How Can You Up Your Association Content Game? Four Big Questions to Ask Now
The online content your nonprofit creates tells a story. It highlights the importance of your work and accomplishments. Done well, it can further your mission by attracting new members and inspiring constituents to action.
Now that the pandemic has moved so much of our lives online, your association content strategy is more important than ever. And your audience expects more than ever: a static website, monthly newsletter, and occasional Facebook posts are not enough.
Sequence Consulting recently conducted a survey of national and Chicago-area associations to find out how the pandemic had changed their members’ expectations for online content. What we found almost certainly applies to most nonprofits, regardless of size and mission: the demand for timely and useful information is increasing and will likely remain high in a post-pandemic world. To decide if your nonprofit needs to level up its content strategy, ask yourself the following four questions:
1. Do You Publish New Association Content Often?
If not, you need to! In the past year, organizations that prided themselves on highly-produced, in-depth publications learned that this content style no longer worked for their members.
Todd Unger, chief experience officer of the American Medical Association, said that members were now asking for more frequent contact, and cared less about the production value of content than its timeliness. “We want to see you more and hear from you more,” members told the AMA.
All nonprofits should make new online content a priority, but the frequency depends on your goals. If your mission, like the AMA’s, includes being an up-to-date source of relevant news, then you should publish new association content daily. Advocacy organizations that aim to inspire members to immediate action on important issues should produce content daily, even if just through a social media post or a tweet. Even the smallest nonprofits shouldn’t neglect to communicate weekly if they want to be remembered. Fortunately, frequent communication has never been easier, and you no longer need to spend time and resources on perfectly polished content—members and contributors prefer content that meets their immediate needs.
2. Are You Taking Full Advantage of Technology?
3. Are You Publishing Your Events As Association Content?
4. Are You Highlighting Constituent Stories?
For more information on how top associations are using lessons learned during the pandemic to transform content marketing for associations, read our complete research report, Ten Ways to Get Ready for the Future of Membership Now.
This article was originally published by the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits
