PR Strategies to Keep Your Members Engaged

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PR Strategies to Keep Your Members EngagedPR to Keep Members Engage

By Michelle Hanchey, DTMx2 (PRM 2017-18)

The number one burning question at TLI (Toastmasters Leadership Institute) was,” How do we keep our members engaged?” You wanted to know the best way to reach members, to get them to come to meetings, to care as much as you do.

Here is the formula we came up with together:

 Engagement = Relationship + Action.

10 PR Strategies You Developed at TLI:

  1. Leverage Member Touchpoints
  2. Keep it Simple
  3. Make PR All About Your Members
  4. Get the Word Out
  5. Discover Why They Joined
  6. Refresh Your Members’ Memories of the Benefits Your Club has to Offer
  7. ID Members Who Are Not Engaging and Have a “Win-Back” Strategy
  8. Pick Up the Phone and Start Creating Personal Connections
  9. Engaging Members Through Your Website and Social Media
  10. Realize it’s ‘Ok’

Plus:

  1. Engage with You VPPR Peers webinar

 Leverage Member Touchpoints

If “everything” is about engagement, then what member ‘touchpoints’ should you focus on as VPPR?  Face-to-face at the meetings with a word of encouragement was #1.  Additional answers we came up with at TLI were to ask your members their preferences for communicating with you and the club, as well as their online and social media habits.

Example:  If only one member is on Twitter, two on Facebook and none read emails, but all members would read a one page newsletter you hand them at the meeting then it is time to change your PR strategy to what works for your members.

Keep it Simple

As VPPR many of you wanted to take on much more responsibility than just PR.  That is commendable, but it will lead to ‘burn-out’.  Instead, we came up with the solution at TLI to work with the other officers and members in your club.  Working together to find a solution is fun plus you gain a host of additional skills in working as a team.

Make PR All About Your Members

Recognize member achievements with Testimonials and success stories.  No one will leave your club if you are recognizing their achievements.  In today’s society we rarely get praise for the things we accomplish.  Be the exception in your club.  Celebrate:

  • Job Promotion
  • Highlight successes such as completing a Competent Communications, a DTM or other Toastmaster Awards. News release templates: (https://old.d44toastmasters.org/news-release/)
  • Leadership such as club officer, Area Director, Conference Project manager, growth opportunities outside of your club, etc. (news release templates: https://old.d44toastmasters.org/news-release/)
  • Exceptional Achievement such as ran their first 5K, got their Black Belt, finished their MBA, community involvement.
  • Celebrate life events. Find reasons to celebrate with PR such as a milestone anniversary, a new baby, graduation of kids
  • Video speeches for feedback and send link to all members. PS make sure the lighting is well done as well as the sound.

Get the Word Out

  • News release with photo to the local paper and/or newspaper website

o   Have the member help you fill it out the news release template

o   Take a headshot (clear and good lighting)

o   Send a copy to their boss, Alumni Association, professional magazines and corporate HR department as well as corporate news.

  • Let their HR department know, corporate newsletter department, notation on hall monitor
  • Photo and a few sentences on your website/social media. Remember to share with everyone on District 44 Georgia Toastmasters Facebook group.

 Discover Why They Joined

While perhaps 2/3rds of your members joined to improve their public speaking skills, what about the rest? You could be losing people if you’re not delivering the value they expected when they joined.

The sad thing is that 90% of the clubs I talk to do not track the reasons why members joined.

Knowing this information and delivering on it is one of the most influential ways to engage your members and keep them from lapsing.

*Start this week by asking a member why they joined and why they stay.  Take their picture and then send it to all members, place it on your website, on your social media, in your newsletter, and on the District 44 Georgia Toastmasters Facebook page. We agreed at TLI that this member will probably feel special plus other members will also want to tell their story.  Sometimes people just want to be heard.

Refresh Your Members’ Memories of the Benefits Your Club has to Offer

Some clubs don’t put enough importance into onboarding and many members aren’t even aware of their total benefits. Though this is the main responsibility of the VP of Education there are PR strategies you can use so that your members gain full value of what your club and Toastmasters in general has to offer.

*A simple email, or mention in your newsletter with a list of all benefits can easily take care of this.  On the District level we have a weekly “Benefits of Toastmasters” graphic each week that list one or two benefits.  Here is a PDF: https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/the-benefits-of-toastmasters-membership

 **Take photos at meetings showing members having fun as well as best speaker, etc. Then post on website/social media.  Send an email to absent members with a link: “”We missed you and you missed the fun.”

But, as a proactive measure, make sure you’ve collaborated with fellow club officers to develop  a scalable and consistent onboarding process for all new members so they’re aware of all your benefits right away.

ID Members Who Are Not Engaging and Have a “Win-Back” Strategy

Clubs that are successful at member retention have a plan in place to contact unengaged members on a regular basis.  Work with your club Executive Council on a plan to re-engage your members who have not attended the last 3 meetings, have not updated their profile on the club  website in the last year or read/responded to any of your emails.

 *Successful club member retention strategy is to call club members.

 Pick Up the Phone and Start Creating Personal Connections

Nothing engages a member more than a personal connection. It’s a smart strategy that Toastmaster Clubs also use to grow membership by calling guests.

“Personal contacts are invaluable. Nobody joins our club without getting a personal phone call from the club President,”  said one VPPR.

As VPPR you too can call members. Remember members need to have a conversation with somebody.

*Give it a try. Make a commitment to reach out to one unengaged or even lost member every single week. Put it in your calendar right now. Friday afternoon at 3pm, schedule your first call.

 Engaging Members Through Your Website and Social Media

While building your online community is only part of the engagement equation, the reality is that “your website is still your primary identity online.” Your website is where your members and guests go for information and insight. It is where they can participate in your online community; where they can register for events; manage their membership profile.

  •  Ensure content is targeted to what your embers want to see. Ask them what would get them to look at your club website on a weekly basis?
  • Alert them to fresh, useful content through other channels:
    •  Social Media
    •  Text messaging
    •  Emails
    •  Newsletter
    •  Face-to-face and/or handout

Realize it’s Ok

There can be a million different reasons why someone doesn’t renew and sometimes there’s just nothing you can do about it. In fact, you can’t do anything about three of the top reasons people don’t renew in bold:

  1. Moved
  2. Employer stopped paying dues
  3. Lack of engagement
  4. Can’t justify cost (may have lost job, parent is sick, etc.)
  5. Forgot

There are many other reasons you can’t do anything about: they left the city, they don’t have the time anymore, their interests change.  Whatever the reason, just realizing that it’s okay.

Make sure that every person leaves your club with a good impression. You never know who they may recommend your club to, or if they may become a member again in the future.

One simple thing your club can do every time you part with a member is to send them a thank you letter personally signed by your club president for being part of your organization.

Doing this may not have any immediate impact on your membership, but it can help in the long run.

 Engage with Your VPPR Peers Webinar:

Just for you,  a webinar forum where you can exchange ideas with other VPPR in District 44 as well as VP of Membership on retaining and adding new members.  Join us, once a month on Monday at 7:00 pm.  Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/3983178072955191041

  • February 19
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