Create value with membership marketing

Membership marketing–the process of acquiring, engaging and retaining members–is the cornerstone for associations and member-based organizations. It is also a very challenging task.

Now is the time to start thinking about your goals for 2012 and what you want your association or member-based organization to look like in the coming years. Will you be able to sustain your current membership or funding goals? Do you need support in attracting a younger demographic or engaging Gen X and Gen Y as your Boomers move on and enter retirement?

There are many pieces that fall into membership marketing. We recently partnered with Sarah Sladek, CEO of XYZ University and author of “The End of Membership As We Know It,” to offer membership marketing for our clients. With more than 25 years of experience working for and with associations, our team understands how associations work, how to develop meaningful relationships with members and how to create a successful strategy for association growth.

Your members want a return on their investment. They want to see the value in their membership. So how do you create value with membership marketing? By utilizing and developing plans in multiple areas and disciplines. Consider the following three areas:

Social media, websites and mobile marketing

Social marketing is here to stay. Your members and potential members are hanging out online. Create value by providing them with engaging content and reasons to interact with you. As you think about your organization’s goals, also consider your current Web presence. Are you engaging with your audience? Are they talking with you? Are you giving them opportunities to do so by maintaining a Facebook page, blog or other means of engagement?

Brush up on your social media statistics and understand what they mean for the audience you’re trying to connect with. Social media is not just for the young and hip. There are great ways to connect with everyone in your membership base through your website, social media channels and use of mobile marketing. The key is to have a great plan in place and people to execute those plans for you.

Membership campaigns and promotions

Word of mouth marketing has come a long way since your organization began. Promoting your association and tapping into new members requires out-of-the-box thinking and new directions for your marketing and communication strategies. Ideas include outreach or advocacy campaigns, new product/service offerings and networking events (think live Twitter feeds, social meet-ups and speed networking). It all goes back to your target audience–who are you trying to reach and how will you get there?

 Strong brands and identities

Does what you stand for resonate with your current membership? How about your ideal members? Are you touting values that are still relevant today or that have followed from year to year because that’s what has been done in the past? Do you assess your current logo, website and brand identity on a regular basis?

Associations rely on relationship-building to grow membership and your brand is an integral piece of that process. Keeping your brand at the forefront of everything you do can help evoke and maintain emotional attachments and a sense of purpose for your members. Make sure that your identity grows with your membership. Make it appealing for new members to join, current members to stay and outside audiences to understand what you’re all about. Strategies include:

• Defining your core values
• Assessing current visual identity systems
• Researching and developing key message statements
• Updating online presence–website, e-marketing, social media

Outline membership value in your marketing plan

It can be a daunting task to communicate with your membership. And it’s likely that they are grouped in to various demographics. Recruiting new members and staying engaged with current members takes many moving parts. Allocation of resources is critical as is establishing an effective, workable plan to drive results. In addition to the three areas above, you need a stellar marketing and communications plan. Elements of your planning process should include:

• Targeting your audiences
• Analyzing your competition’s strategies
• Researching your audiences’ preferences and perceptions
• Shaping your brand and core messages
• Understanding and stating the unique value you provide
• Developing work plans and budgets to support goals
• Evaluating results

Don’t be overwhelmed. These are elements you can take on yourself or hire out which is exactly why we are so excited to be a part of this new partnership. We have been developing marketing strategies and plans for associations, nonprofits and member-based organizations for years. It is a perfect fit for the services we already offer our clients. So whether you’re looking for a membership marketing firm of record, or for resources like this post to get you started in your own planning, know that we are here to listen, help and offer advice to push your membership marketing to the next level.

Here’s to a prosperous 2012!

Introducing Allée’s new website

It’s time to introduce Allée’s new website! We have been working hard on this project during the past two months and are excited to finally see it “go live” today. If you take a peek around, you’ll notice easy contact forms, a new, free eBook and blog articles that sit right on our home page.

Special thanks to our partner in crime, Dave Yankowiak of Lift Development. Dave’s ability to program and customize just about anything we threw his way took a great load off our shoulders. (There’s definitely a reason we partner with this guy often).

