Erin Reeve | |
April 27, 2018
In a recent study, the Division of Bar Services put together information that had been collected on state and local bar associations since 19761. The goal of the study was to find trends and insights on bar membership from across the years1.
We used findings from this study to determine three things lawyers really want from their bar membership, and also provided tips on how you can deliver each to your members. Lastly, we walk through how ClearVantage users can track the success of their initiatives using pre-built reports and ready-to-use tools in ClearVantage Association Management Software. Please note that if you don’t have access to the report described in this article, you can download it for free from the ClearVantage Marketplace.
What Do Bar Members Really Want?
- Personalization: Bar members today want tailored services and personalized communications that meet their practice and personal needs1.
Let’s first look at tailored communications. While we would like to send personalized emails to each individual member, this can be particularly difficult (especially for larger state bars). Instead, create target segments of members with similar traits, and customize your email for each segment. One way ClearVantage users can begin to segment their membership is by opening the individual search page and querying for individual members based on attributes such as geography, practice, interests/taxonomy, previous events attended, products purchased, and more.
ClearVantage can also send personalized automated emails based on any process/timeline that is tracked in the system, and an individual’s progress against that initiative. For example, if a member is late on dues, Clearvantage can be configured to automatically send a personalized reminder to that individual.
Track it: ClearVantage users can track the success of their emails by (1) setting up campaigns and appeals in ClearVantage, and (2) using the pre-built reports such as the “Email Marketing Campaign Summary Report” that is available to you from within the campaign module.
Just like tailoring communications, the first step in personalizing services is relate specific services to the segments you've established (student, practicing lawyer, limited certificant, etc.). Once set up in ClearVantage, these will flow to your website and populate on each member’s online dashboard. As an example, only members of a specific committee will have access to that committees’ portal and forum. At the individual level, content will be automatically customized to show each individual his/her outstanding dues, suggested products, and events based on purchase history and other historical transactions.
Take this even further by customizing different sections of the website for members of a particular practice area (i.e., family, real estate, litigation, business, etc.).
- Intangible Benefits: Bar members value intangible benefits (such as networking and promoting the reputation of the profession) over tangible benefits (like discounts)1. Networking is key to every lawyer’s success; it’s how many maintain their client base. Many bar associations provide networking opportunities during annual conferences. Beyond setting up pathways for members of a particular type or within a specific practice area, be sure to incorporate networking-only sessions and/or offer a business-connection lounge in which attendees can set up meetings prior to or during the event.
- Staying Informed: Bar members’ biggest concern has recently changed from work-life balance (in 2005-2009) to staying abreast of industry changes (2009-2014)1.
Keep your members informed with the latest industry news and information by sending out a newsletter on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. Using the new ClearVantage Echion HTML Email Editor, users without any knowledge of code can create HTML-based email by draging-and-dropping content pieces into a pre-created email template. To streamline this process, users can save and re-use templates. Take this a step further by sending out practice-area specific news and information for each area that you serve.
Beyond creating targeted emails by member role or practice area, CV Connect CMS users can also sort news/insights by practice area on their website. You can do this by (1) creating separate blogs for each practice area and/or creating separate content sections for each practice area, and (2) adding keywords to each post to make it easy for users to find the information that they are looking for.
Want to Learn More?
If you are not currently a ClearVantage Association Management Software user and want to see what ClearVantage can do for your association, schedule a demo with us here - or contact us via email: sales@euclidtechnology.com. Current ClearVantage users should contact their support representative for more information.
Resources
- American Bar Association
- ABA/MGI 2015 Membership Benchmarks Study