How to build strong branding into your association’s website

Your brand is the identity of your association, telling people what your organization is all about and why they should be part of it. 

Here’s how to put your brand to work on your association’s website. 

By Christine Bergeron, Marketing Coordinator, Community Brands

Your association’s website represents one of the first impressions people have of your organization. Meanwhile, your brand tells people what your organization is like to work with and what value your organization provides. That’s why your website should reflect your brand as much as possible. 

Here are some effective ways to build strong branding into your association’s website: 

 Use personas. 
Effective branding starts with understanding your audience. And one of the best ways to know your audience better is to develop personas. 

Personas are fictional, generalized characters that represent your audience’s various needs, goals, and challenges. They can help you think of your prospective members as groups of people with similar characteristics so you can design content for them in ways that grab their attention.

Create these fictional characters to represent each type of prospective and current member you are communicating with and have these personas in mind (just as you would think about a friend as you write a letter to them) as you develop each page of your website. 

TIP: Learn more about creating personas: Read the guide, How to Develop Personas to Deliver Greater Member Value.

Highlight your value proposition.
Your value proposition (sometimes called a positioning statement) should explain, in a concise statement, the unique benefits your association has to offer members. It should tell current and prospective members:

• Why they should join 
• What’s in it for them as a member 
• Why they should continue to renew their membership 

Be sure to highlight your value proposition on your website to ensure website visitors see it. For example, you might include it in: 

• Home page 
• About page 
• Contact page 
• Web page footers

Include brand identity elements. 
As part of your association’s brand development, you should have created brand identity elements, including a logo, color palette, message tone/voice, and imagery. As you develop your website or add new web pages, be sure to include these brand identity elements so that your website remains consistent with other marketing communications from your organization.

Think outside your website.
Just as it’s important to include consistent brand identity elements when developing your website, be sure to ensure new marketing communications are consistent with your website. These might include:

• Your online member community 
• Your association’s blog 
• Social media accounts  
• Microsites for events 
• Your email communications 
• Digital and print publications 

Learn more. 
Your association’s brand is the complete identity of your organization. That’s why putting it to work on your website is so important. But developing a brand strategy and using it can become complex. The good news is that it doesn’t have to. Learn how to drive value and growth with member personas with the on-demand webinar!