Today, in a world full of likes, comments, ringtones and emails, it’s becoming increasingly harder to reach your target audience, much less engage with them.
Additionally, studies show that while 84 percent of members are satisfied with their membership, only 55 percent of them feel like they have a connection with their professional organization.
When it comes to reaching your exact audience, there is no other medium better than push notifications.
Push notifications are clickable pop-up messages that appear on a user’s phone. They serve as a quick communication channel enabling associations to convey messages, promote events, provide offers, or just generally communicate with members.
Since this channel increases repeat visits, user retention and engagement, push notifications are a must in your marketing mix.
So, as a member-based association, do you need push notifications? You bet you do!
Connecting and engaging with your members
Noise. It’s everywhere. People are constantly being pulled in a multitude of directions and often things are lost or forgotten. As well, it’s just so hard to communicate these days without constant interruption. So how do you combat all that noise?
Delivering content through a branded mobile app with push notification functionality is key to reaching, connecting and building relationships with your members. Since people spend more time on their mobile devices than any other device, push notifications can cut through the noise of other mediums. Reach your members faster. Period.
Events are a big part of why people join member-based associations, but how do you promote that event when inboxes are full and voicemails aren’t heard. Using push notifications to promote events is a simple and effective way to raise awareness, increase sign ups and provide critical information.
These days, just about everyone uses a mobile device regardless of age group. The great thing about push notifications is that you can reach members of all ages, younger and older members alike.
Finally, push notifications are great for having to get information out there quickly. This medium is especially useful in an emergency situation, or to communicate changes in events.
The anatomy of push notifications
Push notifications are a simple way to communicate with your audiences; however, they are not the same as in-app notifications. Push notifications come from your branded mobile app but occur outside the app and directly to a mobile phone.
Push notifications can occur outside the app and directly to a mobile phone.
Because they reside in a mobile phone, this makes them an effective medium for membership-based associations to keep their audience engaged.
Push notifications are made up of several pieces of content. Typically they consist of a title, a message, an image, and a URL. For maximum effectiveness, write a crisp title and copy within the recommended character limit, add images or emojis to convey more with fewer words, provide the correct URL and call-to-action and press send.
Your first push notification will be on its way to your subscribers.
Here’s an example of what a push notification looks like: Don’t forget to register now for this Thursday’s webinar on “How to Make the Most of Your Membership”. Register here: (link).
Should my push notifications offer an opt-in message?
The opt-in message should be the first notification you send to your potential subscribers. It determines the conversion of a visitor to a subscriber, and is essential to communicate what value your push notifications offer.
As soon as they give their permission, you can begin sending messages. And to increase your subscribers, customize the opt-in message that will add more context to the reason you’re sending push notifications.
Here are a few tips:
- Time your opt-in message based on when a new member downloads your app, perhaps suggest it during onboarding
- If they don’t opt-in during onboarding, create a recurring reminder about the importance of receiving timely notifications (be sure to space out the reminders so as not to annoy your members!)
- State explicitly that it’s easy to opt-out as well. This will help to build a level of trust with your association
Making their membership count
Creating a superior membership experience should be a top priority for any organization. The best way to retain members in your organization is to deliver more value to them than they pay for membership.
By leveraging a mobile app with push notification functionality, you’re able to boost engagement by making an authentic connection with your members.
And give them a reason to sign up again year after year. By communicating with them directly, they know they are a part of something that’s valuable to them.
