Your online membership application can be the ultimate tool in turning prospects into full-fledged newbies. Well, as long as it’s built accordingly.

On one hand, it’s important to acknowledge that people don’t have time to fill out a lengthy application. But, on the other hand, because of the valuable information an application holds, it can be OK to make it longer than usual in the name of improving the member experience, says Colleen Bottorff on the MemberClicks blog.

“What do you need in order to give them the member experience they want?” she asks. “The more that you can learn about your members as individuals, the better you can provide the benefits and services that they joined for. (And probably some they didn’t even know they wanted!)”

But don’t let data be an excuse to go crazy mining for information.

“Be selective with what information you require your (almost) new member to submit,” Bottorff says. “The typical stuff—name, email, address, etc.—should definitely be required. And you may require two to three secondarily important items in the name of giving them that tailored experience. But everything else? Keep it optional.”

Instagram’s Engagement Drivers

Some good insights to help improve your @instagram strategy (via @quintly) #smm https://t.co/ZPjqGKyFgM

— Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day) September 10, 2019

Images might be the most popular post type for brands on Instagram, but carousels get 24.9 percent more engagement—and videos another 19.4 percent more than that, according to a new report by social media analytics company Quintly.

“Clearly, brands should be looking beyond image posts if they want to maximize their Instagram performance,” writes Andrew Hutchinson on Social Media Today.

Another area of expansion: emojis. Quintly’s study found that more than half of brands (52.3 percent) don’t use them, but “the higher the number of emojis used, the higher the amount of interactions.”

Other Links of Note

It goes to 11. The new iPhone is here, and like last year, it comes in three different versions, each with snazzy new cameras. The Verge has the scoop.

Sending a callout for volunteers shouldn’t be your entire recruitment strategy. The Wild Apricot blog explains how to build out a formal recruitment process.

Learning is a process, and if you don’t “show your work”—that is, how you got from point A to realization B—you miss part of the education process, says Jeff Cobb on Mission to Learn.

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