Creating Effective Content

Content + Community

Hilary Marsh2015 TECNA Summer Conference

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Your takeaways1.  How to make the most of your

content, regardless of channel

2.  Where to start, where you’ll want to end up

3.  Some best practices to position you for success

4.  How to get this done



Road to Success

1.  Know your value proposition2.  Identify your content3.  Prioritize your audiences4.  Know what they want5.  Deliver value6.  Make it sustainable

The number one challenge to membership growth is difficulty in communicating value or benefit.

—2014 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report

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Your value

What is

your value?

Event enthusiasm

But what happens when they leave?

Transform the ethereal into the real

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Your content

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What is content?

Content is how everything you do is manifested in the world

Source: Ahava Leibtag, Aha Media Group

Many types of content•  Event recaps•  Conference session descriptions•  Product details•  Course listings•  Executive biographies•  Member profiles•  Press releases•  Newsletters•  Updates on legislative issues•  Etc., etc., etc.

Content takes different forms

•  Web pages•  Blog posts•  Infographics•  Images•  PDFs•  Video•  Audio

Content amplifies your voice

Facebook post

Newsle"er promo

Blog post

Presenta=on

Look beyond the packageCurrent packageIn-person networkingEngaging presentations

ConversationsParticipation in advocacy effortsJob listingsPR for members

Look beyond the packageCurrent packageIn-person networkingEngaging presentations

ConversationsParticipation in advocacy effortsJob listingsPR for members

OpportunityèProfessional connectionsèBusiness knowledge/ educationèInformation-sharingèReassurance that you “have their back”èProfessional developmentèVisibility to their potential customers

“ It’s your turn

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Topic Mapping Exercise

Topic Mapping Exercise

Your audiences

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30

Anthony Susan

Allen

Maggie

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Your turn again

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What do they want?

What you

want to tell them

What they

want to know

Content lets users do what they need to do

•  Take advantage of what you offer: learn, connect, etc.

•  Find out why they should join or stay •  Understand how your associa=on helps them in their profession

•  Get answers to their ques=ons quickly, without calling you

Content lets you achieve your goals•  A"ract prospec=ve members •  Retain and engage current members •  Increase use of programs, resources, tools, and informa=on

•  Increase awareness of and par=cipa=on in poli=cal advocacy efforts

•  Increase non-‐dues revenue

Ask them, listen to their questions

•  Post-event surveys•  Communication surveys•  Requests made to your key contacts

Look, learn

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Your content menu

“ Your turn again

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Content ROIFormat Reach Level of effort Relevance/availability

Presenta=on at an event

50 people – only those present at the event

High No ongoing availability

Infographic summarizing the presenta=on’s takeaways

All members High Anyone interested in the topic. Long-‐term availability

Interview with the speaker

All members

Low Anyone interested in the topic. Long-‐term availability

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Keep trying

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Keep trying

Crawl, walk, run, fly

•  Start small•  Scale up•  Stand out

Write to your audience

Learn how they behave

Courtesy of Melissa Zinder, NBOA

www.bobangus.com

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Where to find

the time?

A story

Thank you!Hilary [email protected]@hilarymarsh

Download this presentation and the handouts at www.hilarymarsh.com/tecna

Creating Effective Content

Technology