Mahlab Media's Head of Client Services, Roslyn Atkinson, shares her expertise of all things content marketing in this in-depth and thought provoking presentation.

1. CONTENT MARKETING
FOR ASSOCIATIONS
Roslyn Atkinson
Head of Client Services,
Mahlab Media

2. 12 MONTHS FROM NOW…
Imagine it’s a year from now. Your annual
report has just come out. What does it say?
“At the start of the year, we embarked on a
new member communications strategy.
While it’s only early days, members are
engaged like never before.”

3. We have improved our position as the
authoritative source of information, education
and thought leadership in our sector.
Members highly value the useful content that is
provided to them. It is easy to read on mobile
devices and easy to find when they need it.
We no longer compete head-to-head with news
titles and websites in our sector. We have
created our own blue ocean for advertisers.

4. IF YOU ACHIEVE ALL THAT …

5. THAT SOUNDS GREAT, BUT …
The top four member comms challenges for
associations*:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lack of staff (62%)
Measuring ROI of member comms (44%)
Disengaged members (39%)
Adapting to new technologies (37%)
Sound familiar?
Member Comms Survey, Mahlab Media/Associations Forum,
October 2013
*

6. THE BUDGET PROBLEM
Boards and CEOs tend to see member comms as a
cost, while they see marketing as an investment:
“Why are our member comms running at a loss? How
can we cut costs?”
“We need advertising to cover the cost to ensure our
member comms break even.”
“I don’t understand why we spend so much money on
social media. What’s the ROI of Twitter?”

7. THE ADVERTISING PROBLEM
Advertising is not a cash
cow for associations any
more.

8. Advertising is getting harder, while print advertising is in
decline around the world.
Only 21% of associations are able to get advertising to
cover the production costs of their member comms. For
69%, it doesn’t, and 11% don’t know.
Companies need to justify their marketing spend. ‘Brand
awareness’ by sticking a banner ad into an association’s
enewsletter, website or journal doesn’t cut it any more.

9. Content marketing: up 64%
Money is coming out of
advertising budgets and
shifting into more direct
marketing efforts.

10. You need to keep adding new platforms and creative
solutions just to keep advertisers interested.

11. THE SOLUTION
Break out of a publishing business model for
your member comms and turn it into a
content marketing business model.

12. WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?
Using engaging content to attract and
retain customers.

13. PUBLISHING VS
CONTENT MARKETING
Publishing:
• The content is the
product.
• Revenue comes from
sales of the content
(subscriptions/
newsstand sales/
membership fees) and
selling the audience
(advertising).
Content marketing:
• The product is the
product.
• Revenue comes from
sales of the product,
which could be
anything from CocaCola to bulldozers.

14. EXAMPLE OF PUBLISHING

15. EXAMPLE OF CONTENT MARKETING

16. How publishing makes money
Subscription
s/newstand
sales
Advertising
How content marketing makes money
Supporting
sales of
products and
services

17. What associations do tends to be a blend of the two
But ... is this how boards see it?
Advertising
revenue
Supporting
sales of
products and
services
Advertising
revenue
Loss
Membership
fees

18. Content marketing tends to be campaign
specific.
Eg content strategies to promote:
•
•
•
•
Annual Convention
Workshops
Membership renewals
Mentoring programs

19. Turning your member comms into content
marketing will help you to grow the bottom
line of your association …
and justify your member comms budget!

20. How much would the following be worth for your
association:
1% increase in member retention
1% growth in new members
1% increase in average revenue per member
1% increase in Convention registrations
1% increase in purchases from the online shop
How much of an influencing factor would member
comms be towards achieving this extra $$$ ?

21. SO HOW DOES CONTENT
MARKETING WORK?

22. READER BEHAVIOUR
What have you read or watched this week?
Look at the following pictures. How familiar
are these scenarios to you in an average
week?

26. What factors influenced what you read and
when?
At work - online, desktops, smartphones
At home - for relaxation/enjoyment: print magazines or
videos on your iPad
At home - for research: online, Google searches on
Samsung tablet.

27. WHY READER HABITS ARE CHANGING
Availability of
information
Accessibility of
information
We’re so used to being
able to find anything we
want from a Google
search.
The proliferation of
technology means we
can access information
at any time from
anywhere.

28. We don’t like being sold to.
We want to do our own research so we
know what we’re talking about by the time
we talk to a salesperson.
Research from Sirius Decisions finds that in businessto-business (B2B) scenarios, 70% of the purchase
decision is made before the prospect ever contacts
the company.
Google research from 2011 found that consumers
look at an average of 10.7 sources of information
before making a purchase decision.

29. The Zero Moment of Truth is the moment when someone
decides they’re actively interested in purchasing
something - whether that’s a car, shoes, a conference
registration or even membership of a professional
association.
What’s the first thing EVERYONE does these days?
If they don’t go online to your content and you don’t
provide them with the answers they’re looking for, you
don’t exist.

30. CASE STUDY: RIVER POOLS

31. “Customers should find the answers to
all their questions in your content. If
they can’t find it, you’ll lose them. You
cannot think for a second that you need
to wait until you’re face to face with the
customer.”
Marcus Sheriden from River Pools, who once
generated $2 million of revenue from a single blog
post.

32. We’re mobile.
Most Australians now have access to a
tablet device and nearly everyone has
smartphones.
49% of Australian households have at least one
person who owns a tablet device.*
73% of Australians aged between 15 and 65 own a
smartphone. *
*. Australian Mobile Device Usage Trends Report, August 2013. Frost and Sullivan.

33. We’re skeptical.
Advertising tells customers you’re the best.
Content marketing proves you’re the best.
Content marketing builds trust between the
consumer and the organisation.
Content marketing puts YOU (the consumer) in
control.

