Articles about the member journey

How to get members to use their membership benefits?

Using advisory services, legal assistance, discounts and other benefits is not only good for members – for the organization it helps to strengthen customer loyalty, create satisfied members and recruit new members. The guide below tells you how you can start thinking about member benefits as their own products – and through that work to increase their use:

• Treat membership benefits as products
• Decide which benefits are most important to communicate
• Set clear (SMART) goals for the product
• Find reasons why members don't use the benefit
• Address the biggest reasons by developing the product and communicating to change members' perceptions of the product
• Finally, the effect of the measures must be assessed and adjusted.

Dive deeper: How to get members to use their membership benefits?

How to build trust as a member organization?

It's rare that we give complete trust to someone we don't know, and first impressions are often crucial. A clumsy bum who is supposed to give you a safety briefing before you zipline down Holmenkollen doesn't feel entirely safe. In other words, trust is the foundation of any membership organization. This article goes through the elements you need to fix in your digital presence to build trust with both potential and existing members.

• Communicate clearly and credibly
• Use the front page to answer basic questions immediately
• Create multiple content universes (thematic areas) on the website
• Be consistent across all channels 
• Make the sign-up form simple 
• Create and protect ambassadors 

Dive deeper: How to build trust as a membership organization?

How do you know if you have built enough trust?

Trust is hard to measure, but there are good tools that can at least give you a very good indication of whether the potential member is ready for personal contact (or whether the existing member is about to disappear). In CRM terms, this is called “lead scoring,” which involves giving points to both potential and existing members for specific actions they take. Here’s a quick overview:

• Step 1: Define what constitutes engagement
• Step 2: Award points based on engagement
• Step 3: Segment members based on engagement level
• Step 4: Customize communications and offers
• Step 5: Measure and optimize

Dive deeper : How to use your CRM to map the engagement level of each member

How to speak to members as individuals?

A key part of building trust is personalizing your communications. Because to truly engage and retain members, you need to understand where they are in the membership journey – and tailor your messaging accordingly. Personalization is not a buzzword! It’s a necessity for building meaningful relationships and increasing member loyalty.

• Step 1: Map the members' stage (as shown in the article above).
• Step 2: Create personalized messages for each stage
• Step 3: Automate and scale personalization
• Step 4: Measure and improve

Dive deeper: How to personalize messages based on stage in the member journey

What does making a data-driven decision mean for the member journey?

What does it really mean to make a data-driven decision for the member journey? And how can you use data to create a more engaging, effective and member-focused experience? In the article below, we look at what it means to be data-driven, and how you can specifically use data to improve the member journey. In short:

• Step 1: Collect the right data
• Step 2: Analyze the data
• Step 3: Make decisions based on data
• Step 4: Measure and optimize

It may seem so simple, but the process rests on a big question: Can the organization make decisions that go against established “truths” if the data dictates it?

Dive deeper: What does making a data-driven decision mean for the member journey?

How to find out what members would most like to do on the website

“Top tasks” are the most important tasks or needs that your members are trying to fulfill when they interact with your organization. This could be anything from finding specific information, attending an event, or getting help solving a challenge.

• Step 1: Understand the “top tasks” approach
• Step 2: Identify potential top tasks
• Step 3: Observe members' behavior
• Step 4: Optimize for your top tasks

Dive deeper: How to find members' top tasks

The member journey and the website: use the core model to create a better experience

The Core Model is the tool we use to ensure you prioritize correctly on your website. The model helps you identify key points in the member journey where members get their top tasks done.

• Identify your target audience: who are your members?
• Define the user tasks: What will the members come to do? (as in the previous article)
• Set goals for the solution: What do you want to achieve?
• Design matters: How will members find their way?
• Create the core content: What is the best solution?
• Plan ways forward: What do you want to happen next?

Dive deeper: Learn more about the core model here