Last week, we discussed the importance of a great onboarding effort in the article “What is Onboarding? The Next Critical Step in Your Loyalty Program.” And now in the article below we’ll show you some techniques for making your onboarding efforts great.
As a Cub Scout leader, I recently coached a group of 8-year-old boys on how to prepare for a 1-mile hike. I asked them to name some items they would need to bring with them. And because they are 8-year-old boys, they kind of stared off into the distance as I listed the essentials like water, a first aid kit, proper footwear, etc.
Then I asked them what items they shouldn’t bring on a hike. And because they are 8-year-old boys, they talked over each other to name about a hundred ridiculous things like a piece of glass, 5 million empty bags, a spider web, and the giant stuffed lion one had won at a fair.
Congratulations! You’ve attracted yourself a new member and you’re bound to be best friends forever, right?
The reality, unfortunately, is that most members won’t stick with you beyond the first week, and even more will disappear by the end of a month.
Those that stick around for the long haul are your loyal members and your best source of income.
But first you have to get them to stay.
New members are notoriously quick to abandon loyalty programs when they don’t see immediate value. They delete apps, leave points unredeemed, fail to continue a free trial and basically forget you exist. This happens when people don’t immediately see the value of membership.
Happy Labor Day!
Here on the Access Loyalty Blog we talk a lot about member engagement and how to earn it. We dive deep into the world of member loyalty and seek to master it from just about every angle – especially when it includes discount programs. (Those are our favorite.)
But today the occasion calls for something a little different. This Labor Day, we want to give a front-page salute to all the workers that show up day in and day out to contribute to the prosperity of our society.
So much of business today centers around attracting and satisfying end-users (a.k.a. members or customers). And when we aren’t focused on them, we’re usually working to keep our shareholders happy.
Rightfully so. Shareholder and customer engagement are both critical to corporate success. But what about employees? They’re the ones responsible for appeasing those customers and shareholders. Who takes care of those important people? It’s not sales or business development or the director of membership marketing.
For decades, the conventional wisdom has touted this stat: 80% of consumer spending occurs within 20 miles of home.
We've cited that stat before, as have countless other respected sources like Forbes, Ebay, and MediaPost. All of which have quoted this statistic without attribution.
The problem is, the stat is a myth. It doesn't exist, as this writer documented.
Typically, they point to an official source identified simply as “US Census data,” but no link to a study or web page is given.
It really sounds good and seems to make sense.
But then again, what about the "retail-apocalypse?" What about the growth of online spending?
In simplest terms, successfully managing (and growing) any membership organization boils down to two key objectives.
Member acquisition. And member retention.
While many membership professionals focus their growth strategies on luring new members into the fold, the bigger and more urgent challenge that most organizations face today is churn – i.e., the unhappy outflow of members who for whatever reason decide their needs have not been adequately met.
For example, more than 20% of members say they have canceled their membership or let it lapse in the last year. And when asked their reason for ending membership, 32% said it was too costly, 19% said it had too little value, 16% forgot to renew, 13% can get same benefits elsewhere, and 12% said there was a decline in benefits.
So what can you do about member churn? Focus heavily on member engagement.
Simply put, member engagement is the ongoing interaction between a member and organization in exchange for meaningful value.
In previous blog posts, we’ve also defined it as “…building relationships with your members, adding value to their lives and capturing their attention just often enough to remind them of the role you play in it so there’s never a doubt.”
For example, 58% of alumni organizations report a lack of engagement as the primary reason members don’t renew.
Member engagement is something many organizations continually contemplate, but rarely take the time to define. A key component mentioned in the definition above is that in order to achieve meaningful engagement, interaction must be frequent. Sending emails one or two times a year won’t cut it.
The other essential piece of information the definition points out, is that there must be value involved in the transaction that is of personal relevance to members. Offering them something like a logoed bottle opener or a campus bookstore discount is unlikely to be enough to cross that perceived value "tipping point."
Member engagement is affirmed, reaffirmed and/or damaged with every interaction, including reading a tweet or Facebook post, a “Like” on Instagram, looking at an email, utilizing member benefits, etc.
Each of these interactions should be connecting the organization with the member’s needs and preferences. Create those relevant messages with frequency, and that’s how member engagement is built.
