Creative Marketing Ideas to Build Your Trade Association Membership Program
Professional and trade organizations are intended to bring members together to inspire each other, share resources, engage in meaningful interactions, and trigger impactful actions. But to achieve those goals, you need a thriving membership that is consistently growing.
If you’re looking for some creative ways to increase your trade association’s membership, we’ve got you covered.
Six Marketing Tactics to Grow Your Trade Association Membership Program
1. Encourage recommendations: Word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to grow your trade association’s membership. In fact, according to the 2021 Membership Marketing Benchmark Report that surveyed 34,503 association professionals, 57% said word of mouth was their best channel for new member recruitment.1 To that end, make sure you’re actively asking for referrals in every member communication—whether it’s an email, a live event, or a casual conversation. Encourage them to share their positive experiences with peers and professional connections who might benefit from joining your professional trade association.
2. Create a referral program: Take it a step further and create a structured referral program that incents members to refer connections to your association. Incentives might include a gift card, a discount on their trade association membership fees, or a free book or industry report.
3. Host bring-a-friend meetings: On a monthly or quarterly basis, consider hosting “open” meetings or events where members are encouraged—or even incented—to bring friends or colleagues. Make the event fun and compelling, with ample networking opportunities, engaging activities, and informative topics of discussion. Use this opportunity to highlight the benefits of joining your trade association’s membership program.
4. Offer a test drive: Give prospective members a no-risk trial of your trade association’s membership program. In doing so, however, make sure you’re giving them enough time to enjoy the perks of joining.
5. Actively communicate: Be sure you’re overtly featuring your membership’s mission, purpose, and benefits in all marketing initiatives and communications. Focus on the what’s-in-it-for-me factor by addressing some common pain points, how your organization addresses those challenges, and the many benefits your trade association offers.
6. Ask existing members: What better place to go than your existing membership base? Let members know that you are looking for ways to boost membership, and ask them for their opinions. Not only will they be able to offer unique insights (they were once prospective members themselves), but by being part of the conversation, they may naturally feel more invested in actively boosting membership.
A professional trade association exists to fulfill a mission—and without members to support that mission, it will struggle to succeed. It is crucial that you’re always looking for ways to bring in new members. With a strategic membership marketing plan in place aimed at recruiting new members, your trade association membership program will be poised to achieve viral growth.
Whether you’re starting a new trade association or you want to boost membership for an already established organization, Paradigm can help.
1 https://www.ledenpas.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The_2021_Membership_Marketing_Benchmarking_Report.pdf
About the Author
Kaitlyn Wilcoxson, Account Group Supervisor, is a data-driven, problem-solving marketing guru who, as one of the firm’s longest employees, has worked with almost every client Paradigm has ever partnered with, and has been instrumental in their success. Kaitlyn ensures Paradigm’s clients and internal teams are positioned for growth. She manages resources, develops team members, monitors the quality of deliverables, and manages process and procedure planning. She was awarded the Gold Level Stevie® Award for Customer Service and Sales Manager of the Year in the 17th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
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