The Key to Sustaining Membership Friday, February 24, 2012 Phyllis Shurn-Hannah, NE Regional FSD Regional Council Summit February 24 – 25, 2012 Grapevine, TX

Branding > Definition of Branding > Brand Awareness Marketing Strategy > Steps of a developing a marketing strategy > Awareness > 4 P’s of Marketing 2

Branding Defined “A brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol intended to identify the goods or services of a group and to differentiate those goods and services from others providing similar services.” 3

Branding Simply Put How do we effectively project who we are? A brand is the face of a business strategy. 4

Brand Awareness Make sure others know you exist by: – Distinction – Promotion – Visibility 5

Zeroing in on Your Brand Who are your customers/constituents/partners? – Chapters – Regional Council – Other State Councils – Members-at-Large 6 – Business Community – Educational Community – Legislature – SHRM

Zeroing in on Your Brand What products/services do you provide or aspire to provide to each group? How do they see you? How would you like to be perceived? 7

Zeroing in on your Brand Organization’s value? What’s the organization’s Vision? > Growth > Cohesiveness How to get the word out about your organization? What is the organization’s strategy? > Board strategy Member or a Leader? Is there a difference? 8

Example of a Membership Strategy Goal 1. Serve as career partner to HR professionals. 2. Remain open to all individual members, while focusing on targeted markets. 3.Remain the largest HR association by continuing to achieve significant growth and retention levels. and Any new programs and approaches must meet underlying goals of making business sense and being operationally effective and efficient. 9

SHRM ROI of Membership 10 You Pay Only $180 for 1 year full professional membership

the five key membership life stages: 1.Awareness 2.Recruitment 3.Engagement 4.Renewal 5.Reinstatement 11

Marketing Your Organization The 4 P’s of Marketing Product Price Place Promotion 12

Marketing Your Organization Target Market Competition Describe Product / Service Develop Budget Describe Location Develop Pricing Strategy Develop Promotional Strategy 13

Marketing Your Organization Five Steps of a Marketing Strategy a) Describe and prioritize target market segments Who are the possible members? What do you know about them? What is the size and potential growth of your target? Who are the influencers? b) Identify the position for each segment What makes your organization unique? What value can you provide? What motivates this target? Is your positioning realistic? Is your positioning sustainable? How is your competition positioned? 14

Marketing Your Organization c) Identify marketing strategies and tactics for each segment How do we create awareness? How do you create demand? How do we create value? How can we promote the value? d) Identify performance measures How do we define success? e) Develop an implementation plan What needs to be done? By whom? By when? Budget? 15

Awareness Does every HR person in your area know about SHRM and your chapter??? 6 Touches before you reach level of consciousness You don’t know what is important to them You don’t know where to find them 16

Define the Market What are the industries that dominate your locality? Size of Companies? White Collar? Blue Collar? Pink Collar? Union Shops? Other Defining Characteristics? 17

2. Recruitment Membership is a push product that has to be asked for Different ways to communicate and demonstrate value Testing your way to better results Value not features 18

An Overview of Marketing Channels Face-to-face Events Telephone Direct Mail Social Media Online Advertising Marketing Channels Search Engine Marketing Radio

Trends from the 2010 Membership Research Top Ways Prospects Become Aware of Associations Reported in 2010 Member recommendations91% Association Website88% to prospects67% Co-worker recommendations67% Direct Mail to Prospects66% Promotion to/at your events66% Google/LinkedIn/Banner Ads 20

Trends from the 2010 Membership Research Top Reason for Member Non-Renewal Reported in 2010 Lack of Value36% Employer Won’t Pay Dues25% Too Expensive11% Forgot Renewal6% Lost Job4% Retirement4% 21

SHRM Chapter Recruitment Methods 22 Which of the following do you use for recruitment? Offer free attendance to chapter meetings for new people 26% Get involved in community groups (small business groups, chamber of commerce, etc) 21% Member Get a Member Campaigns 20% Other 15% Local advertising (print, online, radio) 11% SHRM At-large Lists (this option was a write-in as other) 5% Offer free sign-up to chapter newsletters 4% Utilize rented HR lists 1% Give away content in exchange for contact information to build prospect list 1% Source: Chapter Survey, Nov 2010

Social Media used by Chapters 23 Which of the following does your chapter utilize? Linked In 36% None. My chapter does not use Social Media sites. 24% Facebook 20% Twitter 8% SHRMConnect 8% Other 2% Youtube 2% Flickr 1% Source: Chapter Survey, Nov 2010

Renewal Series used by Chapters 24 How many times do you reach out to expiring members with the following methods? Phone32.1%41%14.1%12.8% 4.3%6.8%28.2%31.6%29.1% Mail57.5%27.4%8.2%4.1%2.7% Source: Chapter Survey, Nov 2010

Summary Define Market – Who do you want to talk to? Who is likely to listen? Establish Value Proposition – What is your benefit to them? Identify Offer – What enticement do you want to give? Create Message & Call to Action Develop a Budget – How much can you spend? Determine the Media – How are you going to reach them? Implement Campaign Track Responses – How did we do??? > If you aren’t tracking, you aren’t learning 25

26 QUESTIONS??? Thank You For Volunteering