So let us know what you think. Our hope is that you’re able to find the information you’re looking for quickly while learning a bit or two.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time flies: What I’ve learned from Allée

Oh, how the time flies! Three short months ago I jumped on board the Allée ship as the social media and community engagement intern. Since then I have gained a wealth of knowledge and have had the chance to get my hands on an assortment of tasks.

Through previous internships, I’ve been able to dabble in the many different areas of the PR world. At Allée, I felt I was able to take it a step further. Over the last three months, I was given the freedom to really brainstorm and proactively assist with projects and create material.

While interning at Allée I gained valuable knowledge and experience with various types of PR and communication strategy. From traditional print media to the “new” media of the digital world, I was able to get a taste of it all during my time at Allée. I learned how to effectively and efficiently research and compile relevant media contact lists and was able to gain more practice with pitching, something I was able to do on multiple occasions. I am grateful for the experience I’ve gained with contacting the media and learning how to best tailor and personalize pitches. And I can’t forget! I also learned the importance of following up on pitches.

Blogging turned out to be a very fruitful endeavor, as well. There were several posts were I was given the opportunity to conduct my own research and interviews with reporters, journalists and even some of my instructors from college. I’ve always loved writing so blogging was not only fun but also turned out to be a great learning experience!

One of my favorite aspects of the internship was being able to immerse myself in social media. Always a personal passion of mine, it was wonderful to see how social media can act as an important tool in the PR toolkit. Allée is a great example of how social media can be used successfully for a business. Through Twitter, for example, Melissa creates a warm and personable, yet professional, voice around Allée. She genuinely engages people through social media and has demonstrated the many benefits that outlets such as Twitter and Facebook possess for a brand and/or company. But just like other more traditional forms of media, I learned that it is just as important to have a strategy and goals in place when using this “new” media. It was easy learning these lessons from Melissa, as she leads by example. She was a wonderful resource and offered great guidance with each new assignment. I am thankful for the wealth of knowledge Melissa has shared with me!

Overall, my internship with Allée has been a great and irreplaceable experience. I feel like I have accomplished so much and grown both personally and professionally in these last three months. With this in mind, I am very excited to see where the next three months will find me. Thanks, Allée!

Jodi Osmond worked as Allée’s summer social media and community engagement intern. She has been enjoying exploring her new home of Minneapolis and couldn’t be more excited for fall to arrive. Jodi graduated summa cum laude from UW-Milwaukee with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and media communication and certification in digital arts and culture. She is excited to continue her journey into the PR world.

Thanks, Allée: I’m smarter now!

This past summer, I’ve been spending a lot of my evenings working as an Allée intern. If I wasn’t going to pick up new skills and learn things, well, I may as well have spent my summer on the History Center lawn or at the Science Museum. Looking back, I am pleased to say that I have learned a lot; it was well worth the time I spent and the socializing I gave up. And, what exactly didn’t I know three months ago that I do know now? A lot about social media, how to work with the print media and that Melissa Harrison is an incredible person.

Social media

Although I had a lot of personal experience with social media when I started this internship, I have learned a lot of things I didn’t even know that I didn’t know. Overall, I’m a better e-citizen.

• I’ve learned the importance of a social media strategy, how to create one, and how to track success.
• I’ve learned about a lot of social media platforms I was previously unaware existed and how they work. It gave me courage to jump in on Twitter.
• I’ve learned how to better engage people on my personal accounts as well as the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the St. Paul JCC where I do updates and tweets.
• I learned that friends do tell friends when they are bad at social media (in a nice way, of course).

Media relations

Working as an intern at Allée provided me with experience working directly with the media in a professional setting for the first time.

• I learned how to research media outlets.
• I learned how to decipher relevant contacts.
• I learned how to pitch a story and follow up on a pitch.
• I learned about editorial calendars.

Melissa is incredible

I always knew Melissa to be a woman of diverse talent and someone I enjoyed working with at the St. Paul JCC. After a while it ceased to surprise me that she was also good at, say, Bodypump while nine months pregnant. I’ve often felt that I should soak up as much information from her as possible, and working with her this summer gave me an opportunity. Melissa is professional, creative, organized and fearless. Watching her run a meeting was an exceptional learning experience in itself. Her ability to cover everything, stay on track and walk away with everyone feeling like something was accomplished was masterful. She is an exceptional role model. It has been a real pleasure working with her.

