How CertifyMe Boosted Member Count Of A York-Based Association

Attracting Members At An Increased Rate of 32% to Join An Association to Connect With Industry Professionals.

Overview

The case study highlights how CertifyMe, a leading digital credentialing platform, successfully increased the member count of a York-based association. By providing innovative membership management solutions and implementing targeted marketing strategies, the platform helped the association achieve significant membership growth, resulting in enhanced community engagement and increased revenue.

The association started its journey 14 years ago and now has a member count of 1000+. But the pandemic outbreak in 2020 significantly reduced the membership and the growth of the organization since then has become stagnant. In search of online assistance, they found us and since then the association has experienced non-stunted growth & development.

This case study outlines the challenges faced by the association, CertifyMe’s tailored solutions, and the remarkable outcomes achieved through our collaborative efforts.

The Organization

The York-based association focused on fostering professional development and networking opportunities for HRs, faced challenges in attracting and retaining members. Little to no brand recognition, lengthy membership processes, and ineffective marketing strategies were hindering their growth.

The organization set a goal of increasing its member count by 25% by the end of 2022 and partnered with us to overcome these obstacles and drive substantial membership growth.

Objectives

Increase the association’s member count and expand its professional network.
Streamline and simplify the membership onboarding processes.
Enhance brand recognition and visibility within the industry.
Implement targeted marketing initiatives to attract new members and retain existing ones.

Challenges

Limited brand recognition and awareness among professionals in the industry.
Inefficient and time-consuming membership management processes.
Ineffective marketing strategies that failed to attract and retain members.
Inadequate data analysis for informed decision-making.

CertifyMe’s Solutions

Streamlined Membership Management

CertifyMe implemented its advanced credential management solution, which allowed the association to offer credentials to existing and newly joined members. The credentials include details on the length of membership of a member, what his/her role is, and the activities he/she has participated in. This system automated membership processes, such as registration, renewals, and member communication, simplifying the overall experience.

Customized Membership Benefits

CertifyMe worked closely with the association to identify and develop tailored membership benefits that catered to the needs and interests of the target audience. These benefits included access to exclusive credentials for undertaking responsibilities that no one else was ready to take care of. The unique open badges/virtual certificates were also available for completing certain tasks or winning a competition.

The association arranged various challenges/programs and provided credentials for completing them. The colorful, smart, and customized badges/certificates became popular to keep members engaged in the association activities.

Targeted Marketing

CertifyMe collaborated with the association to streamline the membership process and make it seamless. However, association members were pleased to obtain socially shareable credentials and added them to their social accounts. As the credentials contained the association name, logo, earning criteria, and validity, viewers were pleased to detect verifiable badges/certificates. This led to zero-cost association promotion and a growing list of members for the organization.

Brand Awareness and Industry Partnerships

We supported the association in building brand recognition and industry partnerships. This involved highlighting the association’s liability to offer its members trackable credentials that they can showcase in their professional network and build relationships with others in the industry.

The association reported nearly 32% growth in its membership count since its collaboration with us.

Data Analytics and Optimization

Our platform comes with a data analytics tool to gather and analyze member data, credential performance metrics, and member engagement insights. This data-driven approach enabled the association to make informed decisions, optimize its credentialing process, and personalize the credentials to improve member satisfaction and retention.

Results

Increased Member Count

The association experienced a significant increase in membership, surpassing its initial targets. CertifyMe’s simple yet effective membership management system and targeted marketing played a crucial role in attracting new members and improving retention rates by 23%.

Since the implementation of digital credentials in the certification process of the association, nearly 36% existing members have opted for membership renewals.

Enhanced Community Engagement

The association observed a higher level of engagement among members, with increased participation in events, networking activities, and professional development initiatives. The sense of belonging and value offered through CertifyMe’s customized membership benefits contributed to this positive outcome.

Improved Brand Recognition

CertifyMe’s marketing initiatives and industry partnerships resulted in heightened brand recognition within the industry. The association became known as a reputable and valuable resource for professionals seeking growth opportunities in the field. The association bagged partnership programs with 3 new organizations since the collaboration took place between it and us.

Increased Revenue

The association experienced a boost in revenue through membership fees, event registrations, and partnerships facilitated by CertifyMe’s enhanced digital presence and awareness.

Conclusion

Digital credentials are the future of the certification process. Open badges and online certificates are gradually replacing the traditional paper credentialing system. The ease of awarding members, learners, or employees, tracking their progress, and monitoring the engagement make virtual certificates incomparable.

The collaboration between the association and CertifyMe proves how even the non-teaching/non-learning domain benefits from digital documents. The credentials are perfect for every sector. Whether you want to honor learners or the hard work of employees or want to provide customers with safe & secure government papers, we meet all your needs.

Beau Jones, the Chairman of the association is of the view that “We were not so much sure whether digital credentials can deliver the outcome we were hoping for or not but we just gave it a try and here we are: amazed, mesmerized, satisfied, and happy! The journey of our association is a rollercoaster ride and we stumbled upon many hurdles but nothing stopped us. Since our partnership with CertifyMe, we have come out stronger and happy to make a decision on a whim that will now stay with us forever.”

CertifyMe can be an excellent platform to improve membership count of stagnant and dying associations that haven’t witnessed new members joining for a decade or more. The tool has potential to change the game for membership-based organizations and supports them to revive their condition.