Robust membership is the core of every successful association, and membership growth is the goal of every association marketer. Targeted digital advertising has become the ultimate solution for today’s membership directors and marketers.
Targeted advertising is a method of serving ads and other marketing messages to an audience you define. By controlling the parameters of the audience that sees your advertising, you ensure that your limited marketing budget is only spent on the right people.
Here are some ways of targeted advertising
Retargeting campaign and landing page
Retargeting works by “tracking” visitors to your web properties, then showing them your marketing messages on other websites they visit. Retargeting converts at 10x the average of traditional display advertising because it’s limited to people who already know about your association.
Basic retargeting campaigns show an awareness message to anyone who has visited your website and links to your association’s homepage. That method is still way more effective than non-targeted display advertising.
Most retargeting providers offer segmentation. Segmentation enables advertising to visitors of not only your whole website but of specific pages. Start by building a segment of visitors to any membership related pages on your site. Doing this will ensure your campaign is only seen by people who have demonstrated an interest in membership.
Next, build a custom landing page to direct clicks from your campaign. The key to a successful landing page for your campaign is to offer all the information prospective members need, and multiple calls-to-action to enroll directly from the page.
Geofencing universities and major employers
Geofencing is a form of targeted advertising that only targets devices within a geographical location you define. Unlike retargeting, you can serve ads to people who have never visited your website.
This makes geofencing a phenomenal tool to raise awareness of the benefits of membership at pinpoint locations.
Many associations are struggling with membership numbers from younger generations. Geofencing a university campus, or even a specific classroom building within a university, gets your membership message in front of student’s eyes effectively and inexpensively.
Similarly, you can target large employers in your industry with membership awareness messages. Geofencing allows you to get super specific in your messaging since you know ads will only be seen by people at the physical location you choose.
Email mapping for new prospects and renewals
Retargeting is possible for people who have never visited your website as long as you have their email address. Most likely your association has an email list you use for email marketing. Expanding your email marketing efforts into another channel by using retargeting adds another touch without pestering your prospective members’ inboxes.
Studies show 10 or more touches are required before qualified prospects will engage with your marketing efforts. They shouldn’t all be emails.
To retarget using email mapping, simply upload your email lists into your retargeting provider and it will match the addresses with the cookies required for tracking. From there, you can include prospect emails in your membership retargeting campaigns.
