Three key steps for getting great member testimonials
Member testimonials can be a powerful membership marketing tool. Here’s how to get them and use them.
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Michelle Schweitz, Marketing Manager, Community Brands |
Using testimonials can be a great marketing tool for attracting new members and encouraging current members to get more involved with your organization. After all, a peer recommendation for becoming a member of your association or participating in a specific activity is far more compelling than you simply asking someone to join.
But, where do you start? How do you collect member testimonials? Where do you share them for the greatest marketing impact?
Here are three key steps for collecting and using member testimonials:
1. Determine your goals.
First, figure out why you’re collecting member testimonials. Are you generally trying to convert prospects into members? Are you attempting to promote specific benefits, such as networking or continuing education opportunities to gain new members? Do you want to drive current members to take advantage of specific offerings, such as your online community or career center? Understanding your goals will help you determine what questions to ask members to prompt the type of testimonial you’re seeking.
2. Set up an online survey.
Using an online survey tool is an efficient and convenient way to collect member testimonials. Send a survey to your members asking them to share their experience with your association for your use in membership marketing. You might start by sending the survey only to your most involved members to get the most and best responses.
[TIP] YourMembership association management software has survey and polling functionality built in, making it easy to build and send targeted surveys and get feedback.
As you build your survey, be sure to collect key information, including:
- The member’s name, job title, and organization
- How long the member has worked in your industry
- Why the person chose to become a member
- What the member’s experience has been with your association (be sure to ask about specifics related to your goals)
- What has been the most valuable benefit of being a member
- What the member would say to a peer who is considering joining your association
While your survey should be thorough, make sure it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of the member’s time to complete. Ask as few questions as possible while still gathering the information you need for a great testimonial.
3. Share your member testimonials
Once you’ve collected testimonials, it’s time to share them with prospects and members. Here are some areas to consider:
- Recruitment email messages and member benefits pages – Be sure to highlight general testimonials in your recruitment email messages and any “become a member” pages on your website.
- Campaign-specific emails or web pages – As you build out campaigns to promote things like online learning opportunities or career resources, include any testimonials you collected for those specific activities.
- Your online community – Don’t forget to include testimonials in your online community to help promote specific member benefits and activities as well as to improve member retention.
Don’t forget that you can survey your members at in-person events or virtual interviews too.
Learn more
Member testimonials can be a powerful part of your association’s membership marketing. Discover more tips and best practices for member recruitment and engagement: Watch the on-demand webinar, Fundamentals of member marketing for small staff associations.
