{"id":8904,"date":"2019-06-26T21:18:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T21:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=8904"},"modified":"2019-06-26T21:18:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T21:18:10","slug":"members-into-ambassadors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/members-into-ambassadors\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Ways to Turn Members into Ambassadors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year associations invest plenty of time and money into building an engaging marketing plan to attract and retain members to our organizations. So how do we maximize our impact with potential members to achieve growth and brand awareness?<\/p>\n

Turn members into ambassadors<\/h2>\n

A powerful way to do this is by turning members into ambassadors. As more brands are using influencer marketing<\/a> to endorse their products and services, associations can utilize their members as ambassadors to promote benefits and offerings. Your members have the connections and credibility to help advance your mission by engaging more prospects. By sharing their experiences with your organization, these members give their networks a clear picture of how they have succeeded within the organization and workplace.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret the conversation around membership value and benefits has quickly turned to how to use storytelling<\/a> and testimonials to showcase the member experience. Our stakeholders can be effective ambassadors in sharing the mission and benefits of our organizations by personalizing our efforts and providing visibility into why associations do what we do. This increases credibility within the industries we serve and helps transform prospects into engaged members.<\/p>\n

Here are three things associations can do right now to set your members up for success when sharing about their involvement with your organization:<\/p>\n

Keep your message clear and consistent.<\/h2>\n

Make it easy for people to repeat who you are and what you do by highlighting your ideal message(s) often. Review your organization\u2019s tagline, homepage messaging (above the fold), social media profile descriptions, and any leading speaking points. If they are all different, consider updating each place with similar content so your main message is strong and impactful. Seeing and hearing the same content will help them begin to use it in their own conversations about your organization. Highlight the message often so they will too.<\/p>\n

Use onboarding as brand ambassador training.<\/h2>\n

When onboarding new board members, volunteers or staff, add ambassador training as part of the process. By sharing key messaging with vital stakeholders during this time, you help everyone affiliated with your organization know the same speaking points. This portion of onboarding could include helping them practice their \u201celevator speech\u201d or sharing a positioning statement and key points you want them to use when speaking with the public and members. The idea is not to restrict what is said, but rather to enhance it by pairing brand speaking points with personal stories about their involvement.<\/p>\n

Collect more testimonials.<\/h2>\n

Create more opportunities for members to share tidbits about their professional journey and how your organization has impacted their career. You can set up space at your annual meeting to ask for video, audio or written testimonials. You could also create a form or thread on your website or social media pages where members can submit their stories. Ask leading questions to ensure the most important elements of their experience are captured. A good framework is to ask:<\/p>\n