5 Tips for Improving Your Membership Organization's Recruitment Efforts

5 Tips for Improving Your Membership Organization's Recruitment Efforts

Here are ways to increase the amount of new members coming into your organization.

Most people don't wake up in the morning and say, "I want to join a membership organization." They put a lot more thought into joining a membership organization than they do in, say, filling up their tank at the local gas station.

In order to recruit new members, organizations have to sell membership and actively encourage people to join. Here are 5 tips that will help you improve your membership organization's recruitment efforts.

1. Define your target audience

Think about the types of people who would be interested in joining your membership organization to determine exactly who your target audience is, and then acquire or build lists that consist of your ideal prospects. Some potential members that you may want to target include members of similar organizations and subscribers of industry magazines. In addition, think creatively about how to expand your membership organization's marketing strategy to related market segments.

2. Boost the value of membership

People join your organization because it meets a need. Make membership in your organization more irresistible by offering members a new, high-value product or service. Doing so will help you increase the response to your promotions.

3. Use more marketing channels

Many membership organizations make the mistake of focusing on just one or two membership marketing channels, such as direct mail or cold calling. But there are several other marketing channels worth experimenting with, including social media marketing, PPC advertising, SEO, and email newsletters. The most successful membership organization recruitment programs typically consist of a combination of marketing channels.

4. Increase the frequency of your recruitment efforts

Reach out to your prospects more frequently if you want to maximize the results of your recruitment efforts. You have to reach out frequently to a large enough audience of prospective members in order for your organization to grow.

5. Test, track, and analyze

Track and analyze all of your promotions so you can determine which lists, messages, offers, and packages produce the highest ROI. You can track email responses by adding cookies to emails and setting up unique URLs for each segment. You can track direct mailings by assigning codes to each reply form. Regularly test new offers, lists, messages, etc. to ensure that you're making the most of your recruitment efforts.

Not all of these strategies are right for every membership organization. Take a good look at your recruitment program and try implementing one of these strategies or a combination of them to help your membership organization reach its full potential.

Strengthen Your Recruitment Program with efelle's Help

Based in Seattle, efelle can help you meet - or even exceed - your organization's recruitment goals. With more than 400 projects under our belts and over 100 years of combined industry experience, efelle media is sure to satisfy the marketing needs of your membership organization. From SEO and social media marketing to copywriting and PPC advertising, we offer a complete suite of services that are designed to help attract more members to your organization. For more information or to set up a free consultation, give our online marketing specialists a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form.

See Also:

8 Tips for Creating a Successful Membership Marketing Strategy

How to Increase Engagement within Your Membership Organization