All Eyes on your Next Event

When planning an event for your organization, you typically have two goals in mind: create an event that your members will love and get as many people there as possible. No pressure, right? To achieve those goals, it is best to create a promotion plan.

1.     Determine your audience. Understand who would benefit best from the event. This includes both demographics and psychographics. Do you want to include non-members? This first step will determine the direction of your promotion plan.

2.     Develop a message. Your event might have a million benefits for guests but your audience will only care about some of those benefits. Narrow down the message that you want to deliver to your audience and hone in on it. This will be a more effective way to communicate with them.

3.     Find your audience. If you are targeting an older group of people, it might be best to send out direct mail or email. If you are targeting millennials, head to the internet. Going to your audience, will ensure that the message gets in front of them and increases the chance that they will read it.

Determining these few factors can make all the difference in your promotional plan. Make sure to reach your audience more than once to nail in their attendance. Happy event planning!

Adjusting to an AMC

The changeover to an AMC can be a big one. Because of that, we have put in place an on-boarding process for each of our new clients. With this process things tend to run a lot smoother, however, we do notice some clients still have a hard time adjusting to an AMC. Below are a few tips and tricks to an easy transition.

• Overload your AMC with information. Keep in mind that your AMC is becoming a part of your association with only the knowledge you provide and that they can research. They might be new to the industry of your association or even just the way you have done things in the past. Never hesitate to share information about your association. The more your AMC knows, the better off you will be.

• Be available. We often find that if we are not provided information, we spend a majority of our time tracking down the person with that information. If that person is often unavailable, the process drags out. Make sure your AMC has any login information and processes right off the bat in order to avoid delay of communication. If you expect your AMC to provide drafts before publishing work, make sure to get back to them in a timely manner in order to make sure the work officially goes out.

• Let go and let us! AMCs have the experience and skills to do the job. If you are paying for them to do it, make sure to actually let them do it. Once you have seen drafts in the first few months and have evaluated the quality of the work, learn to trust your AMC. This will alleviate you of the duties and free up time that you wanted to gain by hiring an AMC. 

Although change and depending on others can be scary, it is often for the best. If you hired an AMC it was for a reason. You also picked the AMC you picked for a reason. Learn to trust them, communicate with them, and fill them in on all things about your association will only make your organization more successful.

Saving your Email from the Trash Bin

Email is one of the most common ways to reach members. You might find, however, that most members are not opening or receiving their emails. This can be a huge problem when it comes to attendance at events and retaining membership. Why would a member want to stay a part of the association if they have no interaction with it? Below are a few ways that you can ensure members see your emails and actually take the time to read them. 

1. Make an announcement. Whether it is at a meeting or on social media, make an announcement to members to check their spam folders for association emails. If they are, they can change their settings to prevent this in the future. This problem happens pretty frequently. All emails that go out are most likely mass emails which are the type that typically get flagged as spam. 

2. Make your subject concise. In future emails, make sure that your subject line is very clear while still sparking interest. If you have an upcoming event, list your association’s name and the title of the event. This should be enough to make your members open the email.  

3. Get to the point. Similar to the subject line, keep the body of the email simple and easy to ready. You can include a few graphics and fluff but not too much. You want to make sure members do not lose their patience before they finish reading the email. 

Getting your email communication under control can improve the member experience tremendously. It keeps them up to date with the association and involved. Apply these email tips and watch your event attendance soar! 

Sharing vs Competing for Members

People who belong to an association often belong to more than one. They use them as a way to network and learn more about their industry.  Rather than competing for members in other local associations, work together! Find a way to share members and create unique benefits for each. Below are tips on how to do just that.

• The introduction. Make sure to reach out to the association you might be competing with. Send an email or give them a phone call and explain what your association offers its’ members.

• Talk it out. Meet up with the contact point you have with the other association and discuss areas of crossover. What do members that belong to both groups have in common? What unique benefits do they gain from each association.

• Avoid overlapping events. Look at your schedules for the next 6 months to a year and make sure that future events do not fall on the same day. This will allow each association to have higher attendance at events and makes for happier members.

Working together will only make each association more successful and will prevent members from feeling as though they can only join one.

Client Spotlight: South Metropolitan Business Association

One of our oldest clients is the South Metropolitan Business Association (SMBA). This organization is located in Madison, Wisconsin along with our office. SMBA’s purpose is to promote and improve the business environment in the Cities of Madison and Fitchburg and the Town of Madison by encouraging well planned, high quality and balanced commercial and residential development and economic growth. SMBA provides its members with a variety of benefits that make their membership well worth it.

The association offers members networking opportunities, information on the city and business related topics, as well as community involvement. Each month, SMBA, gathers members for a luncheon. This is an opportunity for the members and guests to network among each other and hear from a speaker on that month’s topic.

This close knit group is a unique one and one that we are proud to support. Kristen is the Executive Administrator for SMBA. She helps to organize and run luncheons, prepare for board meetings, produce newsletters and more!

Learn more about SMBA.