Looking for a new approach to email marketing? Work with influencers, suggests a recent post on the Campaign Monitor blog. In an age when trust in traditional advertising is down and a focus on relatability is up, influencers can help your organization stand out.

“When influencers work with brands, their marketers are actually reaching out to the influencers’ followers. It’s a way to advertise products and services in a relatable and, ideally, organic way,” says the Campaign Monitor team. “It’s more than an advertising gimmick. People typically value outside opinions, especially when they come from unaffiliated third parties.”

To get started, you’ll need to find the right influencer—and it’s not always the one who’s most popular. Look for individuals who have personalities and values that align with your organization’s, says the Campaign Monitor team.

Once the right person is chosen, there are many ways to bring that person into your email marketing strategy. For one, you can use influencers to add an emotional element to your campaign. Let them share relevant stories and opinions related to your industry or organization.

“Any content strategy plan should center on a human connection before it’s optimized for online search engines,” the Campaign Monitor team says. “Even if everything else isn’t relatable, stories from these influencers work because they’re windows into their worlds.”

Influencers can also serve as effective advocates when you include them in reviews or testimonials. Your email could include pictures of your influencers along with quotes describing their experiences with your organization. This strategy makes your organization more trustworthy because readers can match a real person to the review they’re reading.

Organizing Member Data

5 Tips for Organizing Your Member Data https://t.co/7vR8qDL5Bg #ASSNCHAT @JakeFromFonteva

— SmartThoughts (@smartnonprofit) March 6, 2020

As more members join your association, it gets harder and harder to manage all of their data. To make sense of the information you have—personal details, contact information, event and membership metrics—your organization needs an effective association management solution, says Fonteva’s Jake Fabbri on the Feathr blog.

To best organize member information, your data should be stored in a centralized location, such as a member database or constituent relationship management (CRM) system.

“With your data centralized in your CRM, you can easily oversee and manage members, and you can automate manual and tedious tasks, freeing up more time for you to work on strategic initiatives,” Fabbri says.

Other Links of Note

Does your organization offer online learning? A recent post from Learning Solutions breaks down how to keep people engaged in a virtual classroom.

Transform your to-do list. Fast Company offers some tips that will boost your productivity.

Should engagement still matter to marketers? Content Marketing Institute’s Jodi Harris looks at the value of engagement.

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