Is it bad that while I have been an Allée social media and community engagement intern actually meant that my personal Facebook interactions suffered? Absolutely not. With the skills I’ve picked up, I’m a much better member of the social media society, probably a better person. At the very least, I’m smarter now than I was three months ago. The more you learn, the more you realize the things you don’t yet know, luckily, I love to learn and look forward to taking what I’ve learned and using it to continue growing professionally.

Shannon Neeser is a summer 2011 intern at Allée. She has a fondness for punctuation: writes love poems to hyphens, mourns every serial comma she removes from AP style copy, and is disgusted that she missed celebrating National Punctuation Day this year. As her internship comes to an end, she looks forward to spending her free time crafting, winning arguments with logic, and writing book reviews of trashy pulp fiction from the early part of the last century.

Contest time! Win 2 tickets to our social media workshop

A List: 10 reasons why YOU need to attend the upcoming B4: Small Business Workshops

The B4: Small Business Workshops series begins August 9 in Albertville. Don’t let the name fool you: the series is for any business leader (or prospective leaders) in small- to mid-sized businesses and organizations.

Here is why you need to attend:

10. Breakfast is the most important part of the day.

9. Groups are fun.

8. Networking is key to business growth.

7. Your kids are running circles around you on social media.

6. You’re struggling to keep great, passionate employees.

5. You want to be the best.

4. Collaboration grows business.

3. Out with the old, in with the new.

2. Short, sweet and to the point.

1. It’s local.

Get started with breakfast at 7 a.m. on each workshop day and be ready to go for some interactive learning at 7:30 a.m. And really, what sounds more fun: Sitting by yourself in an office trying to tap out your strategy for 2012 or sitting with others going through the same thing, exchanging ideas? Think about it.

You’ll learn, you’ll schmooze, you’ll network with other leaders in and outside your industry. And that long social media list…Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Groupon…we’ll break that down for you, in simple terms. September 13 is all about marketing through social media. Challenge yourself to move outside your comfort zone and learn about ways to increase the success of your business or organization. You’ll have a leg up on your 2012 strategies because you chose to take a little time to learn.

You know there are things you should be doing for your company or organization but just do not have the time for. Take this opportunity to learn how to focus on the things you’re good at and collaborate with others on things that can be taken off your plate. And if you haven’t changed up your business plan, your marketing strategy or your sales process, it’s high time to look at that. What better way to learn about fun, new examples of other companies? We’ve got ‘em!

We won’t waste your time. Get in, get out in 2 ½ hours. And forget about rush hour; we’re launching the B4: Small Business Workshops series right here in Albertville. (But for those of you in the cities, don’t worry…we’re bringing them to you in 2012!)

Sign-up!

If you’re not already signed up, get to it! And, if you ask nicely, we’ll send you a discount code for your online registration. Seriously. Just email Melissa and she’ll hook you up.

The spirit in social media

Recently, Allée had the pleasure of working with the nonprofit organization Social Media Shepherds on a pro bono branding project. Originator Greg Swan, social media champion, who was recently named one of Metromix.com’s “Top Tweeps of the Twin Cities,” started Social Media Shepherds about two years ago. Currently, there are about 100 people in the group, primarily in the Twin Cities, with fans as far out as Austin, TX and Las Vegas, NV. Social Media Shepherds meets monthly in churches, coffee shops and other locations around the Twin Cities.

So who are they and what do they do?

Social Media Shepherds is made up of marketers and communication professionals  involved in their churches who are willing to share their knowledge and learn from others, and who want to use social media as a way to spread the gospel.

Allée worked with Social Media Shepherds to create a visual brand that would reflect their unique niche. We chose a shepherds crook to communicate guidance with colors that reflect stability, order, spirituality, trust and guidance. And with the base of the organization in social media, the logo was created in a few variations: to be used in full, or separated as an avatar for social media sites.

