7 ways for new members to fall in love with your association.

No matter the size of your organization, member recruitment is a constant challenge many teams face. If you work on a small team, however, chances are you wear several hats, making it even more difficult to solely focus your attention on one activity. With so much to do, brainstorming fresh ideas for boosting membership can fall to the bottom of the to-do list.

Never fear—we’ve done the heavy-lifting for you and have rounded up a handful of tactics you can use at your association. Give these a try and see what happens.

Here are seven proven strategies you can implement at your association to attract new members, and even retain your existing ones.

1. Optimize your website for conversions.

When a potential new member lands on your website, make sure there’s a clear and compelling path for them to become a member. You never want confusion or difficult navigation to deter someone from joining your association.

2. Start (or maintain) a blog with helpful industry information, tips and insights for prospects.

Answering common questions in your industry and providing useful, educational information builds trust with prospective members before they sign up. And, it’s an excellent way to keep current members engaged.

3. Provide members with a referral bonus or award.

Leveraging your current members’ networks is one of the best ways to find prospective new members. Offering current members an incentive, even if it’s small, can get them to advocate for your organization without you having to spend any additional time or resources.

4. Recognize members for their recruitment efforts.

If you have members active at bringing new members to your association, celebrate them. Whether it’s in your newsletter or on your website, this shows your members you appreciate their recruitment efforts.

5. Get social!

Find out where your ideal members hang out on social media and get active there. You don’t need to be on every social network—just where your members are.

6. Find co-marketing opportunities.

Partner with other businesses and organizations within your industry to market each other’s services or offerings. It’s mutually beneficial, and these opportunities can exponentially expand your reach to possible new members.

7. Give your members a place to connect.

A built-in mobile responsive online community is a simple and easy way to add even more value to your members. Become part of your members’ daily social networking habits by providing an online member community where members can network with your organization and other members, and share ideas.

So, there you have it—7 tactics you can implement to grow your organization’s membership. You don’t have to execute these all at once. But, consider carrying out a few each quarter. Who knows? These tips might give you additional ideas to grow your recruitment strategy.

And, guess what? There’s more where those came from. We have several other ways in our ebook, “50 Ways to Boost Association Membership,” you can experiment with.