How To Successfully Market Your Association’s Affinity Programs
Let’s start with the absolute basics … an affinity program is a partnership between an association and any business looking to enhance its visibility. With a strong partnership in place, association members will enjoy exclusive benefits or discounts, and of course, the association itself gets a portion of the revenue.
At its best, affinity partnerships create a mutually beneficial relationship for everyone involved.
It’s a way to strengthen the connection between an association and its members while providing added value. As such, it’s essential to know how to successfully market the affinity program of your association.
Let’s review a few strategies to help your affinity programs grab your members’ attention.
1. Understand What Your Members Need
Marketing the affinity program of your association begins with understanding the members’ needs. If the affinity program’s service or product doesn’t fit their requirements, it won’t generate the desired revenue.
While you may already have an overall idea of the members’ preferences, there are many ways to get a broader view. Conducting surveys, engaging in conversations, and leveraging data you have can give you great insight into what matters to members.
2. Choose the Right Business Partner
Finding a business that shares values with your association is essential for a successful partnership. That’s why you need to look for a partner whose offerings represent the interests and needs of your members.
After all, your goal as an association isn’t only about making revenue. Instead, contributing in a meaningful way to the members’ experience should also matter to you. Eventually, this helps strengthen the relationship between your association and its members.
3. Promote Your Affinity Program
Working on a clear value proposition is highly important for the success of your affinity program. This includes communicating the exclusive advantage members get by participating in the program.
Mainly, your value proposition should focus on answering a simple question “What makes this affinity program an exciting option?” Overall, the more straightforward your message is, the more likely your members will see the value in participating.
4. Utilize Communication Channels
To ensure your message reaches the desired number of audience, you should use your association’s communication channels. This means utilizing different platforms and methods to share information about your affinity program.
Such means may include newsletters, social media, direct emails, and website banners. Diversifying the techniques allows you to benefit from each channel’s strengths. Consequently, you increase the probability of reaching members where they’re most active.
5. Maintain the Success
Once the affinity program is up and running, it doesn’t end here. To ensure continued success, you must monitor its performance regularly. You can easily do it by tracking key metrics, such as participation rates, members’ engagement, etc.
Ideally, performing an affinity analysis is a fantastic way to assess the impact of your program. Through it, you can evaluate which advantages members prefer and identify areas of improvement, among other benefits.
Moreover, you can also gain tremendous value from members’ feedback. All in all, the key is to adjust and refine the affinity program accordingly to make the most out of it.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to successfully market the affinity program of your association is crucial. By choosing the right partner, crafting a solid value proposition, and utilizing diverse communication channels, you can make it work.
Finally, remember that success requires effort. So, don’t overlook the importance of monitoring your affinity program and making the adjustments needed to maintain members’ satisfaction.