5 Ways to Improve Membership Engagement with Your AMS
Membership engagement is at the heart of every successful membership organization. It’s about creating meaningful connections, keeping members involved, and making sure they see value in their membership. But achieving strong membership engagement takes more than good intentions—it requires clear strategies and the right tools. For many organizations, Association Management Software (AMS) is that essential tool. More than just a database, your AMS can help you strengthen membership engagement by making it easier to connect, communicate, and support your members.
Practical AMS Strategies
In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies for improving membership engagement using your AMS, covering everything from personalized communication to effective event management. Whether you’re an association leader, membership manager, or IT professional, you’ll discover how to make your AMS a central part of your engagement strategy.
Understanding Association Management Software (AMS)
When it comes to improving membership engagement, it helps to start with a clear understanding of your most important tool—Association Management Software (AMS). An AMS is a centralized platform designed to help associations manage their member data, communications, events, and more. But beyond its core functions, an AMS plays a direct role in member engagement.
With an AMS, you can send personalized messages, track member participation, and even automate reminders for upcoming events or renewals. It gives you a clear view of your members’ interests, making it easier to tailor your outreach and offer relevant opportunities. Simply put, your AMS isn’t just for record-keeping—it’s a powerful way to keep members connected and active.
For a detailed look at how an AMS works and how to choose the right one, check out our article, “Association Management System Explained: How to Pick the Right One.”
Practical Strategies for Improving Membership Engagement with Your AMS
Now that we’ve defined what an AMS is and how it can support your organization, it’s time to focus on how you can use it to strengthen membership engagement. Your AMS isn’t just a digital Rolodex—it’s a toolkit filled with features that can make a real difference in how you connect with your members.
Here are five practical strategies for using your AMS to improve membership engagement:
- Personalized Communication Use your AMS to segment members by interests, roles, or engagement history, making it easier to send messages that matter to them. A Salesforce-native AMS can enhance this by integrating with your CRM, making personalized messaging seamless.
- Automated Member Journeys Automate key touchpoints like welcome emails for new members, reminders for upcoming events, or renewal notifications. A Salesforce-native AMS can ensure these messages are personalized and accurately timed.
- Event Management Made Simple Your AMS can simplify event registration, attendance tracking, and feedback collection. A Salesforce-native AMS can link event data directly to member profiles, providing a complete view of engagement.
- Data-Driven Insights Track member activity, event attendance, and email engagement. A Salesforce-native AMS can combine data from multiple sources, giving you a complete picture of what drives member engagement.
- Community Building Foster a sense of community with features like member directories, discussion forums, or online groups. A Salesforce-native AMS allows for personalized member experiences, creating stronger connections.
Tips for Strategy Application
Let’s explore how to put each of these five strategies into action using your AMS.
1. Personalized Communication
An AMS lets you communicate with members in a way that feels direct and relevant. Instead of sending the same message to everyone, you can segment members by their interests, roles, or past interactions. For example, send event invitations to those who have shown interest in similar topics, or offer educational content to members who regularly attend webinars. A Salesforce-native AMS can enhance this by pulling data from your CRM, so you know exactly who to reach and what matters to them.
2. Automated Member Journeys
Manually following up with members is time-consuming and can lead to missed opportunities. An AMS allows you to automate key interactions —like welcoming new members, sending event reminders, or prompting renewals. But it doesn’t stop at basic automation. A Salesforce-native AMS can trigger actions based on member behavior, such as sending a thank-you message after event attendance or suggesting relevant content to those who haven’t engaged recently.
3. Event Management Made Simple
Events are a cornerstone of member engagement, but they can be difficult to manage without the right tools. Your AMS can handle everything from registration and payment to attendance tracking and post-event feedback. A Salesforce-native AMS goes further by automatically linking event data to member profiles, helping you see which members are most active and what topics draw the most interest.
4. Data-Driven Insights
Your AMS can give you a clear view of member engagement by tracking attendance, email opens, participation, and more. But data is only useful when it leads to action. Use these insights to identify which events are popular, what content members engage with most, and where you may be losing interest. With a Salesforce-native AMS, you can integrate this data with other systems, giving you a complete picture of member behavior.
5. Community Building
True membership engagement goes beyond emails and events—it’s about creating a space where members can connect with one another. Your AMS can support this with member directories, discussion forums, and interest groups. A Salesforce-native AMS can take this further by allowing members to see personalized recommendations for groups or connect with others who share their interests.
Keep Members Connected and Engaged
Membership engagement is an ongoing effort, but with the right strategies and a strong AMS, it can become a natural part of your organization’s workflow. By using your AMS to personalize communication, automate member journeys, manage events, gain data insights, and foster community, you can keep members connected and active.
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