We are often asked, “What are the YTheyJoin profiles of various associations?” YTheyJoin™ identifies nine types of members based on their professional needs and motivations. Each association has a unique mix and an organization dominated by Relevant Participants and Shapers is very different from one dominated by Altruistics and Boosters. After doing the research, we give each association a pie chart to show their mix and here are the top three categories for three national associations.

An association of land developers:

Relevant Participants

Shapers

Altruistics

An association of doctors:

Cognoscenti

Altruistics

Relevant Participants

An association of nurses:

Altruistics

Boosters

Mailboxers

Some associations also like to break out a profile of full members and associate members, or national members and local chapters, and the differences can help you provide more effective services and spend money more efficiently.

Our program shows how to do target marketing based on the nine member types. For example, the first paragraph of renewal letters should change for each member type: a letter to Relevant Participants should emphasize meetings and speakers; while a letter to Cognoscenti should emphasize publications and opportunities to write.

Learn more at www.YTheyJoin.com or call us at 703-772-5362.

The Virginia Society of Association Executives has invited Dr. Dale Paulson, President of Allegiance Research Group, to their Annual Conference in May 2010 to give a presentation on member segmentation and target marketing. This is in Northern Virginia and is a good chance for those of you in the Washington, DC Metro Area to attend an association conference without incurring the cost of traveling a long distance. No need to go to the West Coast or to Canada! Great information is right here in the Metro Area.

For those interested in consumer psychology, take a look at the recently-published book “Brick & Mortar: Shopping in the 21^st Century” that includes a chapter by Dr. Paulson describing his pictographic research. He describes cartoon sequence research and addresses the mystery of consumer decision-making and rationale. This book is edited by Tina Lowrey, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Texas in San Antonio, and has its foundations in the 25^th Annual Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Consumer Research.

Free Fact Sheets! Just give us a call or send an e-mail and we will be glad to send some to you. There are over a dozen and a list of all of them is at our Web site at www.AllegianceResearch.com The most popular are:

YTheyJoin™ - nine member types and target marketing

Determining Confidence Level From Sample Size Using Your Calculator

Developing Effective Survey Questions

Prioritizing Objectives of Board Members by Using Fixed-Sum Preference Scales

If you would like more info about research call us at 703-772-5263 or e-mail AllegianceResearch@gmail.com

If you are in charge of membership or marketing you may have problems. First, you probably have several bosses. In a sense all of your members are bosses, plus there are the volunteers some of whom head membership or marketing committees. Of course, they all have the direct phone number to your main boss, the Executive Director.

Also, most associations want more: more members; more sales; more people attending seminars; and more people at the convention. Guess what, this is your responsibility and did I mention that we are in the middle of a recession? Unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of tools to work with especially if you depend on mass marketing which is cold and impersonal and treats everyone the same.

This is where member-segmentation and target marketing can help. Let’s say your Executive Director wants a ten-percent increase in attendance at the next annual convention. Where is the growth going to come from? Try the following strategy.

Send everyone a notice about the convention (and be sure to mention the most exciting speakers and topics). Then target the people most likely to attend, and for those of you who use the YTheyJoin™ program this would be the Shapers and Relevant Participants. If you do not use the program, this could be those who attended in the past, possibly new members, and people living within 200 miles of the convention city. Send repeated announcements and any expensive color brochures to these people; just send postcards to the others. This type of targeted marketing will save you money and should also result in increased attendance. We know this because our clients have used this strategy with excellent results.

A good strategy for increasing membership is your member application. Take a good look at it. Is it cold and impersonal? Intimidating? Like a laundry list? You can change this by simply allowing a little white space where you ask the person to write about their professional needs and expectations. Better yet, include the YTheyJoin tagging form where they get 100 points to spend on your products and services, etc. to explain what is most important to them. We often get comments like “Thanks for asking!” And a check follows.

Do you have ways to get more members, more sales, etc? If you do not have ideas and good methods, your job may be at risk and a raise or promotion may not materialize. Member segmentation and target marketing can make you look like a star! For more info, call 703-772-5263.

Our anniversary is here and to date we have worked with over 100 national associations! This includes membership, readership, and compensation surveys as well as the YTheyJoin™ member segmentation and target marketing program (formerly called Allegiance and developed by Dr. Dale Paulson in 1991). We would like to thank the assn community and here is a partial list of our clients. For a more detailed list please visit our Web site at www.AllegianceResearch.com

American Assn for the Adv of Science

American Chamber of Commerce Execs

American Coll of Healthcare Execs

American Diabetes Assn

American Industrial Hygiene Assn

American Inst of Architects

American Soc for Trng and Dvlpmt

American Soc of Appraisers

American Soc of Assn Execs

American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Inst

Assn of Otolaryngology Admins

Assn of the U.S. Army

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America

Infusion Nurses Soc

Int'l Assn of Amusement Parks/Attractions

Museum Store Assn

Nat Assn of Housing and Redev Officials

Nat School Boards Assn

Nat Soc of Prof Engineers

Population Refer Bureau

Soc for Human Resource Mgmt

Urban Land Inst

After you id the nine types of YTheyJoin™ members (each type was described in previous blog articles as well as the methodology to id each member), you can design targeted services and communications. For example, instead of writing the same renewal letter to everyone, design different letters for the nine types and use resonant statements for each group. Here are examples of Resonant Statements:

(Mailboxers) We know that your time is extremely valuable and that your primary involvement with our assn is through the mail or Web. You want info that is concise, relevant, and up-to-date.

(Relevant Participants) We know that when possible you like to attend our assn meetings to obtain relevant information or meet others in the field, or to buy/sell at the Expo.

(Shapers) We know that you do, or want to, actively participate in our assn by helping to shape policy, serve on a committee, or lead a chapter.

(Cognoscenti) We know that you look to our assn for info that is not available elsewhere or for opportunities to write or speak.

(Boosters) We know that you look to our assn to be a leader in the field or to help you advance in the profession by providing certification.

(Altruistics) We know that you believe in the values and mission of our assn. to ensure the safety of the public and provide a voice in Washington.

Look for a sample renewal letter in the next blog article. To learn more please visit www.YTheyJoin.com or call 703-772-5263 or e-mail AllegianceResearch@gmail.com