34. EVEN COCA-COLA IS SHIFTING TO
CONTENT MARKETING

35. SO … HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT A
CONTENT MARKETING
STRATEGY?

36. Great content
engages your
audience, builds
trust and
converts a
potential
customer by
encouraging
them to choose
your product or
service.
Content
Awareness
1
Engagement
2
3
Lead nurture
4
Return on
investment
Lead generation
Lead conversion

37. WHAT’S GREAT CONTENT?

38. 1. Identify your sweet spot
“Your sweet spot is the intersection
between your customers’ pain points and
where you have the most authority with
your stories.”
Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute.

39. What do members and prospective members really
want?
“(Members’) main reason for joining is for access to
relevant information – they are looking to their
association to be the leading, authoritative source of
news about their profession.”
From the Association Matters survey 2013, conducted by Survey Matters in
conjunction with AuSAE, which quizzed 8,000 members of 23 associations
in Australia and New Zealand.

40. 2. Be useful.
“Youtility is real-time relationship
building. You’re either sufficiently
useful at any given moment, and thus
can connect with the customer, or
you’re not.”
Jay Baer, content marketing guru and author of
Youtility.

41. EXAMPLES OF USEFUL CONTENT

43. 3. Be entertaining.
You’re far more likely to be shared if you can make
people smile.

44. EXAMPLES OF ENTERTAINING CONTENT

46. 4. Be provocative.
Take a stand and don’t be afraid to be controversial.
Members expect their association to be proactive on
issues they care about.

47. EXAMPLES OF PROVOCATIVE CONTENT

49. So what’s great content?
Have shared values - you care about the same thing as your
audience.
This builds trust and develops a relationship with your
audience.
It’s not about being manipulative. You have to be authentic to
be successful.
Remember that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools
we have available.

51. HOW DO YOU DISTRIBUTE IT?
It’s not enough to have great content
unless you distribute it in the right way …
otherwise it may never be seen or heard …

53. Respect and appreciate your audience’s
time.
Some content requires short attention
spans, other content requires long
attention spans.
Engage your audience with the right
balance between the two.

54. A little test …
If you have a tablet device with you, hold it in your hands
and lean forward in your seat to read something on the
screen.
Now lean back in your seat and read it.
Does it feel any different?

56. LEAN FORWARD AND LEAN BACK
READING EXPERIENCES

57. How do you communicate with your members …
For 30 seconds a day
For 1 minute a week
For 5 minutes a fortnight
For 10 minutes a month
For 30 minutes every three months
For 60 minutes every six months

58. LEAD GENERATION
Have downloadable content that your
audience can keep.
Have calls to action that encourage them to
give you their name and email address in
exchange for something useful eg
webinars, ebooks, enews sign-ups.

59. MEASURING RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Content
What are your objectives?
1
2
Grow prospect
database
3
Increase lead generation for
particular segments
4
Drive new sales
5
Return on
investment
Build brand profile/
perception
Increase customer loyalty/
repeat business
6
Advertising sales

60. What metrics tie in with your goals?
These could include:
• Opens and click-through rates on emails
• Website traffic
• Bounce rate of landing pages
• Clicks on calls to action
• Downloads of ebooks
• Registrations to events

61. CASE STUDY

62. Objectives
1. Grow awareness – Increase awareness of NIBA and its
products and services.
2. Strengthen member engagement – Improve overall
perception of and engagement with the NIBA brand.
3. Support sales of NIBA’s products and services – Including
NIBA College, the NIBA mentoring program and the NIBA
Convention.
4. Grow advertising revenue.
5. Position NIBA as the authoritative source and thought leader.

64. Results
Greater awareness
6% increase in circulation of print magazine
42% of members say Insurance & Risk Professional has increased
their awareness of NIBA events
76% increase in unique visitors to website
44% increase in YouTube views in past six months
Stronger member engagement
95% of readers rate Insurance & Risk Professional as good or
excellent
Increased sales
157% growth in registrations to annual Convention, from 700 to
1800
Growth in advertising revenue
12% increase in total advertising revenue over past year

65. Promoting the NIBA Mentoring Program
with content across multiple channels:

66. CASE STUDY

67. Objectives
1. Increase awareness of IPWEA among non-members both in
Australia and overseas.
2. Raise the profile of IPWEA as a high quality and attractive
member organisation for public works professionals.
3. Promote IPWEA products and services such as technical
manuals, publications, workshops and international
conference.
4. Increase engagement with existing member base by
encouraging interaction.
5. Protect advertising revenue in tough market conditions.

68. Monthly enewsletters for
communities of practice
Magazine - bi-monthly in
print and digital

69. Mobile app
Forums

70. Young IPWEA - video from
National Conference
Young IPWEA - enews update

71. Results:
45% growth in membership due to merger with NZ.
55% growth in prospect database.
175% increase in monthly visits to the website.

72. 13% improvement in overall performance for
membership engagement.
95% of members intend to renew in 2013, up from
90% in 2011.
IPWEA ranked number one in the Australian Beatons
Association Benchmarks Report for overall
performance and value of membership.

73. THE MOST COMMON QUESTION
Do I need exclusive
content for
members?

74. Lethal generosity:
“Giving away your expertise and teaching
your customers what you know does one
amazing thing — it positions you as the
expert in your industry. That is the core
of content marketing.”
Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute.

75. HELP!

76. WHERE DO I START?
1. Identify your sweet spot:
• What content would be really useful for members and
prospective members?
• What are your main revenue drivers? How can you
support these with great content?
2. Get the platform mix right:
• How can you make it easy for the content to be found
and read? Start with website content.
• What are your main member comms goals?
And finally …

77. Be brave.

78. FOR MORE INFORMATION…
Sign up to the Mahlab Media enewsletter
on content marketing for associations at:
mahlabmedia.com.au