Clubs put significant time and effort into their member electronic communications, “e-communications,” but are members looking forward to receiving them? Improperly executed, club e-communications can get lost in a member’s inbox. However, when constructed and delivered effectively, they can be a member’s go-to resource for timely club news and events. Clubs with successful e-communications campaigns show engagement rates (open rates, clicks, forwards, etc.) of more than 80 percent. While such rates sound unusually high, it’s not as uncommon as you might think.
This article discusses how to transform your everyday e-communications into the #1 tool for member engagement by utilizing proven tactics. Many of these tactics are simple to execute; however, to fully realize their potential, you will need to plan your e-communications more strategically, and begin to dabble in “data driven communications.”
The Private Club Advantage
Before exploring these tactics, it’s important to realize and understand that private clubs have a unique relationship with their members that sets them apart from other organizations. That relationship, built on trust in your club and its legacy and culture, by nature fosters more personalized, two-way dialogue with members. However, today’s private clubs members are savvy consumers with more choices than ever. So, how can your club stay relevant and competitive? By using your club’s competitive advantage to capture their attention with compelling content that engages them.
Communications are the lifeblood to an informed and engaged membership. Delivering the right message to the right member at the right time creates value beyond member expectations and activates them both online and onsite at the club. Members expect personalized and relevant communications, a seamless online experience, and on-demand mobile service. They expect club communications to keep pace with their technology wants and needs. So how do you get your message across without “being deleted,” and, at the same time spark member engagement and activation?
Strategic Communications Planning
The first step to any successful member communications program is planning. Without a communications strategy and plan in place, your messages are more likely to be ignored and less likely to break through the clutter. Using an outside resource for your strategic communications planning may help you gain perspective on how well (or not) you are currently doing, and provide the roadmap needed for future success. However, if an outside resource is not an option, here are steps to develop a plan:
- Meet with all of your department heads to identify their current urgent needs and communications goal
- Speak to members for their opinions about what they want in their communications
- Look at past performance metrics, identify the hits and misses
- Set an action plan to prioritize and promote the issues, events and news that are most important to the club and club members
There’s no “one size fits all” strategy when it comes to member communications; however, making communications planning part of your club’s overall annual strategic planning process will get you started in the right direction.
Getting the Most Impact
While communications planning encompasses far more than just e-mail, electronic communications are increasingly becoming important communications vehicles used by clubs to keep members informed. But what good are e-mails if members are deleting them before they’ve even finished reading the subject line?
Like you, members are also challenged with e-mail overload. This makes it vital for you to cut through the clutter and get your message noticed. But how do you do this? The following techniques are just some of the ways you can enhance the member experience and turn your e-communications into something your members actually look forward to receiving in their inbox. The focus will be on tactics applicable to a club’s weekly e-newsletter, however most of the following can apply to all of your member e-mail communications.
Get Personal
Sometimes it’s the little things that count. When you give your members a more personalized experience, your message instantly becomes more impactful. Leveraging information you likely have readily available such as birthdays, anniversaries, club amenity preferences, membership level, etc., can help you deliver a message that speaks directly to the individual. It’s imperative to ensure you are capturing as much member data as possible, collecting and logging member preferences, and most importantly, making sure all of your systems are syncing properly so your data is kept “clean.”
Consider including a monthly birthday or anniversary coupon within your e-newsletter. The club can invite the member to celebrate the occasion at the club, and the coupon can offer a celebratory cocktail, dessert or appetizer. As long as your club’s system captures each member’s special dates, you can segment the coupons according to the months in which the events fall.
Personalized content can also mean delivering targeted information specific to the member’s preferences. If Mr. and Mrs. Smith have attended three consecutive wine dinners and the club has an upcoming wine tasting with limited capacity, imagine how special Mr. and Mrs. Smith will feel when they get an exclusive invitation via their version of the club’s e-newsletter giving them the chance to register first. It’s the little things that go a long way.
Consistency
If you subscribe to a magazine (such as Club Director) and didn’t get your April edition until May, you would probably feel a bit slighted and possibly wary of the timeliness of the content within. The same principle applies to your club’s e-newsletters. Whether it’s something you send to members on a weekly basis (best practice) or once per month, consistency and timeliness are critical to its success. Be sure to send your weekly e-newsletters on the same day and time each week so members get accustomed to receiving them in their inbox on schedule. Likewise with a monthly e-newsletter, deliver it at the same time each month so your members know when to expect it (and if for some reason it gets caught in their spam folder, they will know it’s missing and look for it or ask for it).
Subject Lines
No matter how great the content is within your e-newsletter, if you are not clear about what you are sending then all of your hard work is going to waste. Be sure to use a consistent subject line for your e-newsletter so members know what they are getting, and list your club name first. For example, “The CLUB NAME Weekly: February 1, 2014”
There is a time and place to get creative with your subject lines, and your e-newsletter is not one of them.
Convenience is a Must
You are busy and so are your members. When creating content for your e-newsletter, consider your readers and present your content in a format that is easy to scan and offers conveniences such as one click access to dining and event reservations, tee times, online statements and bill pay. To better activate members, be sure to write compelling calls to action and encourage them to access these convenient tools.
