From accounting to events, nearly every operation within your association likely relies on technology, and communicating with members is no different. To keep members engaged, you need to provide the best experience possible, which requires personalizing your messaging to align with their needs and preferences. Technology can help you streamline and enhance this process.

In this guide, we’ll explore specific ways you can use technology to upgrade your member communications. That way, you can deliver customized messages that enhance the member experience while still saving your team time.

1. Leverage custom fields within your AMS.

While you should create profiles for each member within your association management software (AMS) that include basic information like names and email addresses, you should also track more granular data. That way, you can learn more about your members and promote opportunities that will resonate with them.

For example, you may create custom fields for:

• Career-specific data. In addition to including each member’s job title and company, you may also add information about any certifications they’ve earned, the number of years they’ve been in the industry, and their area of specialty. Using this information, you can share targeted educational opportunities and messaging that align with members’ experience and interests.
• Member engagement metrics. Track members’ digital engagement, such as member portal logins, email opens, resource downloads, and webinar participation, as well as their in-person event attendance, to help connect them with relevant engagement opportunities. For example, if a member typically downloads resources about healthcare compliance from your association’s website, you may invite them to your upcoming compliance workshop. You may also add their local chapter affiliation so you can send localized communications.
• Communication preferences. Give members options for how you can contact them, such as text, email, or direct mail. Record and adhere to these preferences to ensure you respect their wishes.

This in-depth information can serve as the foundation for more meaningful member segmentation, allowing you to more easily group members into specific, relevant groups and tailor your communications.

2. Segment members.

While you likely already use segmentation to personalize member communications, you can improve the process with technology. Start by integrating the systems you use, such as your AMS, constituent relationship management platform (CRM), learning management software (LMS), and event management software (EMS).

As Strategic Association Solutions explains, “With integrated systems, your marketing team can segment members based on their engagement history, event attendance, or course completion. This allows for highly personalized communications that resonate with members and boost retention.” When your member data is connected, you can create more nuanced segments that may not have appeared naturally with your data siloed in different software solutions.

For example, you may combine data from your LMS and EMS to form a segment of members who have completed a certain course and regularly attend your events. Then, you could invite them to a networking event with fellow members where they can discuss what they’ve learned from the course.

3. Use conditional content logic in your emails.

Many email marketing platforms let you display or hide content blocks within emails based on different member segments. Instead of creating several different email templates and sending them to various segments separately, you can send one email that uses conditional content logic to personalize the experience for members without the extra work.

For instance, let’s say you’re sending an email to promote your upcoming conference. Instead of sending separate emails to speakers, volunteers, and potential attendees, you can send one email with a conditional content block for information relevant to each group. Speakers might receive an email that provides next steps on how to upload their presentations and prepare for the event, volunteers might see a link to sign up for a volunteer shift, and attendees may view registration and pricing information. Each segment gets information most relevant to them without having to sift through extraneous details or requiring your team to do any heavy lifting.

4. Incorporate dynamic website content.

What if your website or member portal could change based on members’ interests and needs? By integrating your CMS with your AMS or CRM and configuring personalization rules within your CMS, you can enable dynamic content based on each member’s status and your current association strategy that members can view when they log in.

For example, you may show dynamic content based on:

• Membership history. New members may see a welcome banner linking to a new member checklist, while experienced members may see a banner that encourages them to register to volunteer at your next event.
• Certifications. For members who don’t have a certain certification, you may promote your introductory preparation course. Meanwhile, for members who do have that certification, you may add a block promoting more advanced continuing education courses.
• Event registration. Members who haven’t registered for your upcoming event may see a timer counting down to the registration deadline and a last-minute discount code, whereas registered members may view a link to the event schedule that encourages them to plan their agendas.

No member wants to see generic content that disregards their relationship with your association. This approach ensures your website or membership portal constantly evolves to keep up with members’ needs.

5. Set up behavioral trigger automation.

Within your systems, establish automated workflows that trigger based on members’ actions. That way, you can send relevant messages without even having to think about it. This might look like:

• Sending an email about a resource on a certain topic after a member views several articles about that same topic on your blog
• Inviting a member to sign up for a more advanced continuing education course after they complete an introductory course
• Sharing a link to a workshop on a relevant topic after a member downloads a template from your website
• Welcoming new members to your community with an email after they log onto your member portal for the first time
• Notifying a staff member if a member posts a question in your member portal’s online forum but doesn’t receive a response within a certain period of time
• Emailing the recording for a webinar session to a member who signed up but didn’t attend

Track engagement data to identify new opportunities for behavioral trigger automation. For example, you may notice that members typically complete two different unrelated courses in succession. In this case, you may set up an automation that invites future members who complete either of these courses to start the other course right after they’ve completed the first.

Personalizing member communications doesn’t have to be a time-consuming, complex undertaking. By enlisting the right tools and strategies, you can improve your communication strategy and save time, allowing you to focus on building member relationships and fulfilling your mission.