Monday Buzz: Regain Control of Your Renewal Rates

We’re still a ways from the release of this year’s Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, but Marketing General’s senior vice president, Tony Rossell, is offering fresh details to stew over.

In Rossell’s latest data release, the study found  (opens in a new tab) that 27 percent of associations saw their renewal rates decline in the past year, and the average renewal rate for individual membership associations dipped from 79 percent to 76 percent, while the average rate for trade associations fell from 87 percent to 85 percent.

So if your association is among those noticing this falloff, what can you do? Rossell provides some inferences he gleaned from the data:

“In most cases, when there was an increase reported in membership marketing budgets, there was also an increase in renewal rates over the 30 percent baseline,” Rossell writes.

“For example, 50 percent of the associations that reported an increase in spending on renewals saw an increase in renewal rates. Similarly 44 percent who reported an increase in recruitment spending and 39 percent who reported an increase in onboarding and engagement spending saw an increase in renewals.”

The results from the full report will appear in June  (opens in a new tab).

Tweet of the Day

How to Engage Introverts at Conferences http://t.co/0YXm8B0BjZ  (opens in a new tab) by @jezpaxman  (opens in a new tab) of @LiveUnion  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab)

— Julius Solaris (@tojulius) April 14, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Bringing introverts out of their shells is easier said than done. With events becoming more lively and cooperative, those of us less inclined to stand out in the crowd may be at a loss.

Jez Paxman over at Event Manager Blog  (opens in a new tab) outlines how to avoid turning off introverted members and event attendees. First and foremost:

“Avoid shouty jargon that leaves your would-be audience uncertain as to what the event will involve—no one knows what a collaboration zone will entail,” he writes.

Do you have tips on how to make sure your events are inclusive to everyone? Comment below or send a message over to @AssociationsNow  (opens in a new tab).

(ht @tojulius  (opens in a new tab))

Other GOOD READS

If you missed the Windows XP upgrade deadline, you’re not alone: Even the Internal Revenue Service failed to switch to a new operating system in time, and now it’s paying for the consequences  (opens in a new tab).

Still worried about Heartbleed? Forbes contributor Adam Tanner highlights two useful websites  (opens in a new tab) that can tell you whether your email has been compromised as a result of a security breach.

An early email experiment. Washington Post columnist John Kelly recounts his early foray into the world of email  (opens in a new tab) while employed by the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives.

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