5ways to improve engagement

Making engagement relevant is key to delivering a positive member experience. Richard Gott of MemberWise outlines five ways to improve member engagement by delivering a positive member experience

The experience of being a member is a sophisticated relationship between the member and the membership organisation. However, membership organisations often fail to consider the emotional aspect of their members' experiences. Understanding how members feel means moving away from something that is purely transactional.

Clearly articulating member value can be linked to an emotional aspect. For some membership organisations, such as professional bodies, trade associations and commercial subscriptions, taking account of members' emotions can be quite a departure from the norm. However, for others, like campaigning organisations, arts and heritage bodies, and charities, it comes more naturally. Regardless of the type of organisation, emotions are a significant factor in why members engage.

One of the most overlooked aspects of organisations' relationships with their members is how much effort it takes to engage. The easier it is, the more positively members will see their relationship with the organisation and the more value they see in their member benefits. Make it easier to engage by:

• Automating and simplifying processes

• Enabling self-serve options wherever possible

• Providing a centralised contact centre to answer or triage enquiries

• Making it simple to log in, update personal details and offer default options to the things members use most

For highly engaged members, membership is second nature. If an organisation can articulate that life, work or play without membership would be unimaginable, then it can begin to grow this perception in more of its members. Techniques for this include communication, personalisation and creating an emotional relationship with members – but achieving this isn't easy.

In the more immediate term, organisations can make interaction more habitual. As well as making things easier to do, they also make interactions as a member -– and remaining a member – the obvious choice.

By delivering regular useful information (either online, in magazines or guides) to support the aspects of whatever activities the member is engaged with, it becomes second nature to associate their membership with those things. This, in turn, links their existing habitual behaviour to their membership.

Forming habits among members isn't a "once and done" activity. It requires ongoing attention, little and often.

More frequent and regular interactions over a sustained period will keep the membership organisation in mind, which also helps make membership more habitual.

Successful member engagement is only as good as the average trough, not the highest peaks. The goal is a flatter line indicating regular habitual engagement but at a higher level.

Communication with members is key to ongoing engagement and there are two main things to consider:

This should ideally take the form of a Member Value Proposition – an elevator pitch to clearly and concisely sum up the rationale for being a member. Beyond this, organisations need to communicate the tangible benefits (products and services) provided to members that help them achieve the positive outcomes that deliver that value, i.e. a Member Benefit Statement.

Again, "little and often" is a successful formula. Unprompted, most members will only recall three or four key member benefits, so it's important to deliver targeted and regular member benefits campaigns with the right message to the right member, at the right time and using the right channel.

Find out more at memberwise.org.uk/ memberwise-best-practice-guides

People are increasingly distrustful, fatigued and overwhelmed by the volume of digital messages