A
ttracting new members to Freemasonry is a core objective for the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). New members are our lifeblood and we continue to seek innovative ways to showcase the values of Freemasonry and to help answer the question ‘Why Freemasonry?’ A National Digital Marketing Campaign (NDMC) was proposed by the UGLE Communications and Marketing Team as one such innovation. The Communications and Marketing Working Party, Membership Working Party and the UGLE Communications and Marketing and Member Services teams collaborated to develop and implement a Campaign with the following aims: Helping to raise public awareness of Freemasonry, its traditions, values and ethos Encouraging those who might have an interest in Freemasonry to find out more Introducing those with a genuine interest in Freemasonry to Provincial and Lodge Membership Teams Supporting the Provincial and Lodge Membership teams to assess how/if the prospective member’s expectations can be met and how best to proceed Providing an opportunity to customise the marketing materials to respond to specific regional needs and priorities.
In addition, it created an opportunity to engage with the current membership to help reinforce their roles as ambassadors for Freemasonry. The NDMC was launched in September 2021 and finished in December. It involved the integration of the UGLE Facebook platform, new website, email marketing, Twitter and SMS services together with a system to track the campaign. The Central UGLE Communications and Marketing team worked closely with the Provincial Communication and Membership teams to deliver the campaign. Facebook adverts were created to incorporate new imagery and video content illustrating the diversity of our Lodges and their members. Those responding to the adverts to express an interest in Freemasonry received email and SMS messages directing them to the new UGLE website (ugle. org.uk). This gave them access to the Discover Freemasonry video and enabled a prospective new member to identify his local Masonic Centres using advanced mapping technology. More than 8,800 membership enquiries were received in less than three months (78% higher than the initial target). Of these, approximately 3,400 qualified leads (ie
STRATEGY IN ACTION:
NATIONAL DIGITAL
MARKETING
CAMPAIGN
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ugle.org.uk
