Clowder Blog

As far as the website vs. app debate goes, it’s not an Either/Or Situation - both are needed. Just as we always like to say – websites are for attention, apps are for retention. It’s time to put your website’s most utilized features and resources in a native app so your members can access them right through their phones. When it comes to keeping your association engaging, it’s important you know your people, what they need, and how to best deliver that.

Many associations are utilizing an online, web-based forum to digitally connect their community. The experience however tends to be clunky, delayed and disjointed.

In this webinar, we explore the value in relocating that engagement to a mobile format, and more specifically, inside of a dedicated year-round mobile membership app. 

Membership retention is the name of the game when it comes to associations. With so many new resources and programs introduced in the market, how can you get members to stay and continue finding value in your organization? What can’t happen is remaining stagnant in your offerings and benefits. A lack of innovation will equate to a lack of interest towards your membership.

When your organization makes the wise decision to invest in an app, you have some choices to make. The most important being, “Should our app be native or web-based?” To help answer that, we've illustrated a helpful scenario:

Mobile devices have become invaluable business tools and the primary channel people conduct many aspects of their personal and professional lives through. The proof is indisputable - mobile has overtaken desktop and apps have overtaken websites. Even back in 2017, a study conducted by Samsung to gauge mobility trends at the workplace found that 93% of respondents used cell phones at work to complete professional tasks, reporting they spend 33% of their workday using their phones. In the two years since then, it’s very likely those statistics have increased. 

When McKinley conducted a recent survey identifying the association market's three highest priorities for the following year, the goal of generating non-dues revenue topped the chart. Increasing non-dues revenue allows for organizations to rely on alternative sources of income and not solely on membership payments. 

All organizations understand the necessity of a web presence. Your website is how your audience finds you and accesses the information, products and resources you provide. It should reveal a bit about your culture, your values and your personality. It’s an invaluable tool for communications and for personal and consumer transactions. However, nearly 80% of internet usage in 2019 is likely to be mobile, so simply having a good website isn’t enough.  

Associations are often well-versed in event-only mobile apps as they’re continually utilized for meetings, conferences and conventions. But what happens when an event is over? Well, 99% of the time, these single-use apps become deleted.

In this webinar, we explore the benefits of instead taking a year-round approach to mobile and what it means to extend mobile member engagement beyond just events.

A common misconception among smaller organizations and often regional chapters of larger organizations, is that because of your size, you don’t need a mobile app. We would argue that that perspective is flawed because it’s not about how many people you are reaching, it’s about how you are reaching your people. How many members or partners you have is beside the point when determining how to best reach them and how they choose to consume content. Whether it’s 250 people or 25,000, your goal to provide an excellent service and experience is the same, isn’t it? 

Pushback is inevitable when pitching a new technology solution. Mobile solutions in particular are commonly subject to much apprehension. That’s because many organizations are still in the early stages of understanding the full value of a comprehensive mobile strategy. But to the uncertainty of mobile we ask: What’s your alternative? Is it more email? More web pages? More in-person meetings? What’s a better answer to decreasing engagement and increasing membership churn?