Mapping Out Your Member Journey

The complete experience a member has with your association, from the first point of contact to the termination of membership, is often referred to as the 'member journey.' It encompasses all interactions, communication, and experiences your members have during the various stages of their membership.

Why is understanding the member journey important?

A deep understanding of the member journey enables you to identify pain points and areas for improvement. This allows your association to take targeted actions to optimise member recruitment, retention, and satisfaction. Additionally, it helps personalise communication and services, making members feel more valued and heard. A well-mapped member journey can also contribute to strategic decision-making and resource prioritisation. By knowing which aspects of the member journey are most impactful, an association can more effectively invest in initiatives that create the greatest value for its members.

How do you map out such a member journey?

A detailed and accurate map of the member journey is invaluable for any association. By charting the steps members go through, you can gain valuable insights into their needs, motivations, and pain points. These insights can then be used to improve your association and increase member engagement. Marketing automation tools can help by automating data collection and communication processes, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively. Here are some tips to map out the member journey:

1. Define your objective

   What exactly do you want to achieve by mapping out the member journey? Do you want to improve member satisfaction? Increase membership retention? Or boost engagement at events? Once you know your goals, you can tailor your research and analysis accordingly.

2. Identify touchpoints and segment

Next, map out all possible touchpoints where members interact with your association. These can be physical encounters at events, but also online interactions such as newsletters and social media. Then, it is important to segment your members based on criteria such as age, membership duration, interests, activity level, and interaction history. This helps in collecting targeted and relevant data for groups of 'similar' members.

3. Collect data

There are various ways to gather information about the different stages of your members. You can start with an analysis of website usage, social media, and, if your association has one, the app. If you use a CRM system, it can often provide valuable information as well. Marketing automation tools can be integrated with your CRM to send automated surveys and personalized communication, allowing you to quickly and easily collect feedback. However, the most valuable information often comes from personal conversations. You can conduct interviews with members to delve deeper into their experiences, wishes, and needs. Lastly, focus groups can be used to identify common themes and patterns.

4. Analyze and identify

Once you have collected the data, it's time to analyse it. Look for patterns and trends that can help you identify the different stages of a member journey. Generally, a member journey consists of at least the following phases: awareness, consideration, decision, onboarding, engagement, retention, loyalty, and departure. These phases do not necessarily follow each other logically.

5. Make the journey visually insightful

Use the insights from your collected data to create a visual representation of the member journey. This map should display the different stages of the journey, as well as the pain points and challenges members may experience. Various online tools are available to create such a visual map, such as Lucidchart, Miro, or Canva.

6. Share your findings and keep evaluating

Share your findings with your team and other stakeholders within your association. Use the insights to improve your association and increase member engagement. Also, remember that a member journey is constantly evolving. Therefore, it is important to regularly review your findings and update your member journey map as necessary.