How to Increase Member Engagement with Your Association’s Mobile App

Post-conference app engagement crashes are painful to watch. But members are always on their phones. How can you motivate them to open your membership app? Unlike event apps, which create temporary usage spikes, year-round mobile tactics build sustained member engagement.

Mobile engagement tactics are behavioral science-based strategies that encourage association members to regularly interact with your mobile app, creating digital engagement touchpoints that strengthen member relationships and improve retention rates.

How to Increase Member Engagement with Your Association’s Mobile App

Brands understand human beings are persuadable. They design their customer experience and marketing campaigns using behavioral science tactics that motivate us to click, purchase, and interact. For association membership departments, these tactics translate directly into measurable improvements in member engagement, satisfaction, and renewals.

Here's how to apply six behavioral science principles to your association's mobile app.

1. Personalize mobile content for association members 📲

People engage more with brands and organizations when they deliver content that feels specifically chosen for them. Spotify does this with their “Daily Mix” personalized playlists.

Customize the newsfeed based on the member’s interests and chapter affiliation. Use group segmentation for targeted content delivery based on career stage or professional role. Highlight a forum that applies to the member’s interests.

Suggest national or local events based on the member’s location and past attendance. Send them job alerts that correspond to their employment status and other member profile information.

 2. Create mobile app habits that increase member engagement 🙋

Think about your morning coffee routine. The alarm goes off (cue). You head to the coffee machine (routine). Result: a longed-for caffeine boost plus a moment of peace (reward).

With social media, the cue is the notification. The routine: you scroll and read. The reward: a satisfying buzz of new information.

Just like you automatically check email first thing each morning, members can develop automatic app-checking habits.

The cue: a push notification with a personalized news update. The member follows the routine: checking their news feed for that industry update, then finding another interesting tidbit to read and a link to a peer discussion on a hot topic. The reward: new insights and a community conversation with the potential for social connections.

3. Use social proof to drive association app engagement 📢

People follow what others in their tribe are doing. Like following the crowd to the popular restaurant, association members gravitate toward content and activities that their peers are enjoying.

Take advantage of this “people like us do things like this” mindset.

• Recommend content with “Members like you also read...”
• Display “Who’s attending” lists for events
• Give app users an exclusive gift, discount, access, or other perk on Freebie Friday or Savings Saturday
• Show the most downloaded or trending content in the resource library
• Post “Most Active Members This Week” leaderboards in forums to gamify participation

4. Boost mobile engagement by mimicking slot machine rewards ✨

Unpredictable rewards create stronger engagement than consistent ones. This 'variable ratio reinforcement' makes slot machines addictive. The same principle applies to scratch-off tickets. Or checking social media—you never know what you'll find.

The key is unpredictable variety in your content and timing.

• A mix of content types in the newsfeed—industry news, member updates and achievements, advocacy updates
• Push notifications for unexpected opportunities—job postings, last-minute microvolunteering opportunities
• Member Monday Spotlight featuring a random member success story or professional win
• Random “Did you know?” industry facts or association history tidbits
• Quick polls on industry trends with immediate results
• Trivia contests via push notifications
• Surprise expert Q&As or pop-up virtual coffee chats with industry leaders

5. Create urgency with exclusive member app content 🚨

Our fear of losing something is stronger when we already think of it as ours, even if it isn’t. It's like having a reserved parking spot at work—once you think of it as yours, losing access feels like a genuine loss.

Loss aversion goes hand in hand with a sense of urgency:

• Limited-time offers for registration or purchases
• “Only three seats left” messaging
• Time-sensitive political action alerts
• Request for immediate feedback on a legislative issue
• Exclusive access to resources before they’re released

6. Provide instant feedback to keep members active 🏃

When people receive small, immediate rewards, they keep on engaging. Wordle and Duolingo keep people up past their bedtime because they want to maintain their streaks. Offer immediate satisfaction with:

• Quick poll results
• Daily win: something members can do on the app in a minute
• QR code scanning for instant connection to member profiles or valuable resources

How to implement mobile engagement strategies

Now that you understand the psychology behind engagement, here's how to implement these strategies.

Roll them out gradually. Start with personalization since it’s the foundation for the other tactics.

Measure engagement by member segment.

• App session length
• Return visits within seven days
• Content engagement rates
• Correlation with renewal rates

Strengthen your association’s value for members during the brief moments they have attention to give. Here’s your key takeaway: Consistent mobile app engagement creates multiple additional member touchpoints monthly. This engagement directly correlates with higher renewal rates and stronger member relationships. For more ideas on using your membership app as a retention and renewal tool, check out our Ultimate Guide to Mobile Engagement.