Last month we held our Thought Leadership webinar and it turned out to be the largest turnout for the webinar series to date. It became very apparent to us in the days leading up to the broadcast that this was a hot button topic for many organizations. I received a large number of emails from people wanting to make sure they had a spot reserved for the broadcast.
We put the spotlight on the old model of “you pay me dues and I will provide you value” and how it no longer resonates with many people. The changes technology has brought to the table have everyone not just looking for, but also wanting to sample “the goods” before they commit their time and money. Freemium, multi-tiered and try before you buy options are becoming a part of the changing membership landscape. Generational and market pressures are requiring organizations to reexamine how they build successful recruitment and retention programs.
During the webinar we learned that almost 33% of those attending were using some type of “freemium” or multi tiered offering for membership today and 11% were looking at it as an option for the future. In addition, 66% acknowledged that generational concerns are influencing the way they currently operate their organizations.
We also addressed the growing competition LinkedIn is becoming for associations. We had over 60% of those attending acknowledge their organizations have an active presence on LinkedIn. The reason for concern centers on the data members feed LinkedIn and the efforts the social media giant currently uses to get in front of and generate revenue from those members around products and services traditionally provided by associations.
