Silverbear Membership Blog

What should you tweet about? Planning your tweets can be a daunting task. It’s vital that you come across as useful, engaging and interesting. Twitter accounts that constantly promote their own agenda do not do well on Twitter. The goal is to share information, provide advice and help to others, and to become a trusted platform for those in your industry.

So what kind of things should you tweet about?  Association announcements: Such as new events, new members, new features/benefits etc. Updates: Any changes to your association that members should be aware of Answer Questions: People might ask questions about your association – the membership types available, the benefits members can expect, cost etc. Ask Questions: Ask your network of followers questions that can help improve your membership offering – what do they want to achieve from their membership, what events are they looking forward to, what do they think can be improved? Retweet: This is where you retweet (RT) another...

Part 2 of our Social Media & Membership Series So now we understand a little more about Twitter, the real question is how can Twitter be used to communicate with your members effectively?

You need to consider what kind of Twitter account to open, if you are a large membership organisation you should consider opening an account that is dedicated to each membership segment. However if you are a smaller membership organisation then a general corporate account might suit your needs better.

Once the Twitter account(s) has been opened you are able to brand in line with your association, a familiar logo or icon should be used as your profile image and a branded background should be created and ensure your biography is succinct.

Now you need to delegate an individual or a team to monitor and have ownership of the account. Select carefully as it is vital that any communication from or to the account is managed and monitored by someone who understands the medium. Social media can be very effective,...

Engaging with your members is a vital part of managing a successful association. Communicating effectively with your members is not easy, it can be complicated, time consuming and prone to errors. As a membership organisation, whether you are a charity or other membership group requires membership managers to communicate constantly: To prospect members – promoting the association, highlighting offers & benefits, engaging with prospect members in general To current members  -  Showing the member value of their membership and ensuring they are aware of everything the association is doing and offering When holding events - Promoting events, selling sponsorship, providing the costs, timings, and location and agenda items. Answering member questions and directing them to the right places, promoting member engagement and interaction during the event. Then getting feedback from members and exhibitors, promoting the event to those who didn’t attend, thanking speakers and guests for their input etc....

Accurate Data! Clean Data! Up to date Data! For any customer focused organisation and probably most especially for membership organisations, data is an essential ingredient to delivering a top class service to your members or customers. Being able to keep your data clean and de-duped can be a very difficult and not to mention time consuming task unless it is planned for and built into the day to day management of membership information.

Membership data comes from several sources: Business cards collected at events Website form submissions Completed membership forms Details provided via telephone or email Faxes received And many other conduits Can I hear everyone shouting “a centralised repository”? This is a key requirement for core membership organisations to manage their data. There really is nothing more damaging and unprofessional to a members view of an organisations perception of them, than being mistakenly communicated to by two areas of the same organisation who...

As consumers all of us form purchasing decisions dependent on a number of criteria

Do we need this item? Can we afford what we want? Are we comfortable about buying it from this outlet or person? Several of the standards are empiric i.e. Do we possess the cash available, but the majority of the criteria are, usually, emotional:

Do we “like” what we are buying? Do we “feel” comfortable about purchasing it Do we “feel” valued by the person offering it to us, and so on We may buy an item one day because we “feel” good about it, but not buy the identical thing on an alternative day because our feelings are different and we don’t feel so good about it. In the majority of cases, our “feeling good about it” position has nothing at all to do with the artefact or service itself but more to do with our overall emotional condition.

This emotional side of things plays a vital part in becoming and remaining a member of a membership association. In 1943 Abraham Maslow...

Membership organisations that rely on the acquisition and retention of members are now turning to technology to help manage their members and provide a higher quality service. Membership software can provide huge cost and time savings, but it is vital that it can be integrated into back end systems such as the finance system, CRM and the corporate website. These blog posts discuss the benefits of membership software and the specific benefits provided when it is integrated into key back end office applications.

Part One – The Key Features of Membership Software Many membership organisations are taking advantage of the benefits of technology by employing the use of membership software. Membership software enables member managers to organise, oversee and control their membership base with improved levels of efficiency and visibility. It can help to boost member enrolments and help reduce the number of members that fail to renew their subscription.  More often than not it pays for itself through the increase...

With Microsoft’s launch of Dynamics CRM Online earlier this week, Silverbear have already made this available within Silverbear’s CRM and Membership Management software solutions. This reflects our alignment with Microsoft and the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies.

