Meet the AI Family: The Informers and Fortune-tellers
If you haven’t already, we recommend that you read the previous Meet the AI Family: the Communicators & and the Translators and Meet the AI family: The Generators & Revivers for reference before diving into this blog.
We all know the family members that have an opinion about everything. They're constantly researching historical events. They're always up on the latest trends. They're consistently pontificating on their findings and sharing their visions of the future. Whether it's your boisterous uncle or your precocious niece, these family members know it all and they're not afraid to share.
Cue our AI Informers and Fortune Tellers. They live in information and predictability. Let's dive into their world.
Crystal ball. Crazy eight ball. Mystical orb. Pick your circular device. Predictability seems magical. While we all know it just isn't magic, AI certainly seems to apply mystical uses of data and algorithms to spot trends, anticipate members' needs, and make highly intelligent guesses on what could happen now or in the future.
All AI needs is reliable organizational data and some razor sharp prompts to look into its "dark crystal" and summon up forecasts or just plain simple intel so orgs can make solid business decisions.
And let's face it. Associations gather a lot of information about their members and customers, including interests, behaviors, and preferences. This is AI's playground for insights. So, when it comes to AI's predictive powers, there are some substantial use cases for associations. Let's see what we can conjure up:
Getting smart about engagement
Enhancing year-round member engagement is huge for associations. And it makes sense. Someone who invests in membership but doesn't participate in programs, engage in communities, or interact digitally with their association has a higher likelihood of letting that membership lapse.
Let's take the Society of the Smartest People in the World (SSPW). SSPW starts leveraging Predictive AI so that they can anticipate their members' needs and interests for more personalized experiences. Through content consumption, buying interests, and topical engagement, AI identifies a group of parents in their member base with children that are, in fact, the smartest people in the world. From here, SSPW knows that, in order to keep this group engaged, they need realign communications and programming to this group's topical interests. And well, that's just smart marketing right there.
Unleashing new programs
Content consumption, buying behaviors, lead scoring, and even first-party data can provide a solid foundation for AI to identify trends. These patterns can then be leveraged by AI for program development.
For instance, Association Run-a-Dog (ARD) could unleash AI to consume pet ownership trends, popular pet products, and members' purchasing habits. With this information, not only can the association predict which pet-related education and programs will be in highest demand—across the masses or for particular segments—Association Run-a-Dog will glean ideas from AI to help build relevant products and programming that don't yet exist.
Overcoming retention flags
While most associations are looking to offset membership dues revenue with program diversification, dues are still very much a requirement for associations. And for those associations that rely heavily on camaraderie and community, maintaining the value and the spirit of membership is critical.
With all this said, let's take the Institute of Deadpan Cheerleaders (IDC). IDC's spirit is declining rapidly and their membership renewal numbers are a reflection of this. IDC invests in some algorithmic AI arabesques to forecast which members are most likely to renew their memberships, and which ones might be at risk of letting them lapse. By analyzing past membership renewal patterns along with member engagement metrics such as event attendance, online activity, and participation in deadpan initiatives, IDC now has the intel to create positive experiences and retention strategies for those cheerleaders at risk of getting out of formation.
Modeling good behavior
A number of organizations are hitting a wall in terms of growth, particularly in next gen markets. For sustainability, they're looking to diversify revenue or even remodel themselves to match their necessary growth markets.
Take the Society for Last-in-the-Alphabet Professionals (SLAP)—a dedicated group focused on getting the Z's of the world into the job market. SLAP's numbers just aren't growing at the rate they assumed. They're seeing social media platforms and other for-profit tech taking up their market share. SLAP leverages Predictive AI to peruse buying behaviors, buying expectations, and pricing sensitivities for the Z generation. From there, AI makes intelligent forecasts on what the "new-ish crowds" are going to search for, pay for, and find renewable value in. This equates to more relatable membership models, program delivery mechanisms, and pricing strategies for SLAP.
The Informers and Fortune-tellers in HubSpot
It's clear that Informative and Predictive AI can do wonders for associations. Since we, at HighRoad, firmly recommend going with the tech that consolidates all of your data and revenue operations into one place, and is powered by AI, we always recommend HubSpot as the go-to for associations. Frankly, patching together a handful of AI tech does nothing for your content, your brand, your data, or your Rev Ops initiatives.
For the past few years, HubSpot has been revealing groundbreaking, informative and predictive AI features which cater nicely to associations who have limited time and resources to explore everything. These new capabilities are revolutionizing how associations plan their activities and engage with their members. Let's take a look at the features that exist now and those that are in progress:
- Predictive Lead Scoring (exists now)
- ChatSpot In-App (in beta)
- AI-Powered Guided Prospecting (in development)
- AI-Powered Guided Selling (in development)
- AI-Assisted Reporting (in development)
- AI Forecasting (on the roadmap)
- AI Messaging Insights Agent (on the roadmap)
- Service Insights (on the roadmap)
The AI Informers and Fortune Tellers hold immense potential for associations. They can streamline strategy and operations across all business functions. They can forecast future demand for programs, content, and membership models. They can identify the marketing efforts that are killing it and the ones that are falling flat. They can help association to redirect time, efforts, and dollars to focus on what's vital to their business. Finally, by getting the 'real' on what their members, customers, and the industry as a whole needs and wants, associations can continue to stay in growth mode for years to come.
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.
About Aimee Pagano
Aimee joins HighRoad Solution with 15+ years of integrated marketing and communications experience, primarily in client-facing roles within the association and SaaS space. Her specialties include persona development, content strategy/management, lead gen and awareness campaign development, and website development/optimization.
