As your members move through their career journeys, their needs and interests change. To stay relevant with your members and hold their interest, it’s important to personalize communications with them.
Member personalization comes down to tailoring three things throughout each stage of members’ careers so that they get the value they seek when they need it:
- The benefits that are most important to them
- The content you send to them
- The communications channels you use
Let’s look at each of these areas and how you can personalize them to help you retain and grow your association membership.
Most important benefits by career stage
The 2023 Association Trends Study by Community Brands indicates that some member priorities differ based on career stage. For example, training and help with career advancement are most important for those who are in early- and mid-career stages. Job opportunities make the top five list for early- and mid-careerists. Meanwhile, late-careerists are more interested in a code of ethics, industry information, and the organization representing their interests.
You can use surveys to collect information about members’ career stages and more detailed information about their interests. This approach will allow you to segment your member list and communicate relevant benefits to each career stage segment.
Personalizing content based on career stage
Use your audience segments for member personalization, personalizing content to each member based on their individual career stage. For example, provide those who are early in their careers with information about upcoming professional learning opportunities that will help them launch their careers. Promote your online job board as a place for them to find their next great job and your online career center as a place to learn more about how to ace job interviews.
For mid-careerists, you might promote your online career center as a place to plan the next steps in their careers or even find tips and data to help them make a career shift. Highlight training opportunities that might help them move to the next level in their careers.
For those who are late in their careers, you might promote your organization’s code of ethics and share the latest industry trend data. You might also invite them to share their expertise on your organization’s online member community.
Using the best communications channels to reach your members
According to the 2023 Association Trends Study, members prefer email and online community to engage with their association, followed by text, Facebook, LinkedIn, and mobile app. Be sure to prioritize the communications channels that members prefer.
As you collect information about your members’ career stages and interests, ask them for information about their communications preferences, too. This approach will allow you to refine your communications plans so that you’re reaching your members with the information they want in the way they want to receive it.
