How Do I Keep My Members Engaged?

Did you know that roughly 50 proposals happen every day at Disney theme parks worldwide? When you consider that Disney parks tend to be open every day of the year, we are suddenly talking about huge numbers of people getting engaged there. Disney even offers engagement, wedding, and honeymoon packages if you want to do it officially. 

Personally, when I get engaged, I would rather not have some dead-eyed rat staring at me the whole time, but to each their own. 

 

Today, however, we aren’t talking about the kind of engagement that happens between two loving adults while being witnessed by a bored and sweaty 20-year-old in a rat costume, like nature intended. Instead, we are talking about the kind of engagement that keeps your members actively involved with your club for many years to come. 

Member engagement is the key to a successful club. It keeps your members actively participating in your club, attending events, spending money, and renewing their memberships. Keeping your members engaged and actively participating in your club is key to its longevity and continued growth. 

So with that in mind let’s talk about some great ways to keep your members engaged and active in your club or association. 

What Is Member Engagement?

Member engagement is a broad term that describes the interaction between your members and your club or organisation. This includes factors like membership duration, loyalty, participation in events, chats, forums, and webinars. Basically, all the ways your members have meaningful interaction with your club. Meaningful in this context, meaning interactions that benefit them and/or your club. 

By measuring these meaningful interactions, you can gauge how engaged and satisfied your members are and how healthy your membership is. The more engaged, the more likely members are to renew and spend money with your club. 

Why Is Member Engagement Important?

The more engaged a member is, the more likely they are to renew their membership and spend money with your club. An engaged member recognises the value of their membership and their relationship with your club. They are aware of the role your club plays in their lives and want to ensure it keeps playing that role. They are likely to have increased loyalty and retention rates. The more engaged a member is, the higher the chance they will renew their membership.  

Due to the value your club brings to your members, the more engaged members are, the more likely they are to:

• Renew their membership on time
• Recommend your club to other potential members
• Become long-term members
• Help your membership numbers grow
• Spread positive word of mouth about your club
• Purchase club merchandise
• Attended future club events

So, how do we engage members and keep them engaged? Well, there are many ways to keep your members engaged, and different ways will work better for different club, but let’s look at some of the big ones now. 

6 Ways That Clubs Can Increase Member Engagement 

 1. Personalise The Member Experience

Members, like the rest of us, value a personal touch. That's why, in the stereotypical proposal, men say something like, "Will you Jane Doe, marry me?" That's a lot sweeter and more likely to work than, "Will you female of the species, marry me?" My slightly laboured point is that the more personalised you can make your communication with your members, the more likely it is to be effective. 

Therefore, personalising your communications to your members is a great way to make them feel more important and cherished by your club. You can do this in person or via email, and if you use dynamic fields in your emails, you can do it without any trouble whatsoever. 

For those who don't know, dynamic fields can be added to almost all of your Member Jungle communications. These fields draw from the membership database to intelligently fill in the blanks. Here is an example of this in action from a demo Member Jungle email. 

 

 

So, the section that says “First Name” in all caps and square brackets will be replaced once the email is sent with the first name of each user who receives it. This allows you to quickly and easily send personalised emails in bulk to as many members as you need to. 

You can see all the available dynamic fields available in the Member Jungle system in the screenshot below. 

 

 

It's important to thank new members for joining and existing members for renewing. Consider reaching out to your members on their birthdays and even calling new members to see if they found what they were looking for on your website. Offering personalised information and resources tailored to their needs can make a positive impact.

Automating a simple "welcome email" that is personalised with the member's name and details via dynamic fields can create the impression that it was manually sent and is often appreciated by new or renewing members.

All of this can go a long way to boosting member engagement. 

2. Foster Continuous Engagement Between Your Members

Encourage your club members to join in, connect with each other, and help build a community between members. Utilising a platform like Member Jungle with online group chats allows members to talk among themselves and build bonds with other members of your club. This helps your members form friendships within your club, which in turn is going to make their engagement much higher; it's much harder to bail on a club when all of your mates are a part of it, too. These platforms also help new members get to know existing members, showing them why the club is valuable and giving them industry knowledge.

You should be trying to build a community here and need to use every tool at your disposal to do so. 

