for their ongoing education, and most importantly providing opportunities for them to give back.  You want marketing for your certification, the prep-courses and everything that goes with it?  Get a professional to stand up to say, "I did this, I am better at what I do because of, and you should too.  Let me show you how."  

3. Component Leaders

Geographic chapters, industry specific councils, professional local sections - call them what you will but for many of your members the smaller, sub-set group that they belong to within your association is often where they get top value.  Our volunteer leaders in these communities can be our grass roots welcome wagon - a portal of entry for new professionals/members, a key connection point to the goals of the organization as a whole, and a scouting team for diamond-in-the-rough future leaders.  The potential is there for all of it - but it takes proactive positioning to maximize the power of local leadership.

- We want our component's strategy to be intertwined with that of the overall organization.  How are we sharing the vision of the association with our local leaders?  How are we facilitating the translation of that global vision to what part the local community contributes, and how that contribution is a win-win?  The association's strategy is usually written in consultation with association professionals who bring a background and expertise in association visioning that is a unique skill set.  Most of our components are solely volunteer led - meaning we expect professionals in the field of their unique industry to be able to create similar association-structured visions without having the skilled experts to assist.  Whether it is training sessions, guides and worksheets, webinars or consultations - we have to do more.

- Most members join your association with a single point of entry that defines their awareness - be it a conference, a chapter, the certification, etc.  How do you orient them to the rest of your value proposition, and the opportunities that await if they would only take the next step?  You local leader is a key answer to this question.  If they are knowledge keepers on the association as a whole - on what you provide and the value it holds, then in every conversation, in every program they can personally recommend further involvement for any member.  A passionate, association-aware volunteer is potentially our strongest marketing tool - but we have to invest in their understanding of what we do and what it can in turn do for their colleagues if we want them to tell the story.

- Marketing is not only messaging for today - but also is creating the thoughts of tomorrow.  There is no better way to do this than to nurture the skill and commitment of your future leaders as soon as possible.  Those that have a passion or skill for volunteering will find a place to fulfill that need - there is no shortage of opportunities.  How are you structuring your component connections so that they see the possible paths of volunteer leadership that exist for their visionaries?  By getting these volunteers in early, they will become lifelong marketing superstars for your organization - literally living the narrative of how your association helps a professional to be better at what they do.  Every time they tell that story, you will see membership rise, products sell, and new volunteers raise their hand.  It is a long term investment - but a worthwhile one.

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Emails are not going anywhere - neither are expectations that because we put it on our webpage or in a newsletter everyone should know about it.  That is where we were yesterday, and in some ways where we are today.  Tomorrow?  Marketing is about dialogue and relationship building.  It is less about choosing the right font and more about investing in the right spokespeople.  Our organizations are stronger because of those who vocally support and contribute to our mission and vision - if you have a professional screaming from the rooftops that your organization rocks - what better marketing could you desire?

Association Marketing: Do You Want to Get Rocked?

While I may not watch the Super Bowl each year for the commercials, I will admit it is hard to decide when to leave the tv to get more chili - during the game or the ads.  How is it that something that usually most of us find to be an annoyance in the middle of our shows, listening to music on the radio or waiting for a movie to start is something that we actually look forward to each year?  I think because we know that, for those few hours, the ads we are going to see are going to be awesome (and when they are not, you better believe we talk about that as well).

So we may not have a Super Bowl as a draw in the association world, but that doesn't mean we can't try to make our own marketing approaches memorable and something the customer comes back to again and again.  And for those who may say, associations do not have the budget of a large company producing a full blown commercial I would like to draw your attention to the ad for dollarshaveclub.com:

Simple, funny, engaging.  And the message is pretty clear.

In a world of best practices we often fall back to our most comfortable patterns - an email blast followed by a postcard followed by another email blast, maybe a 15-day online coupon, a scramble when the numbers aren't there, two more email blasts to compensate, etc.  It is hard to break away from common pattern, so I understand why this is the default where most associations turn - and for many they can bring about success, even if much of the time it is only incremental.  What if instead we did not think a 1-3% growth was good enough?  What kind of marketing would we need to do to really grab attention?  To speak openly to our members and professionals, and make our message less about us (whether us is the association or the product/service it is advertising) and more about them?

