5 Keys to Association Website Success in 2015 (And beyond)

5 Keys To Association Website Successin 2015 (and beyond)

Ray van Hilst

Today’s Speakers

5 K e y s t o A s s o c i a t i o n W e b s i t e S u c c e s s V a n g u a r d T e c h n o l o g y

Lori Ely

Director of Client Strategy Vanguard Technology

Director of Marketing Informz

More members (and prospective members) will interact with your website than any other association program

Improvements can increase usability by 47% to 58%

Your website can be what makes a potential new member join…or decide not to

Your website is your association’s most visible association asset

Why this Matters

Build a Marcomm technology roadmap

Success Key #1

“IT needs to deliver user-focused (internal & external)

functional systems. Content creators and managers need

to be able to articulate their goals, write effectively, and

focus on the user. If either fails to focus on the user,

success is limited.”

Dave Coriale Delcor Technology Solutions

AMS Single Sign On - Member Roles - Demographics - User Segments

3rd Party Systems - Private Social Communities - Journals - Job Boards - Learning Management

Standard integrations

New tools. new techniques. new integrations.

More than SSO through the AMS

Multiple data sources

New portals and tools -  Webex -  Government Relations -  Marketing Automation -  Email Publishing

integrated web eco-systems are the new black

New tools. new techniques. new integrations.

Think like a

marketing

technologist

Analytics drive action

Automation guides processes

Optimization hones tactics

Listening leads engagement

Targeting defines segments

CRM structures relationships

Technology’s encroachment on marketing

Leveraging IT for marketing

Marketing is rapidly becoming one of the most technology-dependent functions in business. Gartner has predicted that by 2017, the chief marketing officer will spend more on technology than the chief information officer.

- Harvard Business Review, July 2014

marketing technology

Follow the money

https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-rise-of-the-chief-marketing-technologist

Understands IT best practices

Understands marketing practices

Thinks natively in the combined domain of marketing & technology

The new marketing technologist

Engaging left and right brains of your org

Evolving structures

Practice Center Mktg IT MT

Colocated Mktg IT MT

Scott Brinker, Chief Martec Blog

Evolving organizational structure

Joint Venture Mktg IT MT

Embedded Mktg IT MT

Scott Brinker, Chief Martec Blog

Many organizations do

not have the capacity

to exploit advanced

digital experience

technologies

Tony Byrne

Breadth, depth, and experience level of digital team

Content richness and breadth for segmentation and personalization

Solid CRM infrastructure for core customer data

Growing into your CMS

Develop capacity and capabilities

“In order for PCMA to be nimble we needed a CMS that

would allow us to grow and change without having to

reinvent the wheel each time. The key is to look for ways

to take advantage of the software and not overly

customize it to your needs, this will allow you to be

flexible in the future.”

Jason Paganessi Vice President, Business Innovation

Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)

CMS & Marketing Technology Roadmap

Phase 1 Phase 2

New UI and design skins

Migrate all core content

Responsive design on main site

SSO Among Most Used Systems (AMS,

CMS, Journal and Community)

Migrate publications and content heavy

sections

Migrate sub-sites

Add other sites to SSO (Job Board,

Open production, implement basic

workflow

Add Personalization

Customize CMS features (e.g. Event

Calendar)

Implement Marketing

Automation

Expand Production, customize workflow

Faceted and Federated Search

Email Publishing Integration

Mobile App for specific content (e.g.

Event)

Cross train all departments

Phase 3 Phase 4

It’s time to kick Content Marketing’s Ass

Success Key #2

Increased Spending by Competitors

The Rise of Content Marketing

Increasing budget for content marketing

92% of marketers plan to use content marketing

Budgets are growing

New roles are being added

- Content Director

- Embedded Journalists

Emerging channels

- Snapchat

- Slideshare

- LinkedIn 5 K e y s t o A s s o c i a t i o n W e b s i t e S u c c e s s V a n g u a r d T e c h n o l o g y

http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/11759/2014-b2b-content-marketing-benchmarks-budgets-and-trends

Industry News

Press Releases

Magazine Articles

Videos

Education

Newsletters

New rules

Associations are Content machines

PutMember

NeedsFirst

Define Your audiences and their needs

User personas

Generalist

Jim 26 Years Old

General RT in a hospital Early in career

Single, enjoys life outside work

Transaction driven

Specialist

Susan 34 Years Old

Radiation Therapist Hospital based

Married with two small kids, always on the go

Transaction driven

careerist

Sarah 40 Years Old

Senior Technician with many positions

Engaged at state level Married with two kids

evangelist

Bob 48 Years Old

Operations Manager Service provider

Volunteers with state affiliates and national org

Married with active teenagers

DiabetesEducator.org is the preferred website for diabetes educators to

find resources, education, practice documents, research, and AADE

information that provides day-to-day assistance to educators as they help

people with diabetes to live long, healthy lives and advances educators’

ongoing career goals. Additionally, the site serves as a collaboration and

content hub for diabetes educators to connect and share best practices in

diabetes education.

