What is member engagement?
July 11, 2022
Engagement is one of the membership sector’s most commonly used terms. It appears in almost every organisation’s commercial plan and is often used as a synonym for “the business of membership”. But what does it actually mean?
Put simply, engagement is a measure of how much the member and the organisation interact with one another. It considers how each has invested in that relationship and how this might emerge in their everyday activities. However, to design strategies that manage and improve engagement, we need a far more measurable definition than this.
Just a few years ago, member engagement was a simple measure of member activity. It was focused on the total number of people that visited an organisation’s website, attended its events or opened one of its email bulletins. Today however, modern CRM and membership management systems provide far more detail. In addition to comprehensive dashboards and reports, many systems can also provide an engagement score which allows organisations to understand and analyse behaviours of the most engaged and disengaged members.
Why does engagement matter?
Strong member engagement is often a good indicator of the value a member receives from your services. This relationship between engagement and value is important as it creates a loop that can drive organisational growth.
Generally speaking, the more a member appreciates the products and services you offer, the more they will use them. And the more they use them, the better value their subscription will provide. This has three positive outcomes for the organisation.
- Most obviously, highly engaged members will buy more products, services, training or event tickets and increase revenue for the organisation
- Highly engaged members can also become advocates for your organisation by recommending that their friends and colleagues consider joining
- The more value that members see from your services, the more likely they are to renew for another year
The second and third points above define the two pillars of membership: acquisition
and retention. Understanding their relationship with member engagement can help you to measure member value, track performance and develop strategies to drive all the metrics that matter to members.
How does ClearConnect help drive engagement?
In 2021, the MemberWise Digital Excellence report listed engagement as the top goal for membership organisations. However, many of these organisations don’t have the resources or capacity to deliver on their member engagement strategies. That’s where our team can help.
At ClearConnect, we have 10 years of expertise in supporting the full member lifecycle. We offer a full suite of member engagement services to help keep your members engaged throughout the year. These include:
- Helping to onboard new members with starter packs, emails and welcome calls
- Managing member check-ins and surveys
- Contacting members to obtain personal feedback on user experience
- Supporting events and new initiative launches to drive growth
- Providing additional support services in member acquisition, retention and administration
Today’s trade unions and professional bodies are able to achieve levels of member service that would previously have been unimaginable without extensive support teams and huge operational budgets. A modern CRM combined with the latest association management systems (AMS) is able to automate so much of the daily workload that it’s easy to slip into a complete reliance on digital communication.
Much of the strategic emphasis in membership organisations is placed upon growth. Leadership teams support this with worthwhile discussions on value proposition, marketing and member acquisition.
