Membership Mindset: Getting Membership Right.

Membership Mindset: Getting Membership Right
Part III

Alina Charania, Client Solutions Director, Bond Brand Loyalty 

Despite the potential upside in entering this differentiated space, it is not uncommon to see membership typically reside within one department. Typically, it’s either embedded in programmatic loyalty (if there is a loyalty program) or reduced to a KPI measured by acquisition or campaign management teams. This is a short-sighted approach and often limited in unpacking the true potential of a membership mindset.

For brands, think about it from your customers’ perspective: when they interact with a brand, they don’t compartmentalize their experiences depending on channels, platforms, or teams. Each interaction adds up to the overall sentiment and experience that they have with one brand. This implies an important takeaway:

A Membership organization must consider the entire brand’s ecosystem, and have membership show up across the entire customer journey: through hard and soft benefits, communications, lifecycle marketing, program mechanics, community, events, and more.

How can organizations get membership right? Here are a few actionable tactics that can help:

1. Define what membership means to you 

Membership is all about a mindset shift—it requires every stakeholder to think differently. Begin with a forward-thinking strategy and vision that asks, “What does membership really mean for our business? What do  we want our members to experience? What would compel them to join and stay?”

The next step is to socialize this strategy as a new way of operating and thinking. Start with fostering a member mindset across the organization and get buy-in from the executive leadership. Then reach out to the teams focused on execution (e.g. GTM, E&R, Acquisition teams, etc.) and ground them in the idea of shared accountability. Begin with thorough audits of KPIs and metrics that each team uses to track their goal progress. Ensure all these KPIs ladder up to the same broader goals set by the organization.

Next, talk to your members. We mentioned the power of convergent thinking in Part 2 of this series; transformational change can only happen when members are at the center of everything a brand does.

2. Pay attention to members’ behaviors and preferences 

Ground your stakeholders in the importance of leading with data—both behavioral and attitudinal—to cater to different member cohorts. Use data not only to measure, but also to discover. Discover how to make communications personal, conduct a benefit audit to prioritize customized experiences, and constantly update offerings based on member’s contextual journey. Identify simple approaches to ask customer questions at different points in their journey. Show them that you know them and, most importantly, that you are paying attention and putting insight to action.

One example is to use members’ attitudinal data to identify which complementary offerings (i.e. Partnerships) can help improve perceived value of your brand. Let’s look at a recent example from Walmart+, for instance: they constantly ask their members how best to pivot. That, coupled with the member data that they already have (e.g., 75% of their members were pet owners), led to their continued partnership with Pawp. What launched as a limited time offer quickly became a permanent embedded benefit of their value proposition, thanks to the high redemption rates and great member feedback.

Next, consider the holistic customer journey and ask your team, “How can we assess current state journeys to identify gaps where “membership” must show up?”

3. Focus on a member’s Total Experience

Have membership show up across the members’ entire journey with your brand, not just one touchpoint. Invest in developing a robust onboarding communications strategy grounded in member behaviors; that way, members learn about breadth of benefits quickly and develop habitual, favorable behavior. Treat each interaction and touchpoint as an entry point into growing loyalty within the relationship.

And lastly, keep iterating and innovating to showcase undeniable value of your forever promise.

4. Focus on a culture of innovation 

Stay tuned into the value that members receive for their loyalty. Keep iterating to grow and change with members’ evolving needs. Don’t let your benefits stagnate and stay ahead of imitation. Amazon started as an online bookstore, Netflix didn’t own their content when they began, and Nike only sold through wholesalers for years. But these are still considered some of the best membership organizations today because they kept evolving their offerings (and still do) to elevate their perceived value and justify the price value equation.

Let’s redefine what loyalty looks like for your brand.

Bond’s Loyalty & Strategy solutions help brands design emotionally resonant programs by identifying super users, crafting differentiated benefits, and embedding personalization across the journey.

Learn more here.