Social Media Shepherds’ Greg Swan took some time last week to tell me a little bit more about the group. Check it out in his interview, below:

Tell us a little bit about your background in marketing and when you first “discovered” social media was here to stay/had a huge impact on organizations.

I’ve been working in marketing for a little over a decade. I fell in love with digital and the opportunity for two-way conversation that comes from social media and have enjoyed helping organizations join the conversation. As I bridge my personal and work life, I’ve felt called to think about how Christians can and should be using social media to connect with others, connect with their church community and promote the gospel. It’s been an honor to connect with others with a similar passion.

What was your impetus for starting Social Media Shepherds? When was the group started? Can you provide some background information on the initial phases of the group?

Churches and ministry organizations have the same opportunities and barriers to entry in social media as corporate industry. This includes allocation staffing and time to new technologies and trends that have undefined ROI but can pay dividends with intentional effort. Getting started is often the hardest – and scariest – part.

Social Media Shepherds is made up of individuals with backgrounds in ministry, marketing, media, as well as those who just enjoy social media personally. This group is energized about removing the fear of getting started and love the opportunity to share new trends and best practices with each other. Whether meeting through informal networking events or specific formal programs, the ultimate goal of the group is to empower individuals and ministries to utilize these new tools to share the gospel with others.

Who are your sheep? Who do you strive to lead?

Social Media Shepherds welcomes any followers of Christ to come, share, learn and enjoy fellowship with each other. Specifically, passionate users of social media or those involved in church or ministry organization communications may highly benefit from joining the group.

Can you give us examples of topics covered at your events?

Topics this year have included: Rubbing Elbows: A Look at Faith and Online Community, An Open Door to Christ at Work, and Digital Community Building in a Social World. We also try to book informal networking events where the group can just hang out, meet each other and have an open dialog.

When is your next event and how can other attend?

Our next meet-up will be an informal networking coffee event at the conference room at Caribou Coffee at Hwy 36 and Snelling on July 22, 8 a.m. You can RSVP for this meeting  here. You can also follow Social Media Shepherds on Facebook and Twitter

Shannon Neeser recently completed her Business Writing Certificate at the U of M College of Continuing Education and is excited to continue learning and growing professionally as part of the social media and community engagement team at Allée which combines her passion for communicating, her enjoyment of social media, and her interest in marketing. You can also contact her by email.

No plan? Beware of the crash.

Yesterday, in my haste to get the kids to daycare and off to my first appointment of the day (after we all woke up late), I ran the side of my mini van into the side of our garage.

That’s right. I had an accident in my own garage.

Now, after you stop laughing at me, let me tell you what I learned (besides the fact that it’s crazy stressful to get myself and four kids out the door on time and that even if our oldest is 6, he’s still not going to tell me the van door is open when we’re backing out of the garage).

Moving too quick and without a plan is expensive.

I feel like we learn this lesson quickly in our personal lives, but when it comes to business, for some reason, I see it taking longer for folks to let it sink in. There’s this need to move quickly and DO something even if you don’t have a full plan in place.

So after I took the rest of the day to calm down from the stupid, expensive wreck I caused, I spent some time finalizing details on some of Allée’s summer projects. If I wasn’t going to be successful on the home front, I could at least put my efforts elsewhere (while sitting, safely, at my desk).

And how interesting that one such project happened to be the launch of our B4: Small Business Workshops series. Do you know what the theme of the first workshop in this series is?

Planning.

It happens to the best of us (though we don’t always like to admit it) and many times, it even happens with good intentions. We move too quick, we get excited about a project and don’t think things through. We start telling others about an event we’re super excited about only to have it fall through the cracks because we lost track of time. We start the year off running in our companies without a plan or goals in place. The trick is knowing when to stop and assess what you’re doing.

Enter the B4: Business Planning Workshop

As the first in our series of four workshops, the B4: Planning workshop is for anyone who gets stuck when making plans for their own business. I’m talking about people who:

• Are thinking about starting a business
• Have been operating a business without a business plan (or an outdated plan)
• Are looking for tips and strategies to set goals and monitor business growth
• Are looking for the latest and greatest in business planning techniques and tools
• Want to get ahead of the game for 2012 planning
• Just have a need to feel organized (and avoid costly accidents)

We’re kicking off the B4: Small Business Workshops in Albertville starting on August 9 (additional locations to follow in 2012). Trust me, you don’t want to move without a plan. And hey, why not get your planning tools together so you’re all set to go, ahead of the game for 2012? I’m all about hands-on learning, so not only will we feed you breakfast (most important meal of the day!) but you’ll also get a business planning workbook. Although I can’t guarantee it will include a section on how to successfully make it out the door each morning in a calm state.

