Associations exist because we know that we’re stronger when we’re part of a team. Good things happen when talented people come together to share knowledge, compare best practices and make connections, which is why associations work so hard to acquire members.

Every association website has a public section and a members-only section.

The public section of the site is essentially a marketing tool. It exists so that passers-by can get a flavor of what the association has to offer, and hopefully it will tempt people into taking a closer look.

How do you know if your association management strategies are working? How can you track the return on investment in marketing, content creation and IT infrastructure investment?

It all comes down to member engagement. Are you connecting with members and making them feel like they’re getting value for money?

Engagement is the ultimate metric of your efforts. It soars when your strategy is working; it plummets when you need to make changes.

The only problem is: how you actually go about assessing engagement?

In association management, even seemingly small changes can have unexpected consequences.

For example, imagine your IT team upgrades a database so that your website runs faster. They make the change, test the website, and discover that everything has gone according to plan.

Imagine if you could run every decision your association makes by your members and prospective members before you take action?

You would increase engagement in every phase of membership. Your messages and events would never miss the mark. You would fill up your programs faster and reduce wasted time and money across your organization.

What if I told you that there was a way to close that gap between this dream and the reality of your team's resources and capacity?

This is where your association's marketing personas come in.

What Is AN ASSOCIATION Marketing Persona?

Marketing personas are semi-fictional representations of your association’s ideal members, based on a combination of market research and data about your existing members. Personas help you internalize the ideal members you’re trying to attract, understand your members (and prospective members) better, and relate to your members as real human beings.

Each individual member of your target audience is a on a journey of discovery and fulfillment, spanning from personal needs to career goals. This journey begins long before they are members of your association and extends throughout their professional life.