Growing Your Organization’s Membership: Inbound Marketing

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You may be asking yourself, what is inbound marketing?

Am I right?

Inbound marketing is a powerful way to attract qualified traffic to your organization’s website. Rather than pushing information out to people who don’t want it (think advertisements, billboards, direct mail, etc.), inbound marketing focuses on a “pull” marketing approach to tap into existing demand.

Sounds better already, huh?But you may be thinking: I’m an association professional, not a marketing guru. Why should I care?

Because as an association professional, you have the expertise that people are actively looking for. Why not use that expertise to attract more people and convert them into members? Be the expert in your industry.

Now let’s talk about inbound marketing for associations.

First, we’ll talk about the

importance of member personas and how to go about creating them. Then, we’ll dive into the four stages

of the inbound marketing methodology – attract, convert,

close and delight.

Getting Started with Personas

Personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal members based on market research and real data

about your existing members.

Here’s an example:

Notice the demographic information

Member personas are the KEY to inbound marketing success.

The Inbound Marketing Methodology: Attract

Inbound marketing starts with attraction. Once you have your personas built out, you’ll want to attract them to your organization’s

website. The best way to do this is by creating compelling content.

Start by creating one big content piece, such as a white paper or an eBook. Then use

that content to create several smaller pieces, such as a series

of blog posts, videos, or infographics.

Then once you have your content built out - share it,

share it, share it!

Share it on your social media, newsletters, online

forums and social communities.

The Inbound Marketing Methodology: Convert

Once you’ve attracted people to your organization’s website, you’ll want to convert

them into leads, or potential members. To do this, you’ll need to gather their contact information, or

email addresses at the very least.

Now, people aren’t always willing to give

up their contact information, so you’ll need to offer them

something valuable in return like a white paper or eBook to

download.

You’ll want to put that content behind a form to collect basic information

like name, email, organization, etc.

Then use your blog to promote that content and drive visitors to your download form.

The Inbound Marketing Methodology: Close

You’re almost there! You’ve attracted the right visitors, converted them into leads,

and now you need to transform those leads into members.

Tactic #1 to help close a lead – Emails

What do you do if a visitor clicks on your call-to-action, fills out a landing page, downloads your white paper, but still isn’t ready to become a member? A series of well-crafted emails with useful and relevant content can be just enough to get them to join.

Tactic #2 to help close a lead – Events

If you’ve noticed that members join more at events than they do online, try sending out emails about your upcoming events.

The Inbound Marketing Methodology: Delight

Just because someone joins your organization doesn’t mean you can forget about them. You must continue to engage

with them and delight them over time.

In order to delight your members, you need keep track of and respond to conversations on social media and other online social communities. Listen out for your

members’ likes, dislikes, and comments and reach out to them with relevant content when possible.

We know there are a lot of moving parts involved in inbound marketing,but we promise you, the extra effort will be worth it. Remember, yourorganization already has the expertise that people are actively lookingfor, so use that expertise to attract more people and convert them intomembers.To help you get started and to better understand inbound marketing, we’ve put together a beginner’s guide to inbound marketing. Click here to start your inbound journey.

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