Unfortunately, I can’t turn back time and double-check that my van door was shut before I gunned it out of the garage. But you can sure bet I’ll never let that mistake happen again. It serves as a great reminder to all of us: there’s never a bad time to double-check or tweak your plan–be it in business or otherwise. And if you are moving without a plan, I suggest you stop and think about what you’re doing.

Need help with that? Join us on August 9.

Introducing Allée’s new social media and community engagement interns

We are excited to announce the addition of two interns to the Allée team! Jodi Osmond and Shannon Neeser will be joining Allée next week, focusing on social media, community engagement and research.

We’re pretty excited about the new additions and wanted to give these ladies a chance to say hello and let everyone know a little more about themselves. Check out what they have to say and give them a warm welcome!

Jodi Osmond

As a recent college graduate, I am excited to begin my journey as a PR professional. In May 2011, I graduated with high honors from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and media communication, emphasizing in strategic communication. In addition, I received a digital arts and culture certificate, which has given me valuable experience with Adobe Creative Suite.

Prior to Allée, I’ve had two other great internship experiences. As a public relations and marketing intern at Cellcom, a cell phone provider in Green Bay, Wis., I gained experience with event planning and direct consumer communication. While working as a PR intern with the American Cancer Society, I was able to hone my writing skills and gain a background in interviewing and media pitching. Working for a nonprofit was incredibly rewarding.

As I’ve previously interned within both corporate and nonprofit settings, I’m looking forward to joining the Allée team in order to gain a new perspective from that of a communications firm. Within the broad world of strategic communication, my focus and passion lies within public relations and social media. Although my interest in social media developed out of personal use, I realize what a significant marketing and communication tool it can be for a company or brand. In a fast-paced and technologically driven world, I understand the importance of helping to further the presence of a client through social media, and I’m eager to learn the many ways that this can be done while interning at Allée.

Although I am currently working out of Green Bay, I will be moving to Minneapolis in August. I can’t wait to explore a new city while being part of the Allée team!

Allée side note: Um yes, you heard right, peeps. This lady is from Green Bay…Packers unite! OK, carry on…

Shannon Neeser

As a college freshman with a declared major in physics, I entered a competition to build a small car to protect an egg in a high speed crash with a brick wall. My car, upon impact with the wall, literally ejected the fragile egg directly into the wall, splattering it. I did, however, have the best documentation, even won an award for it. I knew then that a career in communications, not the hard sciences, was for me. After all, writing has been a favorite activity of mine since I was able to hold a pencil and spell poorly.

I came around to social media in a slightly less dramatic way. I declined to join my husband when he created a Facebook account. However, all our friends were using it—and only it—to invite us to events, most of which I never heard about until we missed them. I quickly understood that social media was something I needed to participate in, and further, I liked it. Social media is fun. I’ve lost hours to tweets, status updates, and following links.

The thing that intrigues me most about social media is the way it allows people and organizations to create a public image, to market oneself. I have always been interested in marketing, perhaps since I decided I liked OK Soda, despite the terrible flavor, because I loved the marketing campaign.

My physics career did not last much longer than the egg crash. I have a degree in English liberal arts and creative writing from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. I recently completed a Business Writing Certificate through the University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education. Currently, I am employed at the St. Paul Jewish Community Center where I work in a variety of communication roles. I’m excited that this internship with Allée is a way for me to continue growing professionally while combining my passion for communicating, my enjoyment of social media and my interest in marketing.

Allée side note: She’s witty, spunky and dependable…who cares if she has issues with egg protection? Not us!

Go ahead and give these ladies a shout-out. Follow Jodi and Shannon on Twitter and check the blog often as these two will be helping to dish out some killer content for your reading pleasure.