From the moment a prospect first learns about your association until they evolve into a loyal member, a journey unfolds that is filled with interactions, engagement, and growth.
We've harnessed the magic of CiviCRM as an effective tool in our member lounge portal to manage interactions, engage members, and foster meaningful relationships.
Why is Member Journey Mapping Important
Member journey mapping is a powerful tool that allows associations to understand their members' experiences and identify areas for improvement.
An association that gets this right can easily identify where their members hit bumps and where they find joy, and make necessary adjustments to make their member experience smooth and increase member retention.
Association Member Journey With CiviCRM
Many associations struggle with member journey mapping because they either lack a proper understanding of its importance or have difficulty in identifying key touchpoints and pain points in the member journey and how to use them to drive engagement.
Our first step to fixing this at Member Lounge is to understand the member journey lifecycle of our client's association and how we can use CiviCRM to manage member interactions at each touchpoint and use it to drive engagement and retention.
Below is the 5 stage of the member journey lifecycle you should pay attention to, and how we use CiviCRM to manage each interaction
- Prospects:
This is where it all begins, the phase where you attract prospective members to your association.
Leveraging CiviCRM, we create and manage lead magnets and member registrations. Our objective here is to attract leads and secure member registration.
- New:
This is the onboarding stage for new members. Here the prospect has decided - "Yep, this is the place for me!", have officially become a member, and started using one or more of your services.
The goal here is to help new members find and engage with your offers. We leverage CiviCRM to add members and send onboarding emails to integrate new members into the community.
- Existing(Engage Stage):
This is the stage where members engage with association benefits. Members would use the association services and participate in community activities more.
Our goal here is to help members find more services of great value and increase retention. We leverage CiviCRM to create engaging polls and manage data in a community-driven setting.
- Renew:
Here members are getting value for cost and would want to renew. The goal here is to renew and ascend membership. We leverage CiviCRM to schedule newsletters and provide a database for customer support service.
- Cancel:
Not all members will renew, some will cancel due to cost, no time, offer not needed or value not met. The goal here is to offer promotions to help retain and document these reasons so you can improve on them.
Not One-Size-Fits-All:
It is important to note that each member is unique, and some might breeze through these stages, while others take their time.
It's like a choose-your-own-adventure, and that's the beauty of it. Understanding these diverse paths and their interactions helps us to tailor the journey, making the experience outstanding.
Steps to Implement Member Journey Mapping with CiviCRM:
Implementing member journey mapping using CiviCRM involves a systematic approach:
- Data Collection: Gather data from all touchpoints, including website interactions, event attendance, email responses, and more.
- Segmentation: Categorize members into groups based on their behavior, preferences, and engagement levels.
- Mapping: Create a visual representation of the member journey, including entry points, engagement milestones, and potential exit points.
- Analysis: Identify trends, pain points, and opportunities for improvement by analyzing member behavior along the journey.
- Strategy Development: Based on the analysis, develop engagement strategies and communication plans for each stage of the journey.
- Execution and Monitoring: Implement the strategies, monitor their effectiveness, and iterate based on real-time feedback.
Enhancing Your Member Experiences With Member Journey Audit
Member journey mapping process steps in as a guiding light, helping you to create a path towards better customer engagement, retention, and satisfaction.
Envision a tool that simplifies journey mapping while transforming insights into implementable steps on CiviCRM like what we have at Member Lounge for our clients
Evaluate your membership journey through the eyes of your members & develop a strategy that focuses on member retention and engagement with the Member Journey Audit Template
Read the complete article on the power of member mapping journey for your association HERE
