7 Webinar Insights That Will Benefit Your Association Marketing Strategies

Use These Statistics To Host Webinars That Promote Your Association’s Brand

For associations to thrive in today's fast-paced technology era where access to information is just a few clicks away, there must be a shift in the way we approach membership acquisition and retention. 

This shift is a progression from members dependent on associations to members partnering with associations. This means you need to adjust your marketing strategy to meet them halfway. 

Your association is filled with people who have come together for a specific purpose. The unique challenges faced by your association depend on many factors. Staff size, budgeting limitations, and your ever-changing online marketing space all have an impact on your association's branding and conversion rate. 

Webinars are a great way to connect with your association members, offer valuable information, and build a sense of community that will have your members acting as loyal customers. 

But for your webinar to be a success, you need to amp up your marketing efforts. Let’s take a look at how you can further engage your members with webinars and some webinar marketing statistics that can help you plan a successful webinar that will drive association memberships. 

Photo by Mart Production

How Are Live And OnDemand Webinars Beneficial for Association Marketing? 

Online events like OnDemand and live webinars are a great way to power up your marketing strategy. 

Associations can benefit from using these engaging online events to increase memberships and maintain existing subscriptions. In fact, webinar benchmarks offer vital insights that can inform your marketing approach. 

Here are some common webinar metrics and what they can tell you about your association. 

Take a look at the webinar statistics below to see why and how associations can leverage their social media and networking appeal, as well as webinars and other marketing tactics, to influence participation and growth—guaranteeing membership renewal.  

Seven Webinar Engagement Statistics Prove Why You Need To Add Webinars To Your Association Marketing Strategy 

B2B companies know the power of the webinar. They attract high-quality leads and event hosts can learn a lot from the webinar metrics. 

While your association's goal isn’t necessarily to make sales, you want to do everything in your power to convince your members to renew cycle after cycle. 

Here are some webinar stats that offer insight on how you can adjust your association marketing strategy to make it more fruitful for you and your members. 

1. 23% Of Participants Want Networking Opportunities During A Webinar

According to a benchmark report from Marketing General Incorporated, 23% of the participants surveyed listed 'networking with others in the field' as their number 1 reason for joining an organization. 

This finding is essential to your marketing strategy because it gives your message a direction to compete against technology. Networking is something people struggle to achieve effectively online. With this in mind, you can plan live webinars with networking opportunities built into the schedule. This will positively impact how many people register for your event.

Send out a survey to determine the best day to host your online event if you go this route. Some respondents may prefer mid-week, like a Thursday, because the workweek tends to be less stressful than the earlier days of the week. 

2. Webinar Attendees Are Looking For Specialized Information

Access to specialized information is a massive bonus for association members. 12% of participants find it necessary because people don't always know which online source is credible and which is inaccurate, even with the power of the internet at their fingertips. 

This is why disseminating knowledge through associations and webinars is valuable to this professional group. It also aids in building the credibility of your association, which will be helpful for both new and existing members. 

Choose webinar hosts for your live event who are thought leaders in your industry. Your webinar platform should be able to record your session, which will allow you to use it in your content marketing strategy. 

3. Participants Want Proper Representation For Addressing Obstacles

10% of respondents say they join organizations for the possibility of advocacy. Everyone who works in a distinct industry or specialized field understands that there are specific guidelines and limitations that hinder us from fully accomplishing our goals. 

So, it's essential to find proper representation to overcome these obstacles together. Consider planning a live Q&A session after your webinar to address the issue of advocacy and communicate how your association can help its members. 

Depending on your attendance rate, you can even utilize webinar polling to see how they feel about advocacy and what you can offer in return. 

4. Lack Of Engagement Is Why People Leave Associations

According to Schonher's webinar, the reason why 38% of participants leave an association is because of a lack of engagement. 

Engagement is important because it helps people integrate into the association and create a culture they can identify with. 

Associations that make participant engagement a priority see higher membership renewal rates than those that don't prioritize engagement. What better way to digitally engage with your members than through webinar content and webcasts?

5. Leaving The Industry Accounts For A Third Of Membership Losses

30% of people reported leaving an association simply because participants left the field, industry, or profession. 

Though there's not much you can do to prevent this group of people from leaving, you can influence their decision to recommend your organization to others in the field. 

This can help increase the number of registrants, boost your association participation rate, and act as a good source of qualified leads. 

6. Membership Costs Drive People Away From Associations  

Around 30% of participants identified 'high membership cost' as the reason for their departure. 

Though you may not be able to adjust the cost of your membership to discourage participants from leaving, you can ensure that the benefits of your membership are worth the ROI.

Hosting interactive webinars can help increase the value of your membership. Consider guaranteeing a certain number of webinars to potential members as a selling point. 

If you see a decent average attendance rate, this is a good indicator that your webinar marketing strategy is on the right path. 

7. Humanize Your Digital Marketing Efforts To Retain 

When developing your association marketing strategies, keep in mind the 80/20 rule, as referenced by Dr. Frank Luntz: "80% of our life is emotion, and only 20% is intellect." 

While people are joining your organization for information and networking, engaging with them on a human level is the antidote to losing them when membership costs become an issue. 

Personalize your promotional emails and offer virtual events that allow association members to meet the people who make the association function. 

Photo by Chris Montgomery

Use Webinars To Boost Your Association Marketing Strategy

Webinars are a great lead generation and engagement strategy for any industry, but they have unique benefits for associations like yours. Choose a promotional strategy that is sustainable for the long haul in order to generate the most ROI. 

Like any marketing strategy, utilizing webinars in your promotional strategy should be consistent to create a loyal following for your association. Be flexible and add OnDemand or live webinars to your association marketing strategy today.