Association Marketing Communications Staffing:Best Practices in the 21st Century

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By Barbara A. Myers

Associations were not created or staf f ed to be sophisticated marketing machines. In f act,associations tradit ionally have had a tendency to under-resource their marketing f unction becauseit’s of ten viewed simply through an overhead lens. This is especially true f or associations hit by therecession and suf f ering reduced revenues, as marketing cuts are of ten seen as an easy costsavings measure to help balance budgets. However, due to the advent of new marketing andcommunication channels and the impact of technology on consumers’ expectation and pref erences,associations’ tradit ional approach to the marketing f unction is no longer viable. Associations aref inding they need to quickly ramp up substantive marketing communications expertise in order toremain competit ive and successf ully f ulf ill their missions. This reality has presented challenges f ormany associations.

The good news is that associations can successf ully meet this challenge with the right approach tomarketing communications staf f ing.

The advice that f ollows is gleaned f rom my observations of what has worked and hasn’t worked overthe course of my 15 year marketing communications career. During this t ime I have led two marketingcommunications department restructures, rebranding init iatives, and development of a number ofintegrated, strategic marketing communications strategies and plans f or associations, and I’ve seenf irsthand the posit ive impact when associations “get it right.”

Structure

From my experience, I f eel the staf f ing approach that works best and the one all associations shouldseriously considering adopting is a centralized Marketing Communications (MarCom) f unction. I’vemanaged MarCom f unctions that were decentralized and siloed within every association departmentand centralized, and my experience is that the latter approach yielded better results. I acknowledgethat transit ioning f rom a decentralized, siloed marketing communications structure to a centralizedone is not easy, but that’s a topic f or another article.

So, what does a centralized MarCom f unction look like and how does it operate?

Leadership

It starts with great leadership, pref erably with C-suite representation in the f orm of a MarketingCommunications Vice President, Chief Marketing Of f icer, or ideally, a “Chief Branding Of f icer” whocan f oster a collaborative culture between the marketing f unction and the rest of the organization.

Another crit ical role f or this leader is to direct the development, implementation, and evaluation of anintegrated, strategic marketing communications plan. This is an organization-wide exercise that willrequire input f rom all stakeholders at various points, including staf f , key volunteers, and corporatesupporters. Why is this so important? Because in today’s world, the ability to develop, implement, and

evaluate the right marketing communications strategy is a dif f erentiator that can elevate anassociation’s perf ormance to the next level.

This individual should also establish clear processes and procedures f or f inancial management, aswell as clear roles and responsibilit ies f or the marketing staf f , association staf f in other areasrelative to marketing, and association volunteers.

Staff ing

With strong leadership in place, the next step is to create alignment with each of the revenuegenerating activit ies of the association. For example, if Association XYZ generates revenue f rommembership, events and training, each of these activit ies should have a dedicated, experienced andskilled marketing communication staf f member assigned to it. Ideally, individuals in these roles shouldhave expertise in the association activit ies they are marketing as well as the industry they aremarketing them to.

In today’s connected world, it ’s also crit ical to have prof essionals skilled in digital marketing as partof your MarCom Team, whether on staf f or in an outsourced capacity. These individuals will overseestrategy and execution of social media, content marketing, and the association’s website(s).

If you are going to look at outsourcing any of your marketing and communications activit ies, here’s agood rule of thumb. Don’t outsource any activit ies that require interf acing with organizationalstakeholders. Ensure outside service providers only have to interf ace directly with staf f .

Success

With the right marketing communications structure and staf f ing in place associations can becomewell posit ioned to ef f ectively navigate this complex, 21st century world. They will have the leadershipand staf f expertise in place to: establish sound marketing and communications strategies, broadcasta clear and compelling value proposition to the right audiences, and assess what’s working andwhat’s not and adjust accordingly to ensure ongoing success.

Barbara A. Myers, CAE recently joined IMN Solutions as their new Vice President ofAssociation Services. Her career spans 15 years during which time she’s held keyleadership positions in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors including VicePresident of Professional Development with the International Society forPharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), Chief Account Strategist with Frost Miller Groupand Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Association of Public-SafetyCommunications Officials (APCO) International.

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