Members within certain demographics such as Gen-Z or high technology professions, are especially comfortable to receive information this way. But what about those that prefer a more human approach? Perhaps some members may have follow-up questions to ask or don’t even receive our emails due to an overly aggressive spam filter. Here a telephone call or physical letter could engage and ultimately support them far better.

This data can take any number of forms and consolidating it is the key to establishing an effective strategy. For example, if we know that a member is a regular website user that systematically logs in to read alerts and update their personal profile, it’s safe to assume that communicating via the site will be effective. If our direct email platform tells us that they open everything we send and exhibit a high click-through rate to read more, then a direct email might work best. 

If a member shows little or no interaction with these channels, no attempt to engage them this way is going to be effective. If however they respond to physical mail or log regular phone calls to the service desk, we can safely infer that a more personal approach is required.

One of the clearest applications of this strategy is at the point of membership renewal. If we have disengaged members, it is important to give them a better understanding of the benefits they may be missing. But by definition, they’re unlikely to respond unless we contact them personally. We also need to systematically remind all members about approaching renewal dates. For those that rarely respond to digital communication, only a phone call or letter is going to help. The same is true after membership has lapsed when we might wish to extend a special offer to re-join.