In April of 2020, we looked at how associations were supporting their members with online communities in the early days of the pandemic. Now that it’s been almost a year, we’re revisiting this topic again. In the past year, how have associations expanded and adapted their strategies to engage members virtually? How have associations grown their membership – and even earned event revenue, thanks to online communities?
We’re highlighting four associations who have each taken a unique approach to achieve their goals. Learn more about each one:
1. ASCE MOVED FAST TO PUT OUT RELEVANT COMMUNITY CONTENT FOR MEMBERS
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) — representing the civil engineering profession with more than 600 different committees — knew their thriving online community was a place for members to connect with one another. But in-person event cancellations due to COVID-19, the team needed a way to build engagement and support their members, fast.
Re-evaluating their digital offerings with help from the Higher Logic team, ASCE created tailored, personalized content focusing on relevancy, authenticity, and member feedback. They quickly launched new programming, including:
And they did all this with the technology they already had: their online community. It was easy for their team to quickly pivot to digital-first, running event registrations, automating email campaigns, and gathering feedback through their community.
Plus, they didn’t let fear of not doing things right get in the way of moving quickly to support members. In Tirza’s words, “For video content, we decided that if SNL and Jimmy Fallon could use home videos and Zoom to make content, so could we. It’s not the video quality you would have expected a year ago, but it’s relevant, and people care about authenticity.”