In the association world, is there any word more frequently used than “engagement”? Engagement scoring is just one of the many ways associations try to make sense of the reams of data they have on member interactions. But do small variations in scores across all members actually reveal anything useful?

“Often member engagement scores have little to do with the real world and need to connect to something more substantial to reflect how our members actually interact with our organizations and why they do it,” writes Kerry Cosby in a recent blog post for Association Success.

Cosby recommends recalibrating your engagement scores with a specific achievable goal in mind. “It is much better to have an outcome in mind from the beginning,” he says. “Are we interested in how engagement leads to continued membership? How about the relationship between engagement and leadership development? Maybe we want to know how engagement helps our members advance in their careers.”

Focusing on what you want to learn helps you create more meaningful engagement scoring for your association, he says.

Tweet Traction

How to get more traction for your tweets by educating, entertaining & enticing — by @edsurge https://t.co/1K5APxhStd #assnchat pic.twitter.com/1KTbwGnN6X

— Deirdre Reid, CAE (@DeirdreReid) January 5, 2018

Are your Twitter numbers a little flat? A recent EdSurge post takes a look at how a social media marketing campaign from the American Council on Education (ACE) got big traction on Twitter by using the six “E’s” of social engagement: educate, elevate, empower, ease, entice, and entertain.

“The first step to engaging an audience on social media is to educate them,” writes Anthony Shop. “What is your target audience curious about? What are they searching for?”

If you have a campaign coming up that could use some social media oomph, the ACE example could provide some helpful guidance.

Other Links of Note

Are you clear on your professional nonprofit goals? Beth’s Blog shares three New Year’s rituals that will help you prepare for the year ahead.

New digital tools are fun, but meeting designer and facilitator Adrian Segar explains why they aren’t always the right answer for events.

The success of Uber and Airbnb aren’t the only evidence that millennials are a different breed of travelers than older generations. Millennials are more security-conscious and more sociable, according to Event Marketer.

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