YTheyJoin identifies nine types of association members based on their motivations for joining and this article discusses one of them, Relevant Participants™. Why do they join? What makes them tick? How should you communicate with them effectively?

Relevant Participants are the members who like face-to-face interaction with your organization and they tend to go to meetings for education or networking purposes. These can include your national conference, other seminars, or chapter meetings. If you have an Expo, motivations also include the opportunity for buying or selling.

Letters or appeals to Relevant Participants should include a recognition that they judge your association by the quality of meetings that they attend. Send all Relevant Participants an annual calendar of meetings. The home page of your Web site should have a prominent place that clearly shows when and where the next annual meeting is, and a place to click for other upcoming meetings.

Use target marketing when planning annual meetings. This means that you send one or two meeting announcements to everyone, then multiple meeting announcements just to Relevant Participants and Shapers. Some organizations send a postcard to everyone that directs them to the Web site for info, and then send the expensive color brochures just to the categories most likely to attend.

Relevant Participants have the potential for developing close ties to your association by the very nature of personal interaction. Target this potential in Relevant Participants by asking them to specify topics of interest and preferred formats for meetings. Ask if they can help out at a national or local meeting. Consider a coupon that offers a discount on the price of a meeting and include this with their member renewal letter.

To learn more about YTheyJoin, the original member-segmentation and target-marketing program, please visit www.YTheyJoin.com You can also call directly 703-772-5263 or e-mail AllegianceResearch@gmail.com