Remember to use a mobile app to keep your members updated and informed through push notifications, which can be a lot more convenient than emails. Nowadays, most people have a mobile device, and app usage accounts for 90% of all time spent on mobile phones. This is a great opportunity to stay in your members' pockets and at the forefront of their minds. 

3. Keep Your Content Fresh

Your website is like a house, and your members and potential members are like guests. Before they come over, you need to tidy up a bit, sweep the floors, take out the bins, open some windows, and just generally make your house feel neat, tidy and lived in. Think about it: if you were going to someone's house and you got there and the door was off the hinges, there were spider webs everywhere, and it felt like no one had lived there in years, you'd probably be pretty hesitant to go in. 

 

 

Well, a website is exactly the same; if it looks messy or like it's been months or years since anyone added any new content, members and potential members are much less likely to visit. 

Your members and potential members want to see new information regularly added to your website to keep them coming back. Regularly update your content with the latest news, upcoming events, recent blog posts, or an evolving image gallery; it doesn't really matter as long as it's new, relevant to your club and shows visitors to your website that you are actually putting work and love into your website and club. You can also use website widgets to keep your homepage dynamically updated.

Creating a "members area" on your website with exclusive content, resources, and discounts can encourage your members to visit your site regularly and recognise the value of their membership.

The more they visit your website, the higher their engagement will be and the greater the chance they'll stick around. 

4. Stay Active On Social Media

In today's digital age, social media is an essential tool for clubs looking to connect with their members and attract new ones. While you don't need to be on every platform under the sun, having a strong presence on one or two platforms can work wonders for your club's growth and engagement. Which platforms you choose will depend on the demographics of your members, but Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn are usually safe bets.  

By actively maintaining your social media, you're not only providing your existing members with valuable content and space to engage with your club, but you're potentially attracting potential new members. It's a great way to show off your club's personality and upcoming events, making it easier for people to discover and connect with your community.

For more info on which social media platforms to use for your club, check out The Best Social Media To Use To Grow Your Club For Free.

5. Host events and webinars

Webinars and online events spiked in popularity during the Covid pandemic, and unlike a lot of other things we became obsessed with during Covid, these deserve to stay. Seriously do you remember when everyone started baking sourdough bread at home? Like, we we're living through a plague and automatically reverted to 13th-century peasants. 

Below, you can see an actual photo of me from May 2020. 

 

The point is that online meetings and webinars are super versatile, easy to put together, and great for increasing online member engagement. Plus, you can record your online events and webinars so members can watch them later if they missed it when it was live. Plus, having a backstock of recorded webinars that members can access is another great way to add value to your membership. 

Hosting normal in-person events is also a great way to drive up member engagement. These events can help you stay at the forefront of your members' minds. From competitions and awards ceremonies to conferences and social gatherings, events can boost engagement and provide real added value to your members. They can give your members something to look forward to and increase hype and excitement as the event approaches.

Providing member discounts for public events or holding member-only events helps your members see value in their membership and can encourage new members to join so they, too, can enjoy the member incentives.

6. Regular Contact With Your Members

Staying connected with your members is vital for building a strong, engaged community of members who will be actively involved in your club. So make sure you keep up your communication, keeping the conversation flowing through various channels. Your communications shouldn't be incessant but regular and casual.  

A regular newsletter is a great option, providing updates, news, and upcoming events. Consider sending out surveys or questionnaires to gather their opinions and feedback. A well-timed text or push notification can deliver urgent member information, event invitations, or reminders. 

Remember, variety is key. By utilising diverse communication methods, you'll keep your members informed, involved, and excited to be part of your club's vibrant community.

Approaching Engagement In Your Club

Different approaches to increasing member engagement will work better or worse depending on the club or association implementing them. This will require a little trial and error and a little experimentation. However, if you follow the steps above and just see how things vibe with your members, you'll definitely find a few ways that work for you. 

No matter the club, one thing will remain consistent: member engagement is a top priority. It begins when a potential new member discovers the club, continues through their membership, and even after they leave. It is essential to ensure that every interaction is positive for the members.

While some members may leave for reasons beyond our control, such as leaving the industry, retiring, or relocating, it is crucial to always leave a positive impression on them. You never know who they might recommend your organisation to in the future.

Where To Next?

Did you know that the Member Jungle system has built-in engagement trackers that can show you your most and least engaged members and even how members engage with different aspects of your club? 

Well to find out all about that, have a look at How To Measure Members' Engagement With Member Jungle.