Your association's mobile app can serve as a pivotal point for engaging with your members more effectively. However, increasing app adoption and ensuring consistent usage can be challenging. Here are eight proven tips to not only drive your mobile app adoption but also boost member retention:
Tip #1: Showcase Your Mobile App as a Key Member Benefit
Highlight convenience by showing how every member is just a tap away from your association’s vital resources, networking opportunities and the latest industry news. Make sure to include your mobile app download links on your website’s membership benefits section to showcase this valuable benefit. And, consider inviting non-members to download the app. Why? You can leverage your mobile app's member vs. non-member features, giving non-members a taste of what membership is like through FOMO (fear of missing out).
Tip #2: Leverage a Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign to Get the Word Out
Show your members the value of being an engaged member. Showcase your association’s year-round mobile app through promotional videos on your social media, provide them with an official app user guide for reference, and email them reminders of key features and highlight what they might bemissing. By educating your members and setting expectations on how to navigate and leverage your mobile app content, you’ll drive their app usage.
Tip #3: Offer App Exclusive Content to Draw Members In
Entice your members through engaging content that can only be consumed through your association’s app. Hot industry news? Get it first with a push notification. Have a new sponsor discount to offer? Release the code to app users only. You get the idea.
Tip #4: Humanize Your Association by Encouraging Direct Communication
Just onboarded a new member? Encourage your membership team to welcome the member personally through the app’s direct messaging feature. Have a first timer registered for your annual conference? Have your event team connect them with a mentor member through the group messaging feature to help build their conference agenda and be a buddy at social events.
The key is to encourage your staff to find opportunities to connect members to members and members to you.
Tip #5: Send Smart Push Notifications to Drive App Traffic
No one likes annoying push notifications. Be smart about how what you alert members to and make it convenient for them to engage. Leverage your mobile app’s deep link structure. Deep links are links to specific content in the app (a session in a conference program, a specific poll, a specific forum, etc.), so when they click the push notification, your member will land exactly on the content you want to serve up. And don’t forget to remind your members of the wealth of features your year-round mobile app offers, promote specific areas of the app to highlight their usefulness.
Tip #6: Create a Connected Community Through Forums
According to Adobe, 76% of internet users participate in online communities. With a private mobile app forum, you can encourage your members to connect around similar interests. From career advice to everyday job challenges, encourage your members to ask questions and learn from each other. Your membership is a unique niche, your members won’t be able to find this same level of expertise anywhere else. If you’re having trouble getting started, seek out an influential member to jump-start forum conversations.
Tip #7: Integrate Your Systems for Enhanced Member Experience (MX)
Sure, many apps come with Single-Sign On (SSO) to let your members login to your app with the same login information that they are already using for your member portal...but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for providing an enhanced MX.
You can tailor app content to each member based on the demographics you track in your CRM, send push notifications based on member interests and preferences, automatically synchronize your association’s events to drive engagement for each and every meeting, seminar and annual conference, and so much more.
Tip #8: Amplify the Social in Your Private Social Network
Turn your year-round mobile engagement app’s News Feed into a User-Generated Feed, providing your members with the ability to post directly to your News Feed. Your members will be able to see their peers in action as they share posts, photos and anecdotes directly onto your mobile app's News Feed. These posts can help to drive app engagement, leveraging that FOMO again, and help your members humanize each other to further their networking and facilitate connections.
Access Real World Examples with Clowder Client Resources
We encourage all clients to reference our Clowder Client Resources, bursting with hundred of real world client examples, proven content and tips from your peers that helped them gain increased app usage, engagement and retention. If you aren’t sure how to access our resources, contact your Clowder Client Advisor today.
