IABC Wellington: Membership Marketing work plan 2015 Context Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and its activity is centred on government, as well as the creative industries. IABC Wellington is a medium-sized chapter, (re)-established in 2007 after losing membership through the global financial crisis. It has a membership of approximately 100 senior communicators at any one time, and a reach of approximately 400 drawn largely from the public sector reflecting the seat of Government, with the remainder comprising private and not for profit sectors, agencies and freelancers. The chapter s focus is on the local event programme, with 8-10 events a year attended by a mix of members and non-members, of which the latter are often a substantial proportion. We have traditionally had two principal sponsors, including a recruitment company. isentia (media monitoring) are our current sole sponsor at $5k per annum, but we have recently expanded our sponsorship offer and are pitching to a range of partners on an annual partner, event and in-kind basis in order to broaden our reach and membership value. This year has been a challenging one for IABC generally, with significant membership losses through the decreasing importance of membership associations internationally; the impact of the financial crisis on organisational budgets, and the downturn in individual memberships as a result of long-term technological under-investment by IABC head office. There is significant potential for growth across the larger government Ministries and also in the private sector. Goals and objectives After reaching a membership level of 100 within the first 18 months of establishing the chapter, membership slowed in the following four years and has always hovered around that mark, with very little fluctuation. In recent years we have been content to maintain the membership at its existing rate as a comfortable and sizeable market share. This year, aware of the short term global membership and technology challenges, the board set itself a weathering the storm goal of retaining membership numbers, with some specific stretch objectives to position for future growth. Our objectives are to: - maintain a minimum of 100 members overall between 1 January and 31 December 2015 - seek focused membership growth of 10%, ideally in the strategic advisor category, by 31 December 2016 - establish connections with a minimum of five private sector communications professionals by 31 December 2015 to grow individual membership numbers - demonstrate the value of IABC to heads of function as influencers for future corporate membership growth through a key internationally-focussed event.
Budget We delivered all membership initiatives on a zero budget, as a result of board volunteer time; in-kind sponsorships for design and print of membership brochure; partnerships for free event venue and delivery; and use of free-to-use communications tools. Implementation Recruitment This year we placed substantial effort on targeted membership marketing efforts to recruit in areas of untapped potential. Key activities have included: Local membership brochure (see separate file) The major development this year has been the introduction of a professionally designed and branded local membership brochure compiled using board and sponsor expertise. As a companion for the global membership marketing material, this provides us with the means to promote the value of IABC Wellington directly to potential members and is a vital support to our other membership initiatives. Membership gap analysis We identified that, despite holding the substantial market share of communication membership organisations, there remains significant growth potential in (some major) government agencies and in the private sector among banks, the energy sector, and telecommunications companies in particular. With the support of an executive recruitment sponsor, this year we mapped our membership database against their records of Wellington communications executives to develop a comprehensive list of potential members and friends. Targeted event invitations We deliberately targeted the most senior Wellington communications professionals and heads of function for a small group, invite-only Masterclass and luncheon with visiting global IABC chair Michael Ambjorn in December. Through executive recruitment sponsorship we were able to offer this event free of charge as a demonstration of value and a means to make vital connections with and between our target market of influencers. This work will set us up for substantial membership growth in 2016. Key partnerships We partner strategically with like-minded public sector, executive leadership and communications organisations including our competitors to cross-promote events of relevance and in the greater local strategic communications interest. These include the Institute of Public Affairs New Zealand, the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand, the Public Sector Network, Heads of Government Communications, the Wellington Internal Communications Network and Melcrum. Leverage of board social capital This year we have put greater strategic emphasis on the value of the professional and social networks, connections and capital of our board members to expand our reach and membership pitching. We appointed new agency and private sector board members in 2015
with the specific intention of growing the potential of our immediate reach into key organisations through a member get a member -style approach. This has already resulted in several new memberships including ACC, NZ Post, FMG, Contact Energy, Wellington Council and Victoria University of Wellington. Membership Month promotion Having advocated strongly for the resolution of IABC website technical issues impacting on the joining process for New Zealand members, we pushed international membership month strongly through communication, promotion and targeted pitching of the membership discounts. This resulted in five new memberships, with the potential for more in the immediate future through the promotional reach, and the greater visibility of IABC locally as a result of widespread promotion. Corporate recruitment We have a challenge with corporate membership in that we have long been vulnerable to two substantial government agencies, whose combined corporate members make up almost a third of our total membership numbers. This year we resolved to focus on a few simple but deliberate mitigation strategies with a view to protecting ourselves against the impact of the loss of one or both of these large members. Key activities have included: Refining quality of existing corporate memberships Recognising that we had the potential to lose the entirety of one of the member organisations, we worked alongside the Head of Function to refine their corporate membership to include only those operating at the strategic advisor or business partner level consistent with the IABC value proposition. This delivered savings for them, and ensured we are connecting with the right people As a result we lost five members but retained 16 that were otherwise vulnerable, and who are more influential with the broader Wellington peer group. Targeting organisations with 3-4 individual members Analysis of our membership database showed that we had several organisations with 3-4 members, who were close to the tipping point for corporate membership and had the numbers of staff to realise benefits. As a result of targeted approaches to those organisations we were able to secure two new small corporate members in 2014-15 (five members each). This buffer proved its worth almost immediately when joining issues as a result of long-term under-investment in international IABC technology meant we were at risk of the worst case scenario, with both large corporates coming up for renewal just as the joining issues hit. International speaker access To demonstrate deeper local value for corporate members, we provided individual access to international speakers Monika Lancucki and Michael Ambjorn, free of charge to member organisations for a tailored discussion with their teams. This resulted in four individual sessions with Monika, and 12 with Michael Ambjorn including with potential large corporate members. This has already resulted in an expression of interest in corporate membership from one target organisation: New Zealand Post, and the potential for several others to sign up in the next few months.
