In every organisation having a dynamic and detailed database is key to successfully engaging with your network. Given its importance it is surprising that so many organisations struggle with collecting, sorting and maintaining data resulting in inaccurate information about your audience.
Technology has come a long way in making this process easier, however, you need to set clear categories and fields when you are using a data management system. Developing the appropriate categories can take time as you need to think of all the possible ways you may want to segment your data.
For Associations: categories first may be based around simple details like membership tier, date joined, location, role or demographic information, before you move on to things like interest areas, career stage, type of events attended or behavioural interactions.
Once the categories are selected all your data will be consistent with the same information collected for each entry. This allows you to target specific messages to each category on your database.
For example: you can have a tag that allows you to send communications only to your long-term members of 20+ years or you can go further and target members based in Southeast Queensland who joined in the past year.
As part of the Membes platform we provide you with System Fields and Custom Fields to help you collect exactly the data you want to collect.
These are the default fields (aka categories) that appear on sign up forms including first name, last name, mobile number, address, email, etc. Having these default fields allows you to build forms quickly with the information already pre-populated.
We know every organisation needs to collect different information so we also provide the option of Custom Fields which allow you to input fields relevant to you. Examples of this could include age, industry, expected graduation date, etc.
If you are managing sensitive data in your forms you can also control who can view this information to protect people’s privacy. You can set the information to be visible by your team for internal purposes, but not necessarily have it in the fields the members manage themselves
The only way to effectively deliver personalised engagement is to be armed with information about your members. This is not to be done in a “Big Brother” kind of way but more understand where they’re at in their journey with you and how you can deliver personalised information from your organisation that would be useful to them.
For example: a student who is about to graduate would benefit from understanding what a full membership would offer them and some helpful tips to get them ready for the workforce. If you collect this information through a custom field, like ‘Month of Graduation’ you can create personalised and potentially automated communications in bulk to a segment of your audience that can provide the right update at the time they need it.
Implementing customised communications such as the above example helps members to feel important, valued and shows them that you understand them and their needs. This is crucial when it comes to renewals time because people will be more inclined to stay if they feel connected to the association. It also reflects well when recruiting new members as there will be positive word of mouth about how you engage with your audiences.
These fields also ensure your communications are purposeful and target exactly the right people. For instance, if you’re hosting an event in Melbourne, you want to target people in Melbourne but also people within a 1-3 hour radius who might travel for the event. Both groups need a slightly different message to motivate them to come. So by collecting location information upon sign up you will easily be able to target who needs to receive which message.
Your staff will feel empowered when they speak with members because they can review their profile before making contact and see any important information that may have been collected in their record. For example, you could have a custom field asking preferred methods of contact e.g. phone or email.
Implementing System Fields and Custom Fields allows you to really connect with your members and determine special identifiers about them that you can use to provide them with information they need. Members will be more inclined to engage with you if they receive purposeful, relevant and valuable information from you.
If you want to know more about implementing System and Custom Fields with your Membes system, learn how to setup membership types here and learn how to select your settings for online shop and events here. You’ll find step by step guides and video training.