Sample Web Mission Statement

When it comes to the elite field of top-producing

content marketers, associations stand alone

as the ones that do not yet have a content

strategy.

Monica Busolatti

What to publish?

Why publish it?

When do you publish it?

How do you publish it?

How do you promote it?

Elements of Content Strategy

User Needs (What’s Desired)

Business Drivers (What’s

important)

Technology (What’s

Possible)

<association name> offers (adjective), (adjective)

content that helps (users) (accomplish goal) and

(accomplish goal) by making (users) feel (adjective),

(adjective) and (adjective), and convincing them to

(take desired action) and (take desired action).

Content strategy generator

ASAE Tech 2014: Building Your Own Content Strategy Roadmap – Carrie Hane Dennison

Organizing is what

you do before you do

something, so that

when you do it, it is

not all mixed up.

A.A. Milne

Consistent execution of content and development across all areas of the site

Technical infrastructure is well-architected with well implemented, enterprise-wide tools

Web team is content with day-to-day processes and poised to manage future enhancements

Signs of Successful Governance

Web Governance

Key components

Web Governance

Ownership Authority

Standards

Owners & Participants

Web Governance

Web & IT Teams Marketing,

Communications & Design

Subject Matter Experts

Make everyone

a publisher

“Sitefinity’s simple user interface has allowed our subject

matter experts to easily create content and be more

responsive to our member’s needs. Getting each

department involved and understanding how to manage

content has helped strengthen our site and make the

workflow more manageable.”

Angela Klaves Director of Marketing

Wisconsin Credit Union League

Create Ownership

Assign Responsibility

- Performance Reviews

- RACI Chart

Train and support

Getting Staff Involved

Potential RACI Chart

PM/Editor CEO COO CMO IT Marketing Events

Content Audit R, A C C C I C A

Content Schedule R A C C I R, A R, A

Content Research A I I I I R, A R, A

Content Publishing A I I C I C C

Content Promotion R, A I I C I C C

Metrics and Analysis R, A C C C C C C

Responsible - Those who do the work to achieve the task Accountable - The one that signs off on the work Consulted - Those whose opinions are sought; SMEs Informed - Those who are kept up to date; 1 way communication

Success Key #3

The home page is dead. Every page is a home page

Google Analytics – Top Landing Pages

Many users will enter your site through a page OTHER than your homepage

- Search Engine Optimization

- Email Marketing

- Social Sharing

Internal Landing Pages

Make every page count

Build web

pages for

the modern

Users read in F-Shaped Patterns

The more important something is, the bigger it is on the page

Use behavior to engage and convert

Create visual hierarchy

Make every page findable

Get rid of half the

words on each page,

then get rid of half of

what’s left.

Steve Krug

Keep it short

Brief content improves usability

Increase in usability by cutting words on

the page

Excess words must die

- Happy talk

- Instructions

- Unnecessary adjectives (e.g. that)

Shorter paragraphs

Nielsen Norman Group - How Users Read on the Web - http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/

Yep... You’ve seen this copy before

The following questionnaire is designed to provide us with information that will help us improve the site and make it more relevant to your needs. Please select your answers from the drop-down menus and radio buttons below.

The questionnaire should only take you 2 to 3 minutes to complete. At the bottom of the form you can choose to leave your name, address, and telephone number. If you leave your name and number, you may be contacted in the future to participate in a survey to help us improve the site.

If you have comments or concerns that require a response please contact Customer Service

Ahh... That’s much better

Please help us improve the site by answering these questions. It should only take you 2-3 minutes to complete the survey.

NOTE: If you have comments or concerns that require a response, don’t use the form. Instead, please contact Customer Service.

How much content is just right?

Headline

Short Summary

Detailed Summary/Abstract

Detailed Content SEO/Email/ Direct Links

Navigation Top of Site

Deep Pages

users have time to

read at most 28% of

the words during an

average visit. 20% is

more likely.

Jakob Nielsen

Embrace heads and sub-heads - Format in Word

Break up content with bullets and lists - Like this one

Use formatting to call out copy - Bold sparingly (but effectively) - Italics

White space between content

Use strategic images

Write and layout web pages (and emails) for scanning

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;

whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I

find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and

bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially

whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it

requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from

deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking

people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as

soon as I can."

