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Marketing Matters: A Membership Growth Story

Marketing Matters: A Membership Growth Story

by Hannah Durnas

November 27, 2023

Membership growth is a milestone nearly all organizations strive for. More members means more revenue for the organization, more voices for advocacy, and more opportunities to attract new sponsors. Members are the heart and soul of associations. The International Nursing Association for Clinical and Simulation Learning (INACSL), a Smithbucklin client, noticed its membership growth had become stagnant prior to partnering with Smithbucklin due to a consistent, but flat renewal rate and no influx of new members. With guidance from Smithbucklin, INACSL leveraged its volunteer membership committee to grow membership, offer engagement to existing members, and improve its renewal rate of current members.

First, the membership committee identified three main objectives:

  1. Reach new audiences qualified for INACSL membership
  2. Increase overall awareness and interest in the organization
  3. Increase the number of membership renewals

Committee meetings were approached as open feedback sessions centered around a culture of trust, open-mindedness, and vulnerability to truly identify new ideas and approaches to meet INACSL’s overarching membership growth goals set by the board of directors.

Volunteers shared feedback with the Smithbucklin Marketing and Communications team serving INACSL about how to reposition its member benefits in outbound communications. Suggestions included promoting certain educational products and offerings in a way that shared more realistic applications to benefit simulationists. Additionally, the committee identified a list of new educational institutions and facilities the marketing and communications team could target based on its growing simulation education programs, all while re-emphasizing the importance of a new student audience for the organization.

Equipped with an abundance of feedback, INACSL and Smithbucklin worked together to refine the organization’s messaging platform to better position the value INACSL offers to simulationists. INACSL also created a variety of resources for the membership committee, board of directors, and other engaged volunteers to use in promoting INACSL within their workplaces including flyers, marketing kits, and an easy print-on-demand brochure. A social media campaign to reach new audiences complemented the new messaging and word-of-mouth outreach done by volunteers.

In an effort to increase the number of membership renewals, the committee focused on addressing the member need of “wanting to hear from INACSL more.” The marketing and communications team developed a strategic email campaign to increase the frequency of communications while reinforcing the value of membership benefits.

Throughout 2022, INACSL saw consistent month-over-month growth when compared to the previous year. The organization increased membership by more than 12% when compared to 2021.

The campaign continued throughout 2023, and as of September 2023, INACSL has achieved an overall membership increase of 16% in less than two years.

 

Hannah Durnas is in Marketing & Communications Services at Smithbucklin. 

member engagement engagement association volunteers association members marketing
Hannah Durnas
Hannah Durnas

(she/her) 
Marketing & Communications Services 
Smithbucklin 

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CHICAGO 1.800.539.9740
330 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60611

WASHINGTON, D.C. 1.800.539.9740
2001 K Street, NW, 3rd Floor North
Washington, DC 20006
Corner of L and 20th Street, NW

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