Families are connected. They're committed. They're complicated. They have the right intentions but can come up short at times. But in the end, they represent support. And while family members may take on different roles and drive different dynamics within the brood, they're still best when they're functioning together as a unit.
Most wouldn't necessarily see AI as just another family member but I do think it's fair to say, that AI—regardless of the attributes and the functions it serves—is best leveraged when perceived as smaller parts that fit into a much larger picture.
For the month of April and May, HighRoad's blogs will be dedicated to AI for associations. You'll get the skinny on their roles, sometimes their dysfunctions. But most importantly, specific uses cases that are meaningful for associations.
So here we are. It’s time to meet the AI family.
This month, we're going to dive into the following categories of today's AI, starting with the Communicators & Translators:
- The Communicators & Translators
- The Generators and Revivers
- The Informers & Fortune Tellers
- The Organizers and Monetizers
The Communicators and Translators
These two are brothers and sisters to the Generators and the Revivers, in the sense that they can transform how associations present themselves and build authentic relationships with their members and customers.
This is the faction of the family that makes content and communications globally accessible, relevant, and individualized. It also facilitates planning and decision-making from an internal org perspective. If there are questions, debates, obscurity within the family, these two are the ones to bring clarity to the conversation at hand, and point everyone in the right direction.
The Communicators
The Communicator has the capacity to understand and generate human-like language. Even more so, it has the power to answer any question your organization may have based on combing your data and/or external data (if organized, clean, and accurate). This family member always has the answer, can be too literal at times, and wants to provide guidance where ever possible. It has the ability to:
1—Fulfill requests and tasks through language prompts. Imagine being able to ask a question (any question) around your data or external data and get an accurate, relevant answer based on the precision of your prompt. For example:
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- Generate a report on what members are most likely not going to renew in 2025
- Give me a list of prospects that have the highest likeliness of becoming a member this year
- Show me a report on what companies are showing the most interest in our 'MarTech Track' at our annual conference
- Give me a list of members with the highest Member-Lifetime-Value (MLV)
- Show me the marketing campaigns that generated the most revenue for us in 2023
- Show me what content and key words are bringing in the most traction
- Build a revops workflow that automatically converts members to marketing contacts
2—Sometimes it's less about fulfilling requests from an internal perspective. The Communicator also has the ability to impact external efforts. For instance, by building chat and conversation workflows, it has the ability to influence:
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- Member recruitment efforts
- Member engagement efforts
- Member services efforts
Let's take member engagement as an example. Consider a member from the Data Activation Association (DAA) sending a chat around a specific topic. Let's say the topic is 'data governance.' An automated, AI-generated chat—that you designed to be smart with a lens on your org—chimes in with the following:
DAA Member Jon: Hi there. I just joined DAA and I'd love to get more info around Data Governance. This is an area where I feel my company can grow. We just don't have the right tech or direction at this point.
AI ChatBot: Hi Jon. You came to the right place. Are you most interested in reading materials, on-demand learning, or live events?
DAA Member Jon: Great question. I'm really interested in live events so that I can immerse myself in the content and talk to others in person. I do occassionally like to read blogs on particular topics as well.
AI ChatBot: Excellent, Jon. I've got just the thing for you. We have the following events and blogs in line with Data Governance listed and linked below. One is coming up in June so you can still catch the early-bird registration.
DAA Member Jon: Excellent. I'll check it out. Thank you!
And just like that, you're satisfying the needs of Jon. You've built a rapport with him. And to boot, you're most likely going to get revenue from his event attendance.
The Translators
AI translators can make content globally accessible for associations with international members, and chapter or special interest arms. It can also create the connection for those associations looking to grow into international markets. Consider just a few of the applications for this:
- Dynamic email campaigns with international text and/content layers
- Entirely country and/or region-based websites
- Transcribed landing pages offering content by geography
- Translated videos representative of specific areas
But translation isn't just rendered to different dialects and languages. No, the Translators of the family don't just shore up relationships and communications with their cousins in Italy. They distill, synthesize, and transcribe information that otherwise would be too complex and time-consuming for orgs to gather insights and take action. Examples include:
- AI that combs community platforms and synthesizes the general sentiment and/or key learnings from discussion threads.
- AI that purifies conference and session evaluations into actionable insights and trends.
- AI that summarizes notes and action items from Committee and Board Meetings for easy, clear consumption.
Family Gatherings in HubSpot
There are a number of AI tools out there representing different and/or overlapping members of the family. Quite frankly, there are thousands. And while it may seem just plain fun scooping up the AI tools that seem to pair well with your org efforts, it's always better to have an AI "base" that handles the majority of your org needs from a single sign-on, with ecosystem plug-ins that round out your AI sphere.
Consider starting with a consolidated, multi-functional tool like HubSpot. Omni-channel and omni-data, HubSpot masters all association marketing, sales, services, and operations, and AI infuses throughout every inch of its CRM.
Here's just a handful of the Communicators and Translators that are already native within HubSpot (some available now; some on the roadmap):
- ChatSpot (think ChatGPT) completes your tasks and answers your questions through language prompts.
- AI Chatbots create intelligent conversations between you and your members, customers, and prospects.
- AI Conversation Summaries transcribe complex conversations into palatable and actionable insights.
- AI-Driven Call Summaries distills calls for insights, action items, and analysis.
- Action Item Identification identifies and prioritizes action items to keep you in sight of your goals.
And that's just the Communicator- and Translator-AI that is now or will be baked into HubSpot within the year. This list doesn't account for the hundreds of plug-ins that are available with similar or even expanded functionality.
It also doesn't cover the remainder of the AI family which, once again, will be our topic of conversation for April and May. Next up on the family tree—the Generators & Revivers. Stay tuned.
Better data means better performance through AI
As stewards of association data, we at HighRoad are committed to leveling orgs up on data activation and integration. Learn how HighRoad Spark + HubSpot's AI CRM can quickly put you in the results zone. Book a consultation today to learn more.