Our leading edge customer experience management platform now includes:

- Increased visibility of data through new real time dashboarding and advanced visual reporting capabilities - Enhanced customisation to provide individual views tailored to specific roles or teams - Enhanced work flows to provide more control over business processes - Additional onscreen workflow through guided dialog sessions for key business processes

This enhanced Silverbear solution brings together effective CRM, membership and customer database management to efficiently run an organisation in a familiar, intelligent and connected environment.

The on-premises and partner-hosted versions of Microsoft Dynamics...

Are you a membership organisation? Then you understand that maintaining and growing your membership base as well as understanding your existing members is crucial. Why do members join and why do they leave? Trying to capture and then report on this information can be done by utilising a membership management software solution allowing you and your membership team to create and run sophisticated reports helping you to understand your members and strategise plans for future growth.

This blog post will out like how you can improve your membership reporting to identify trends and track KPIs.

If you are like most membership organisations then you probably manage your membership base through a series of spreadsheets and databases. Although this can do the job, it can be inefficient and makes it difficult to track key performance indicators (KPIs). Many membership managers complain of not being able to drill down into membership data – making it difficult to analyse trends and predict future subscription...

In our previous blog posts on this subject I have already covered Internal Communication Methods and Membership Web Portal . The third and final part of this blog will cover Reporting & Analysis and Integration.

Reporting & Analysis Increasing the efficiency in the level and type of service you offer to your members can really only be accomplished by measuring and analysing the feedback you get from your members. This can be a very complex and time intensive activity which is often pushed aside as there always seems to be more urgent matters to take care of! Being able to identify your membership clusters, such as geographic breakdown, job titles, profiles, dashboards and KPIs is fundamental. The segmentation of your membership base and the ability to analyse detailed reports will make sure membership managers are able to analyse their members such as the who, what, where and why, whilst still ensuring each membership group receives relevant and targeted communication.

As membership organisations...

In the first part of the blog we covered Internal Communication Tools. The second part of this blog post is Membership Web Portal.

A membership management solution that offers you a fully web based portal will allow your members access to their personal information at any time and from any location. Allowing your members to easily log in using their own unique username and password and edit/amend/update their personal information.

Amendments that are made by the member will automatically feed through and update the internal membership system of the record of the member, ensuring the information you have on that member is always accurate. A membership portal which is offered by a membership solution provider will enable each member to access relevant tools and content for each member type, such as blogs/forums/wikis etc encouraging member-to-member interaction and cross interaction between different groups.

Selecting a comprehensive membership software solution will ensure relevant information...

As a membership organisation you consistently find yourself surrounded by issues such as retention of existing members and attracting and capturing new members. More conventional methods of marketing such as; direct mail and events are becoming increasingly expensive and therefore more organisations (not just membership ones) are turning to social media and online networking as a platform and channel to communicate with new members and as a means to add and show value to existing members.

Social networking is becoming more important to membership organisations because:

It facilitates engagement with specific targets It can help to amplify knowledge and awareness around various membership campaigns It can encourage...

As a membership organisation you are totally member-led. The key is to keep not only your current members happy but to find ways to grow your membership base. Utilising a web-based and comprehensive membership management software solution can help you maintain and attain your current membership base (increase renewals and subscriptions). I have put together my top ten reason why a membership organisation should invest and implement a membership solution. Clear Communication – Membership software will ensure you collate up to date, clean and accurate data on your members. The communication tool delivers relevant content to relevant members by allowing you to segment and target the appropriate members. Social Media – Communicating with your members is simple. Your membership software interacts with third party social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StubmleUpon etc. The mechanisms can be deployed within existing web sites where required or can dwell within the membership portal allowing...

We have seen from the last post that social media is becoming one of the most popular areas of the Internet. People are using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to communicate with each other and promote ideas and information. So how can membership organisations use social networking sites to communicate with their members? There’s more to sites like Facebook than just creating a business page and updating your status.

Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites on the Internet. It has more than 400 million active users, more than 5 billion pieces of content (such as web links, news stories, blog posts, photo albums etc) and Facebook pages (pages that are commonly created by businesses) have created more than 5.3 billion fans.

So the power of Facebook is immense. People are used to using it as a platform for communication, and membership organisations are starting to understand the value that lies within in.

The key to Facebook is its ability to communicate different messages and information...