It’s also important to plan your event promotions well in advance so that members have adequate lead time to mark the event in their calendars. Including a list of future club happenings via a “Save the Date” section will also give members the chance to plan accordingly. Utilize the main areas of the e-newsletter to highlight the most interesting club news and timely events so those are seen first.
Also consider categorizing your content in sections that will speak to various departments of the club. For example, you may want to break out the content by “Family Activities,” “Social Events,” “Dining,” “Golf” and “Fitness.” This will help give your content structure and let members more easily find the content of interest to them.
Staff Message/Articles
While promoting upcoming events and activities is a core element of an e-newsletter, letters from the GM, board of directors and president and articles from the membership director, golf pro and chef, consistently achieve the highest readership among members.
Hearing about upcoming projects, facility improvements, amenity improvements/changes, updates on club policies, new dining options and exciting upcoming events directly from club leadership makes members feel more connected to the club.
Video is Even More Effective
Even better, rather than including an article from the general manager or the club president, consider a video instead. This ties back to adding a personal touch—a video message gives personality to the content and offers more depth than the written word can accomplish.
In addition to including video messages from management, you can get creative and include video invitations to events, tips from the pros, messages from your catering department highlighting the latest and greatest trends in weddings (with visuals included), or perhaps the club chef could demonstrate how to create the perfect soufflé.
With today’s video technology being so mainstream, and the plethora of free video hosting platforms available, video content doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot (or any) money.
Member Spotlight
Your club’s membership is made up of a diverse group of individuals, so why not highlight your members and their achievements. In each issue of your club’s e-newsletter, include an article featuring a member who has accomplished something special, positively contributed to the community, or has an uplifting story.
To get all members involved, consider incorporating a link to “Nominate a Member” within the e-newsletter. Then, at your discretion, you can select a member to be featured. The nominee, or even the person nominating that member can potentially write the article or “Member Spotlight.” This will help generate more “buzz” around the e-newsletter and get members more involved with the content creation.
Members on the Move
Everyone needs to get away once in a while! Ask your members to mail postcards or send pictures from the destinations they have visited, either recently, or in the past. Compile a list of all the postcards and photos you collect from members and include it in the e-newsletter. Pick a destination to feature once a month, and give the member who vacationed there a complimentary cocktail or dessert to help ease them back to reality.
Make it Fun
Want to really get your members talking about your e-newsletter? Set up a monthly giveaway! In this section, you can showcase virtually anything (overstock merchandise at the pro shop, a cocktail or dessert at the club, free admission to upcoming events, free golf cart rental, etc.) that members would really appreciate “winning.”
Have members who are interested in the giveaway item send an e-mail to a designated club contact by a certain date. Then, put all names into a drawing and pick one lucky winner! The winner can then be showcased in the following week’s e-newsletter.
A club in California is using this member engagement strategy by running an article in their e-newsletter each month called “Where’s Greg?” When members read this article, they are informed that a picture of their club’s general manager has been hidden somewhere on the club’s website, and the first member to find the photo and then e-mail the club’s communications manager will win a $25 gift certificate. The “Where’s Greg” game has been well received by members, and it’s also helped increase website traffic and member engagement.
By regularly changing the giveaway item, members will get excited to see what next month’s giveaway will be. This promotion will also help activate your membership by getting them into the club redeeming coupons, dining and attending events!
Tastefully Delicious
Give your members the ability to share their favorite recipes with fellow members. Feature an article in the e-newsletter asking members to e-mail a club contact with their favorite appetizer, entrée, drink or dessert recipe. Each week or month, pick the recipe that you think would be most appealing to others and feature it in the “Tastefully Delicious” section. You can include the member’s name who submitted it and give those individuals something in return for their recipe.
If this section becomes really popular, you can create a member cookbook and make it available for download through the e-newsletter. Whether it’s a seasonal recipe, signature drink recipe, or a traditional family recipe, this is a great way to entice members to share their delicious dishes.
Captivating Communications
To get the most out of your e-communications, and to achieve the type of engagement that makes your efforts worthwhile, it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of your members. Give them something unique that they look forward to reading. It takes creativity and planning, but the results are well worth it. To summarize:
1. Develop a strategic communications plan and prioritize your communications objectives
2. Use member demographics and interests to deliver personalized, data driven communications
3. Consistently deliver at the same day and time, so members know when to expect it, and use the same format for subject lines
4. Provide one-click access to reservations and other online tools
5. Create a “Save the Date” section for upcoming key events and activities and categorize the other content (Welcome Message, Dining, Golf, etc.)
6. Make your e-newsletters more than event listings, they should include articles and messages from club leadership and staff
7. Incorporate video to achieve the highest click-through rates
8. Spotlight your members
9. Be creative…make your e-newsletter fun
Matthew Kovelan is the chief strategy officer of VCT, a leader in private club strategic advisory services and solutions. VCT’s mission is to empower club leadership to enhance the member experience through strategic communications, marketing and technology. For more information visit www.ExperienceVCT.com.