The Power of Email: Improving Membership Retention

February 16, 2015

It’s no secret that email is an incredible marketing tool. In fact, McKinsey & Company found that email is almost 40 times better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter.

But aside from email’s ability to gain new clientele, email is also a powerful tool for improving membership retention. There are a few things to remember about email marketing that can make it a more valuable asset to a company or association than you might think.

1. Email is the best medium to communicate with existing members. Why? Think about it: the people in your membership email base are there because they have opted in to it. They are part of your association by choice. If they didn’t want your emails, they wouldn’t have signed up with you in the first place. In addition, TheEmailAdmin.com reports that 74% of online adults state that email is their preferred method of communication. That’s nearly 3 in 4 people, folks!

2. Email is a quick and easy way to relay important information. Aside from being the best medium of communication for your members, email is also a great way to provide them with information that they may not have necessarily caught on your website or through your newsletter. ExactTarget reports that 91% of consumers check their email daily. That’s a pretty big number! Make sure you’re taking advantage of it with meaningful emails. Upcoming due dates, events, or meetings are great snippets of info to deliver through email.

3. Some people may even be turned off by lack of email communication. A survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that people actually like emails based on previous behaviors and preferences. Moreover, 81% of those surveyed said they were at least somewhat likely to engage with a company as a result of targeted emails. This only tells us that sending targeted emails to a defined market (such as a membership database) is an engagement opportunity that cannot be missed.

Email marketing, without doubt, can play a great role in improving membership retention rates. Targeted emails are a great resource for upping member interaction, especially because these emails are a service they have opted into. Would you like to know more about email marketing? Be sure to check out our recent article on Email Marketing Best Practices to learn all of the best tips and tricks in the business.

Megan Turner is a copywriter at Business on Market St., a San Diego-based marketing agency specializing in inbound marketing strategy. Ms. Turner is in charge of running the Business on Market St. blog, where she enjoys writing about inbound marketing tactics and trends, as well as tips for online writing.