Don’t wait until members leave to try to win them back.
Here are two effective ways to keep your association’s members around.
The ideal approach is a proactive one. It’s not about waiting until members are already gone to try to win them back. It’s about preventing the lapsed memberships in the first place.
Here are two highly effective ways to improve retention before members get away:
Use artificial intelligence and predictive analytics
Using artificial intelligence tools, you can predict which members are at highest risk of non-renewal. Then, you can reach out to save them before they leave.
For example, Marine Corps Association & Foundation was seeing about 1,000 lapsed members each month. Using Nimble AMS Prediction Builder – which leverages the artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Salesforce Einstein – the organization implemented a solution that automatically identifies members at high risk of lapsing and presents staff with suggested actions to take to prevent non-renewal.
Prediction Builder guides you each step of the way to set up the details of the prediction, including what you want to predict and on which data fields the prediction should be based. It even lets you know the quality of the prediction you’ve built and if you should consider refining the data fields.
Once the association rolled out the AI process and trained staff on it, it was then easy for the association’s staff to see warning signals for members at risk of lapsing. Now, when an at-risk member is discovered, staff are presented with actionable steps to take with the member. The result: 25 percent of members at high risk of non-renewal have been saved.
Set up automated communications
Making your members feel connected with your organization and showing them the ongoing value of their membership requires continued communication. But blasting the same content to all members doesn’t work well. Automating targeted communications to your members can help make them appreciate their membership more while not overwhelming your staff with manual email sends.
For example:
Set up an automated onboarding email series to thank new members for joining, let them know what communications to expect from you, remind them of membership benefits, and direct them to online resources. This is a great way to make a positive impression from the get-go and make them feel like they’re part of your association family.
TECH TIP: Nimble Create is a visual template builder included with Nimble AMS that allows you to easily build templates (no coding required) for branded, personalized, and information-rich content. You can use it to automatically pull member data and other details straight from your Nimble AMS system into your email content to provide a more personalized member experience.
Build personalized member journeys so your members will receive relevant messages based on the action they take (or don’t take) on each email.
As members get closer to their renewal date, send them an automated, personalized renewal email series to remind them of benefits they have taken advantage of, remind them of benefits that they haven’t taken advantage of (but still have time to do so), and let them know about upcoming events and opportunities they’ll miss if they do not renew.
Learn more
Discover more tips and strategies on how to nurture relationships with your members to make sure they stick around: Watch the Live CAE credit webinar, Proven Strategies to Increase Member Retention on July 28 at 11:30am Eastern. RSVP now.
Then join us for a webinar on July 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET with MCA&F Director of Membership Services, Jaclyn Baird, to learn how MCA&F used artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to prevent member lapse. Register today.
