As you may have heard, the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Survey came out a few weeks ago. I finally got a chance to read through it, and I found the contents extremely interesting. I’ll be examining some of the findings in several blog posts throughout this week. Up first? Social media and its affect on membership marketing.

Unfortunately, membership renewals have decreased at associations across the board. This begs the question, what can associations do differently to attract and retain new members?

Of course, social media was included in the 2010 survey. It was quite the buzzword in 2009, and affords associations free, alternate ways to communicate with members and let members engage with one another.

Only 8 percent of respondents said their association does not use any form of social media. Organizations said the most effective social media outposts were listservs and private networks. However, the most popular outposts were Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Something’s not quite adding up.

I think it’s important for associations to realize that they may not have to be using these tools if their members don’t want them. Having an established presence on the “Big Three” is important, but not the be-all, end-all solution. Organizations can’t rely on those tools alone.

Of the 407 associations that participated in the survey, 75 percent said they use Facebook, 66 percent use Twitter and 59 percent use LinkedIn. Interestingly, associations that use Twitter, Facebook or a private network are significantly more likely to have a renewal rate of less than 80 percent.

How come? Perhaps once they begin using social media, members find different ways of communicating and the organization no longer seems to provide value, when compared with the “free” culture of the Internet.

The most effective social networks are those within the organization itself – namely, listservs or a private network.

This information was definitely enlightening — and of course, associations still face issues when it comes to marrying the concepts of open social media versus closed social media. Closed is more effective from a membership perspective, but many — including myself— are constantly talking about how great it is to be “open.” How can associations continue to provide value online while increasing membership?

I think it’s important to ask your members what they want. No one’s a mind reader. We can’t look into a crystal ball and see the future. Social media is tricky. It’s difficult to get comfortable with using a trial-and-error method to discovering what works best. Perhaps an official Facebook presence is enough. Perhaps your members love listservs. Don’t force people to use what they don’t want to. First and foremost, ask your members what they want regarding social media, and then back it up with your actions.

Image source