Implementing a membership CRM software into your organisation can help improve your operational efficiency through standardising and streamlining your business processes. Ensuring the software has an adaptive and flexible work flow engine which will enable a business to automate business processes in a user friendly way will ensure you attain, retain & maintain your membership base.

Through the automation of time consuming and repetitive tasks you are able to relieve your employees of the mundane but vital work that needs to be carried out on a daily basis, thereby increasing employee efficiency.

The right membership software can be customised to work the way your business works, ensuring you give the right information to the right members. In this market it has never been more important to ensure your members are always kept fully informed and updated on any new business services or upcoming special offers so make it even easier and automate the following marketing tasks:

Building member...

Membership organisations such as charities, societies, clubs, gyms, churches or associations regularly host events for their members. These events can range from a targeted meeting of 10 people to a large event targeting their entire membership base.

Organising events is a crucial component of membership management, it provides a first-rate platform for open communication between you and your member and for member to member and it is also an excellent way in which member organisations can increase their membership subscription and participation. Members must feel that they are getting some benefit from their membership and by hosting regular, relevant events this will ensure you add not only value to their subscription but will help promote member engagement.

However, organising and planning an event is not easy and can be exceptionally time consuming. Many aspects go into managing an event such as;

Event Planning Booking a venue/room Managing presenters Organising catering...

This might seem like a very strong statement to make, however if you are a membership organisation (society, association, not for profit, gym etc) then you will understand that managing your membership base is not easy.

Implementing a powerful membership management solution provides organisations with a highly flexible “core” membership management platform that can adapt, grow and scale alongside your business.

Online membership software engages and connects you with your members and by utilising the enhanced communication channel (such as; email marketing, web portal, social marketing sites etc) you will start to see an increase in communication between the organisation and the member as well as  increased interaction between member to member.

Implementation...

Do you know who your members are? Do you know what your members are looking for? Do you know why they are looking for it?

Managing your members efficiently and effectively will help you answer these questions, however, in these economic times members are demanding a clearer “Membership ROI” and asking their membership organisations to demonstrate this.

So the question that really needs to be answered is; “how much value does your organisation provide to your members?”.

This is not any easy question to answer but it is essential you do answer it, and answer it well. As a membership organisation you need to connect and stay connected with your members, however, defining what you should be offering to your members is easier said than done, below are a few areas we have highlighted;

Highly targeted communication channels via; email phone website social media

Ensuring the information you have on your member is accurate and up to date so targeted and...

Are you a membership club? Government agency? Charity? Association? Society? Trade Union? Or any organisation that has members? Then this blog post is relevant to you.

In this modern and transforming membership-led society, membership organisations need to adopt mechanisms to measure their members engagement requirements and address them efficiently and effectively. Implementing a membership solution will ensure you address the following key issues of membership management:

Keeping good clean and accurate data on your existing and prospective members Communicating effectively with your members Understanding your members concerns and requirements Managing and recording membership contact data and information Utilising membership data information efficiently and resourcefully Reporting and analysing membership data and turning this into useful information Segmenting membership demographics simply Keeping control and managing your members throughout the entire...

Although we are reported to be coming out of these troubled economic times it has never been more pertinent to put in place contingencies to ensure you are fully prepared for the next economic downturn.

Membership organisations, NOW is the time to implement strategies to increase your membership numbers and ensure continued renewals and increased subscriptions.

Exchanging of information is the currency of any successful membership organisation. But how do you go about growing/attaining new members?

To attract new members you need to fully understand what motivated your current members to firstly subscribe and then renew. Once you have this information you need to utilise it within your member outreach strategy. So how do you attain & utilise this information effectively? Implementing a membership software will help you recognise and address your membership management needs. The right membership software enables you to understand the fundamental determinants of your members experience and will...

As a membership organisation understanding your members expectations through what you currently offer is crucial. However being able to improve on the service you deliver will not only help you grow your membership base but retain it.

To do this you need to utilise the myriad of information you collect on your members effectively & efficiently. Defining a clear analysis path to identify current & future membership strategies will give you a clear visualisation of your membership base and allow you to utilise these results effectively.

Therefore choosing & implementing the right Membership Management Solution is vital.

The “right” membership solution will recognise and address your membership management needs by providing you with;

Good, clean & up to date information on existing members Good, clean & up to date information on prospective members Good, clean & up to date information on members activities & requirements A clear & distinct outline of a member’s...