The membership economy is booming with more and more businesses enjoying the benefits of more predictable cash flow and opportunity to build strong, ongoing relationships with their customers. From giants like Netflix, Tesla and Uber to small business owners delivering sets of socks or ongoing fitness programs, it’s hard to find a consumer credit card that doesn’t have a few recurring membership transactions.
On top of that, the pandemic has dramatically changed the world of online learning and communities. More than ever before, businesses, individual consultants, and trainers are embracing the capabilities and endless opportunities the digital world has to offer. Over the past year alone we’ve seen hundreds (maybe thousands) of new online learning programs, courses, memberships, and even successful mini-MBA programs delivered online.
While many association leaders don’t take these trends as seriously as they should, traditional membership models are losing to the disruptors of the membership economy.
How does the membership economy affect associations?
Businesses operating the membership model are not only tapping into the association market, interacting with their existing and potential members, and using up individual resources such as time and money, but they’re also shifting consumer expectations.
In most cases, new online courses and memberships are set up on cutting-edge, user-friendly software, and offer exceptional digital user experiences.
Competing membership economy players are not trapped in cumbersome networks of old-school association management software, and are rather allowing people to register for events and sign up for memberships with one tap on their mobile phone.
This recent trend is just another reminder for association leaders to review their member digital journey and think about how they can innovate to provide an excellent member experience.
Traditional association tech ecosystem
When it comes to choosing software for the association technological ecosystem, traditionally, associations tend to look for an all-in-one customised Association Management Software (AMS) to try to solve all their needs at once.
This can include membership and event management, website content management, newsletter blasts, financial management, Continuous Professional Development Programs, online communities, and so much more.
At first, an all-in-one solution may have seemed like the path of least resistance, however, nowadays it makes the whole organisation inflexible to rapid digital changes. And in many cases, it can end up being extremely costly, inflexible, and not agile enough to keep up with technological advancements and member expectations of their digital experience.
In recent years, we’ve been observing rapid technological changes, with hundreds of specialised cloud-based software providers, known as SaaS (Software as a Service), appearing on the market. Being focused on a narrow business area (for example, sending emails, managing finances or online communities) allows software providers to excel in their core functionality and deliver the best digital experience for customers.
These providers also understand that providing ad hoc pieces of software that don’t “talk” to each other is not beneficial for businesses, so providers form partnerships that enable smooth integrations, allowing organisations to create an efficient tech ecosystem. Additionally, existing software integration tools make it easier to synchronise separate pieces of software.
Understanding the importance of digital transformation
Why is digital transformation so important for associations? And what is being done to ensure digital transformation is a major priority? These are the questions associations will need to answer if they hope to stabilise, let alone continue to grow.
As is the case in the corporate world, a contemporary association must be built on data-driven decisions rather than accepted practices – in other words, it’s time to move past the outdated notion that “it’s worked like this for decades”. The reality is it won’t work like this in the future, so the sooner an association adapts to modern tools and technologies, the better.
The benefits of digital transformation are real. First and foremost, it creates a highly personalised member experience, which is precisely what modern consumers have become accustomed to and will expect any association to provide. Furthermore, an association and its people must be digital savvy in order to attract the younger members who will keep it alive, relevant and critical to its industry moving forward.
Another common myth is that digital transformation requires significant investment. Not in 2022. With so many affordable software solutions to choose from, even micro businesses can afford to build a comprehensive digital ecosystem to deliver an excellent experience to their customers.
The future of associations is being brave enough to embrace current digital technology and experiment with the different MarTech solutions now available on the market.
This article has originally appeared in Associations Evolve: 2022 & Beyond publication.
