Association Marketing, Communications & PR

Books are my friends. I was just sinking my iPhone a few moments ago and realized that between myself and my husband we have 143 audiobooks to choose from, plus bookshelves and magazine racks that are overflowing. In addition to that I have both a Kindle and an iPad.

I'm never at a loss for a book, and usually read or listen to 3 to 5 books at a time by switching back and forth. Currently I'm reading on my Kindle:
- We're All Weird
- Half the Sky

For audiobooks:
- Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long
- How We Decide

On my nightstand
- Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes To Be An Authentic Leader (This one has been there for awhile, but it's a good read)
- Best Hikes in Dallas-Ft. Worth

All these books makes me think I should stop writing on Squidoo and grab a cup of Joe and curl up with my Kindle of good book.

This week my organization launched a targeted membership campaign to both members and prospective members. Typically a direct mail campaign receives at the most a 2% return. We are hopeful that adding targeted messages to our current members will help us up the response rate.

What we included:
The first thing we did was develop a new value statement. How much money does being a member save you? What's in it for me? The value statement proves that members save more than twice their annual dues in benefits and discounts for the things they need in the profession. We included this in a simple brochure that was designed to highlight the value proposition.

We targeted two of the letters specifically to our members. One letter was more invitational, suggesting that growing the association would strengthen the association to support the industry. The other was a bit more stern. We suggested that our members were keeping our organization a secret and asked them why they haven't told their colleagues about us. We offered two memberships and a free young professional membership as an incentive to invite colleagues from their company to join.

The message to prospective candidates was more like the invitational letter and highlighted the value of membership to the person's professional development. Each letter also included a reply envelop and an application.

We'll follow up with email messages and promote the incentive. We'll also do some direct telephone calls to see if that will boost our results. Stay tuned for more follow up.