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Does member engagement really matter?
In a captive market with only one or a handful of representative organisations; with hierarchical and democratic structures in place for decision making and policy making, it may not seem all that important to throw lots of time and money into encouraging a large number of seemingly reluctant members to interact with you. After all, do you have concrete proof that engaged members actually increase recruitment and retention? In exploring this question, we need to consider three situational factors that impact the survival of membership organisations which are based on the behaviours of existing and potential members.
Firstly, we need to consider why membership organisations exist – the words may differ in their mission statements, but essentially it comes down to supporting members in pursuing their careers and special interests, enhancing their personal profiles and credibility, and representing their views to policy-makers. This can only be done sufficiently democratically and loudly if enough members are engaged in decision-making, both for the running of these organisations and for the special interests they represent.
Secondly, from a business perspective, the issue is one of simple economics – the organisation can only provide its members with services, products, qualifications and support tools if there is sufficient take-up to justify the investment. If members are not sufficiently engaged to use what’s on offer, the perceived value of membership will reduce among existing and prospective members.
Thirdly, even in apparently captive markets, competition for membership and share of wallet exists. During hard times, members may let their subscriptions lapse if they are on a career break, retired, or simply not using what membership is offering; and potential members might not sign-up. Members might also reduce consumption of additional pay-for products, such as insurance deals, seminars and conferences. A recent study by the American Sociological Association (2011) has found that voluntary membership of special interest groups decreases during downturns.
Perhaps we should add a fourth consideration – human nature. From the field of psychology, we know that familiarity breeds liking: the things and people that we interact with (in a positive or at least not in a detrimental way) will become familiar and therefore more attractive. In general, we like the feeling of safety that familiarity brings. Therefore, in theory, through encouraging interaction, we can increase familiarity and ultimately positively impact retention and usage of membership products and services.
In summary, the engagement behaviours of members do matter, as they ultimately impact on the effectiveness, reputation and bottom line of membership organisations. Next time, we look at online methods that can help to encourage member engagement.