Associations Increasingly Adopting Communications Popular in Mainstream Life, But Do Members Care?

The 2018 Association Communications Benchmarking Study results show the needs for a balanced approach to technology and tradition as association communicators strive to keep members' attention. Only 1 in 5 associations say they have a good understanding of reader, member and advertiser needs, and associations are experimenting with bringing back traditional communication channels such as printed newsletters while investing more resources and effort in newer platforms like podcasts and apps.

"Combating information overload and cutting through information clutter" retook the top spot for communication challenges associations confront when trying to reach their members. "Communicating member benefits effectively" fell back to the second most frequently cited communication challenge. The number of association professionals claiming this as a challenge has more than doubled since Naylor first conducted this survey in 2011.

"Past iterations of this survey have told us that at least half of association member communications are ignored," said Sarah Sain, director of content, member communications for Naylor Association Solutions. "This year, we attempted to understand why. Through the 2018 survey, associations have told us they know what they need to do to improve their communications: Understand member needs, goals, demographics and preferences better. Their persistent challenge is to find more technological, financial and human resources to make this happen."

What association professionals revealed about the state of their communications this year:

When it comes to channels that associations value most for reaching members, traditional conference or events retained the top spot by far for the third year in a row: 90 percent consider events very/extremely valuable to their overall communication program. Member magazines and email newsletters round out the top three for the third year in a row as well.

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Private online communities broke into the top 10 communication channels for the first time since this survey started asking how associations value them. Newer forms of communication, such as podcasts and Instagram, are being used by 40 and 26 percent of respondents, respectively.

However, print is making a huge comeback: 57 percent of respondents told us their printed member newsletters are very/extremely valuable, followed by 56 percent who said the same of their printed show guides. Printed show guides entered the top 10 most-valued communication channels for the first time since 2016. Printed member magazines continue to hold the No. 2 spot on this list.

The 2018 Association Communications Benchmarking Report gauges how successfully associations are monetizing their communications and how well they steward relationships with advertisers and sponsors. The study analyzes how associations engage their members through communications and other involvement initiatives.

Download the full, complimentary 2018 Association Communication Benchmarking Report at Naylor.com/Benchmarking. The report includes survey results through May 7. The Association Communications Benchmarking Survey remains open all year at communicationsbenchmark.naylor.com. Association communicators interested in thoughtful reflection about their association's communications can establish a free account on this platform and compare their answers to survey questions against the entire pool of collected answers through an individualized best practices report card.

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