The key priorities for many membership organisations are changing with increased pressure from current economic and financial situations throughout the UK. Trying to maintain growth in these market conditions is difficult which is why membership organisations are now beginning to shift their focus to new member acquisition strategies in a bid to drive growth. In order to achieve new membership acquisition, organisations must ensure they utilise and leverage the latest technologies, strategies and practices to remain competitive.
Membership Organisations
Guide To Unlocking Growth
Analysing and Adjusting User Experience based on Data
Simply understanding who your audience is, is no longer enough, it’s experiences that are driving value and building trust. Gaining a deep understanding of the experiences existing members have with your organisation is crucial as is gaining knowledge of those members you don’t yet know! Both are critical in being able to build optimal connections with existing members and in attracting new members. Understanding and optimising the user journey is key, user research for example can enable the identification and resolution of conversion bottlenecks, pain points across websites/apps and ultimately identify solutions to common user problems.
Equally insights gained from user data serve as a valuable asset in the journey towards improving membership acquisition. By analysing digital user data, organisations can gain a deeper understanding of member preferences, behaviours, and pain points. This invaluable information allows for the customisation of user experiences, ensuring that offerings resonate with target audiences and provides insight on conversion optimisations through the engagement funnel so for example more users can be turned into paying members.
Optimising Member Registration Process
User-centric websites play a critical part of the customer acquisition strategy. Registration processes, when designed with the user in mind, are a critical converter of members, reducing friction in the sign up process with a seamless registration experience can significantly impact conversion rates. abandonment at checkout and registration has the highest drop out rates at approximately 70%* (according to Baymard Institute) meaning a lot of pre-effort in getting user to your site and part way through the purchase journey is going to waste. Some of this wastage can also be put down to technical issues or poor performing sites. By analysing user behaviour and feedback, organisations can identify pain points throughout their registration process and begin to make the necessary adjustments to enhance the overall user experience and acquire more members.
Adopting more effective technology
With digital at the forefront of many member experiences, whether that be through a website, App, content or learning portal, an organisations ability to rely on the technology is critical, to ensure a smooth user experience. And with expectations from digital experiences increasing, members are less than forgiving when faced with a substandard experience.
Many membership organisations are now looking at different types of technology to meet the needs of their new cohort of members. Choosing the right technology is important and must be thoroughly researched and considered before making any considerable changes to minimise disruption and dissatisfaction with your offering.
Modern Digital Experience Platforms have been growing in popularity due to the ease of content updates and management and easy to set up ecommerce subscriptions and services. Choosing the right platform can significantly enhance your organisation’s ability to service its members and can lead to higher acquisition rates as a result.
Offering Additional Services
Continually updating and reviewing the value your membership provides to your members is important in being able to stay competitive and relevant. Providing additional services through your membership is an effective way to not only make your organisation more attractive but also helps with retention.
Providing additional services and offerings such as subscriptions to premium content, courses and learning opportunities, and access to additional tools and resources can significantly strengthen your competitive advantage in the marketplace and help to increase new member acquisition in the process.
Providing tiered offerings
Offering tiered membership options presents an opportunity to cater to diverse needs and preferences of different users. By providing a range of membership levels, organisations can accommodate varying consumer budgets and expectations while maximising revenue streams by making services accessible to all types of member and potential members. Tiered offerings also allow for personalised experiences, enabling members to select the level of engagement that best suits their interests and objectives. Increasing the amount of tiered memberships a company provides can help to improve new member acquisition and retention.
Conclusion
As technology continues to evolve and consumer expectations shift, embracing transformative strategies is essential in driving sustained growth in the long term. By optimising website experiences, leveraging data insights and prioritising conversion rate optimisation activities, organisations can enhance their ability to attract and retain members more effectively.