The ASAE Foundation announced a new innovation grant program at Great Ideas 2012 in Colorado Springs.  Though marketing is not my forte, I hope that a number of creative professionals in that area submit for one of the grants.  We need our best practices to turn from our usual practices into creative, ahead of the curve practices.  If we can continue to shift our marketing messages from sales and advertisement to personal product/opportunity connection, if our message become more about the individual professional and less about the association, if we can create ads that members HAVE to show their colleagues - I think we would not only see much higher returns, but expect them as well.

Who knows, maybe the interludes at ASAE Annual Conference one year soon will be amazing association ads that we will all tweet and buzz about....and though the goal may never be for an attendee to ever say "Oh, I can to the session to see the ads" it would still be pretty cool if they were that good.

Associations Should Start Making Music Videos

(Disclaimer: Gloomy, rainy Mondays cause me to play spotify in the office all day.  This is post is a little tongue in cheek and serves as a chance to play some music that I like - most of the links are to songs.  So, if clicking, adjust volume as appropriate and enjoy the show)

Last week I was reading a great post by Jay Daughtry about what the association world can learn from Regis Philbin as he retired from television.  Jay's insights stuck in my mind throughout the weekend, along with Regis' voice.  I commented to Jay that one of the lessons we could learn from Regis was the power of voice recognition amongst our members - and as I continued to sound it out, I realize that is only the first of a number of goals associations could have for making an impression on their constituents...

1. The Voice - When associations talk about their members recognizing them, it is often a matter of having a unique and clear voice.  For Regis, it only takes hearing his distinctive voice to know who is behind whatever message is being expressed.  Regis is often impersonated because of this recognition - a recognition not tied to a brand or a product, but to the speaker.  Ultimately, this inherent connection is what associations are looking for when they talk about branding or becoming part of their members' vocabulary.  If upon reading a professional article or news item, attending a meeting or learning in a continuing education setting a professional automatically thinks in terms of their association, then innate branding, or 'the voice' has been established.

2. The Song - Of course, words and voice are just the beginning - they can lose meaning without context or a point of connection for a listener.  In our running metaphor, this would be taking the voice that is recognized, and letting it tell a story or sing a song to connect to listeners, who then become fans.  We all have songs that evoke memories and emotions.  From a good Monday morning wake up song (which for me lately has either been Foo Fighters or LMFAO ) to that song that tells a story that you want to know what happens (Tim McGraw excels at this) or a singer who can take another artist's song and give it a very different feeling (late great Johnny Cash stands out to me), each tune works because it elicits an emotional reaction.  If associations can not only be recognized for their voice, but with that voice produce a feeling of confidence and community in its members, that is an even greater success.  Perhaps this is done by focusing an association's messaging away from product sales and instead creating a narrative of the life of a professional.  Each member is a character in that story, intertwined with the offering/products/services/community that are discovered along the way.  What is more emotionally compelling than our own story?

3. The Video - And finally, what if we can provide a multi-sensory experience?  In a world of facebook, twitter, private social networks, google+ hangouts, skype and more - are we really still limiting our interactions to blast, one-way messaging?  What if we can tie the story we are telling to a member by including them as an active, and not passive character - essentially making them the author.  Engage in conversation with what they need, and what they would like to see.  Transform customer service from a general 1-800 number to a specific person assigned to each member, with a picture next to their contact information.  Change the narrative the association is singing into a music video - invoking sound, sight and thought can make a much deeper impression.  Some may do this for novelty, just to grab attention (OK GO is #1  at this whether on treadmills or being painted) while others use it to better engage you in their story (Lady Antebellum with a happy ending, Foo Fighters with a different one).  And then there are those that take on a life unto themselves and change paradigms (MJ - Thriller).  Whether trying to grab attention, create a compelling narrative or shift expectations, combining sight, sound and narrative is a recipe for maximizing communication involvement.

So should associations put marketing funds into a music video?  Probably not.  Should we start to shape our message to be memorable, personal and interactive?  Yes.  It's time to start being a little more fun.  It's time to be interesting.  It's time that associations start to rock out.  Maybe they won't win an astronaut trophy, but they can win over the commitment, enthusiasm and loyalty of their professionals.