Bill Sheehan with Multiview started out with asking the question “what is your pain point with member engagement” and how do you define member engagement.
The new bottle neck is the attention with our members. Or put a different way, we live in an “Attention Economy.”
After reading multiple sources, on average, people speak at a rate of 150 words per minute, while our brains can process up to 1,000 words per minute. Now you know why our attention can be diverted.
How do you get through the clutter? Here are his tips:
Be a trusted source of information. Think like a media company and focus on 4 main commonalities – your audience, distribution channels, content, and advertising platforms.
Audience – where do your members spend their time? Collect as many data points as you can on your members.
Distribution channels – social (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.), your website, blogs, videos, influencers, podcasts, newsletters, annual meetings, etc.
Content – what is your expertise? Focus on what your members want and need. And don’t forget the quality and consistency of your content. Stay in your lane (i.e., your mission).
Advertising – working with your members on sponsorships to promote their business and generate revenue for your chamber. What platforms are you using to get your message out to your members and community while generating non-dues revenue?
Develop a strategy to maintain the attention of your members. Get all entities within your chamber rowing in the same direction with your program of work and your communication vehicles. At the end of the day, it’s about communications. Are you communicating in a direct and consistent way?
You need to be agile and know that you can’t be all things to all people – one size does not fit all. Remember, there are five different generations out there in today’s workforce and they can consume information through different channels.
My final comment, stay on message and grab your member or prospective member’s attention!
For a great book on effective communications titled Smart Brevity go HERE.