Invite-only lunch event with global chair In addition to the individual organisational visits we partnered with an executive recruitment specialist to invite selected Heads of Function and Directors of key non-member organisations to a small group lunch and masterclass with visiting global IABC chair Michael Ambjorn. We are following up the lunch with individual emails to attendees, with additional membership information, and seeking input into our 2016 programme. We are positioning ourselves to run an ongoing board room lunch programme for senior communicators in 2016, a new initiative. Member on boarding We place a lot of effort on ensuring that members receive a warm and personal local welcome to the chapter, so they feel part of the IABC community and a sense of connection to their peers. Key activities have included: Personal follow-up with re-joining members After the international welcome email has been sent out to new and re-joining members we follow up with a local email, connecting them with our member communications channels, promoting the upcoming event, and offering a coffee with a board member if they are interested in making an immediate connection. This informs our programme, means we have a good sense of our members, and helps ensure our members receive a warm welcome when they attend future events. In 2016 we are looking to step this up a level with a planned programme of board member coffees with new members as a matter of course; and by buddying new members with a more senior, long-serving member as a support to community building. Mentoring programme We facilitate a mentoring service that connects experienced IABC members and friends with new and more junior members. This was introduced in early 2015 and we have already made two productive connections, which are in their early stages. http://www.iabcwellington.co.nz/mentoring.html Sponsorship for local member to attend World Conference We run an annual promotion to offer one lucky member a scholarship to cover World Conference registration. This demonstrates professional development value and also builds knowledge and connections with IABC among local members. Retention Our primary aim as a board in 2015 was to retain overall chapter membership, recognising the challenging global environment for IABC. We introduced a package of simple and sustainable initiatives to ensure we maintain regular contact with our membership and a sound understanding of their needs. Key activities have included: Regular communications with members (see separate file) Regular communication with members is assured with our monthly newsletter, combining upcoming event promotions with feature articles of interest, sponsor content and member profiles. A new innovation this year, we meet a member every month, so that new and
existing members see who else is part of the network, and what value they derive from membership. Event programme focused on value for members, with the majority of events free to members IABC Wellington runs a comprehensive professional development programme, investing all member dues back in to the local membership, for maximum value. The 2015 programme started with a presentation from CEO of Z Energy, which saw the highest ever turnout for an IABC Wellington event, with 62 registrations and 86 attendees on the day. That set the tone for the rest of the year, which went from strength to strength with popular events for members every six weeks drawing on the best local senior communications professionals and executive leaders, concluding with a high profile journalist for the end-of year event. We combine local expertise with an international speaker programme. This year we hosted Sydney-based Richard Spencer of TwoSocial, Melbourne-based Global Gold Quills Chair Monika Lancucki; and Global IABC Chair Michael Ambjorn. Annual membership survey We run an annual member survey through Survey Monkey, with questions designed to inform our programme for the year ahead. Findings confirm the value of sponsorships, the relevance of our market proposition, the success of our 2015 programme in terms of mix of event times, formats, (local and international) speakers and themes, and will inform the format and substance of our event programme for 2016. Personal contact with lapsing members We maintain close personal contact with our members. At our monthly board meetings the membership Director presents a membership update. The board discusses and agrees which board member will make contact with lapsing members. Measurement We measure our effectiveness through a mix of qualitative and quantitative means including - Actual current membership numbers growth on year-start base - Expressions of interest in membership numbers received - Event tracking for reach, readership and rates of conversion to attendance - Informal feedback - Annual member survey. Results Maintain a minimum of 100 members overall between 1 January and 31 December 2015 Seek focused membership growth of 10%, ideally in the strategic advisor category, by 31 December 2016 Establish connections with a minimum of five private sector communications professionals by 31 December 2015 to grow individual membership numbers Met current membership 107 Met growth in membership this calendar year 10% (98-107, with a low point of 68 and a high point of 115)* Met new connections established with >10 previously unengaged businesses and organisations; five most recent new members joining in the last month alone have all been from private sector
Demonstrate the value of IABC to heads of function as influencers for future corporate membership growth through a key internationally-focused event. Met connections established with 40 previously unengaged Heads of function through Michael Ambjorn visit *Note that MMA current member report is incorrect we have never had 140 members.