I must go to sea when:

•  I'm depressed or melancholy

•  I stop in front of coffin warehouses

•  I follow funerals

•  I have a powerful urge to knock people's hats off

Writing for Readers Who Scan by Kathy Henning

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1716452/writing-readers-who-scan

Every page

must be

optimized

for SEO

Don’t hide content

Meta data counts - Title Tag - Description Tag

Write for Noobs, not Gurus

SEO on Every Page

SEO For Every Page

Have a mobile strategy or get left behind

Success Key #4

86% of China’s

internet users access

the internet from

their mobile phones

UberGizmo

40% of Emails

are opened from

a mobile device

Informz

The Tao of association Mobile Strategy

Context

Content

In between patients, no

access to computer until

break or only at nurse’s

station

Context and content

Business Exec

In meetings without laptop,

taking notes on a tablet or

netbook computer

Customer service rep

Sitting at desk in a call center

with a desktop computer and

multiple monitors.

Patient resources,

practice guidelines,

medical references

News and trends,

best practices,

industry research

Best practices,

reference materials,

detailed information

Responsive Design One version for all devices

Co-exists with other mobile strategies

Large download

Choosing a Mobile Strategy

POTO CAPTION

Mobile App Specialized and optimized task focused experience

Device specific capabilities

Device versioning

Mobile Website Specialized site for specific devices

Lighter code, faster loading

Versioning

Hybrid – HMTL & Wrap Specialized wrap for devices with HTML content

Good layout and styling control

Device versioning

Weigh the Pros and Cons

www.vtcus.com/mobile-strategy

Building a mobile roadmap for Associations

Mobile Responsive App

Stop-gap answer if there is no mobile

presence

Long term answer for select content if

it is updated frequently enough

Include in website redesign process

Good for wide range of content

Best option for limited

budget

Standalone app for events or products

Good for specific content

Requires commitment and dedicated budget

Membership is only one goal. Feed the Funnel.

Success Key #5

More associations rely on Non-Dues Revenue

There is more to Revenue than just dues

Member-centric model is shifting

For profit competitors are offering association type services:

- Doximity

- Nurse.com

The rules of engagement are changing

http://www.associationadviser.com/index.php/will-association-earn-non-dues-revenue/

Associations with non-dues revenue

counting for 25% to 50% of total revenue

Dan Pink

The balance has shifted. If you’re the buyer you’ve got as much information as the seller… you’re no longer the only one who needs to be on notice. In a world of information parity, the new guiding principle is caveat venditor – seller beware.

Engage and

convert at

“Find my resources” is not an action

Engage by Driving Action

We want users to DO something

Give them someplace to go and keep them engaged

Drive users into other content

Make the ask in your content

Creating Action

For more information about becoming a diabetes educator, download the Career Path Guidebook for Diabetes Educators.

If you found this helpful, share it on Facebook or Twitter

Connect with fellow members on LinkedIn

Stay informed of this and other important policy issues by signing up for our Action Alerts.

Tap into data and user behavior to engage and convert

Marketing automation strategy

Learn Evaluate Convert Retain Advocate

Ques%ons What answers my ques%on? How do I find out more?

What do you offer? How do others like me benefit and how do I know it’s working?

How do I join, donate, par%cipate? Why join, donate, par%cipate now?

Is this worth my investment? What’s in it for me? Do I use this?

How can I share this with others like me? How can I spread the word?

Channel Website, blogs, social media, webinars

Email, website, social, events

Email, website, calls Email, website, events, community

Email, website, events, community, Social

Content Reports Webinars Fact sheets Stories Press releases

Company fact + benefit sheets Trials Event invites Stories Cost informa%on

Online forms Mail in purchase Phone number Local office Discounts

Benefit informa%on Reminders + news Exclusives Thank yous Volunteer informa%on

Board, commiTee + volunteer informa%on Member-‐get-‐a –member Call for proposals

Consider how UX and IA can convert

User flow matters

Think “what’s next?” in the experience

Offer conversion points to get them there

Leverage your CMS and other systems

Tap into data and user behavior to engage and convert

Personalize and nurture

94% of marketers agree “personalization of the web experience is critical to current and future success”

Content Personalization is available mid-market

http://www.monetate.com/2013/05/the-tipping-point-for-personalized-website-experiences/

Collect, nurture, convert, engage

Marketing automation opens opportunities

Develop Personas

Define the Lifecycle

Map Content Automate Campaigns

Measure Effectiveness

Wrapping up

5 Keys to Association Website Success

Have a mobile

strategy or get left behind.

The home page is

dead. Every page is a

home page.

Membership is only one goal. Feed the funnel.

Build a Marcomm technology roadmap.

It’s time to kick

Content Marketing’s

ANY QUESTIONS?

We’re socıal

Get in touch

703.439.1990

rvanhilst@vtcus.com

twıtter/vanguardtech

twıtter/rvanhilst

www.vtcus.com

888.371.1842 x5

experts@informz.com

twıtter/informz

www.informz.com

Thank you

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