To be successful as an organization and grow your membership, it's critically important to understand as much as possible about your current members, target members, and competition. Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing data to help you refine your membership message and value proposition relative to your competition.
But, market research doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Here are three free ways to integrate market research into your non-profit marketing decisions.
Know Your Member: Membership Research
Look first at your existing membership data. Which of your products do they use the most? What events do they attend the most? What webinars are most popular? What are their likes and dislikes? What are the demographic trends? Most non-profits already have access to much of this information either through a membership management system, event surveys, or anecdotal evidence. Remember, conducting a new membership survey is not always the answer. Looking at data points you already have will give you a good indication of what services and products are most valuable to the membership experience.
Know Your Competition: Competitor Research
Once you have an idea of who your current member is and what they value, define your competitive set and identify key competitive aspects you’d like to understand. Your competitive set may include comparable associations, corporate entities, government services, and also online resources that may provide information similar to your publications or advocacy services. The aspects you include will vary, but look at mission statements, membership demographics, key products and services, online experiences, social channels, and webinars. Be sure to track the services and benefits you defined during your member research. Try revisiting this semi-annually to stay in-tune with trends in your industry.
Know Your Channels: Channel Research
One of the best sources for market research is your existing marketing channel mix. Look at your existing email, direct mail, and online metrics to identify what events, services, or products generate the most buzz. Integrate website analytics to identify click through rates of various pages. You can also try A/B testing in email subject lines to further identify what messages resonate with your members.
Market research doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Think creatively about the data you may already have and you will never be fooled again by a lack of information.
