In today’s world it seems that we are all encouraged to be a member of everything. Everyone wants a little (or big) piece of us, and especially our data.
Forget, for a moment, the traditional membership organisations — trade and industry bodies, educational and awarding bodies, political, sports and leisure organisations and the like — that people pay to join, be a part of, and gain benefit from. Think instead of the numerous companies and brands we buy from. They’re not content for us to be simple consumers anymore; they want us to enter into ‘relationships’ with them – to engage with them at every step and, ultimately, to be lifelong registered members.
It’s confirmed: almost everyone’s a member
Most of us have multiple subscriptions or memberships to mobile phone services, broadband/ISP services, TV/film, sports and music streaming services, and numerous retail brand loyalty or member programmes for the food, clothes and other goods we buy.
According to YouGov, almost nine in 10 adults in the UK are members of loyalty programmes. Moreover, these programmes can reap huge benefits. High-performing programmes boost annual revenues by 15–25%, or even more. The loyalty programme run by McDonald’s restaurants, for example, generated over $20 billion in sales in 2023, up 45% from 2022.*
Bona fide membership organisations feel the squeeze
As a result, bona fide membership organisations are feeling the squeeze, or, at the very least, operating in an intensively competitive market.
Looking at a recently published list of the 100 largest UK membership bodies (the ‘INFLUENCE 100 LIST’)**, reveals the following:
Of the top 20 membership bodies, 16 of those organisations (80%) saw either a decline in membership or static membership numbers in 2024 (versus 2023).
Competition not just for budget share but for mindshare
We believe one of the key reasons for this is that the lines between bona fide membership organisations and other ‘member’ programmes referred to earlier are increasingly blurred in the eyes of those who subscribe to these services. Life is now more complex and there is massive competition for time, attention and, ultimately, share of available household budget.
This raises two fundamental questions:
Is a given membership discretionary spending, or is it non-discretionary spending?
Do all membership organisations have the ability to influence the answer?
With regard to question one – again, the line can be blurred depending on the type of membership organisation and respective members’ aspirations and life goals. One only has to glance at the top 10 in the INFLUENCE 100 LIST (NUS, National Trust, TUC, Unite, Unison, English Heritage, RSPB, Caravan and Motorhome Club, Wildlife Trusts and Camping and Caravanning Club) to appreciate this.
As for question two, yes, many membership organisations do have the ability to influence the answer based on the level of continuing value and meaningful engagement they deliver to their members.
Time for membership organisations to up their game
Either way, the simple fact is that traditional membership organisations need to up their game to retain and grow their memberships.
But how?
By accepting that the market and the competitor landscape have changed
Through digital transformation of their business operations and CRM, and
By improving and optimising their own membership communications and loyalty strategies to compete with other demands on members’/prospective members’ mindshare and income.
We understand your challenges and we can help
At Unify Technologies we are specialists in all the above. In short, we implement tailored, industry leading Dynamics 365 for Sales (CRM) and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solutions to deliver transformation and enhanced member engagement for member organisations.
Let’s talk Better still, we’d be delighted to talk face-to-face with you about what we can achieve together. Contact us today to get the discussion started. Call James Cosford on 0204 570 1439 or email [email protected]
*Source: Figures quoted from ‘From points to personalisation: the future of customer loyalty programmes’: Report by Campaign (Haymarket Media Group publication) in partnership with IDHL.
Blurred lines and the great membership organisation squeeze
In today’s world it seems that we are all encouraged to be a member of everything. Everyone wants a little (or big) piece of us, and especially our data.
Forget, for a moment, the traditional membership organisations — trade and industry bodies, educational and awarding bodies, political, sports and leisure organisations and the like — that people pay to join, be a part of, and gain benefit from.
Think instead of the numerous companies and brands we buy from. They’re not content for us to be simple consumers anymore; they want us to enter into ‘relationships’ with them – to engage with them at every step and, ultimately, to be lifelong registered members.
It’s confirmed: almost everyone’s a member
Most of us have multiple subscriptions or memberships to mobile phone services, broadband/ISP services, TV/film, sports
and music streaming services, and numerous retail brand loyalty or member programmes for the food, clothes and other goods we buy.
According to YouGov, almost nine in 10 adults in the UK are members of loyalty programmes. Moreover, these programmes can reap huge benefits. High-performing programmes boost annual revenues by 15–25%, or even more. The loyalty programme run by McDonald’s restaurants, for example, generated over $20 billion in sales in 2023, up 45% from 2022.*
Bona fide membership organisations feel the squeeze
As a result, bona fide membership organisations are feeling the squeeze, or, at the very least, operating in an intensively competitive market.
Looking at a recently published list of the 100 largest UK membership bodies (the ‘INFLUENCE 100 LIST’)**, reveals the following:
Of the top 20 membership bodies, 16 of those organisations (80%) saw either a decline in membership or static membership numbers in 2024 (versus 2023).
Competition not just for budget share but for mindshare
We believe one of the key reasons for this is that the lines between bona fide membership organisations and other ‘member’ programmes referred to earlier are increasingly blurred in the eyes of those who subscribe to these services. Life is now more complex and there is massive competition for time, attention and, ultimately, share of available household budget.
This raises two fundamental questions:
With regard to question one – again, the line can be blurred depending on the type of membership organisation and respective members’ aspirations and life goals. One only has to glance at the top 10 in the INFLUENCE 100 LIST (NUS, National Trust, TUC, Unite, Unison, English Heritage, RSPB, Caravan and Motorhome Club, Wildlife Trusts and Camping and Caravanning Club) to appreciate this.
As for question two, yes, many membership organisations do have the ability to influence the answer based on the level of continuing value and meaningful engagement they deliver to their members.
Time for membership organisations to up their game
Either way, the simple fact is that traditional membership organisations need to up their game to retain and grow their memberships.
But how?
We understand your challenges and we can help
At Unify Technologies we are specialists in all the above. In short, we implement tailored, industry leading Dynamics 365 for Sales (CRM) and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solutions to deliver transformation and enhanced member engagement for member organisations.
You can find out more here:
Let’s talk Better still, we’d be delighted to talk face-to-face with you about what we can achieve together. Contact us today to get the discussion started. Call James Cosford on 0204 570 1439 or email [email protected]
*Source: Figures quoted from ‘From points to personalisation: the future of customer loyalty programmes’: Report by Campaign (Haymarket Media Group publication) in partnership with IDHL.
**Source: The 100 largest UK membership bodies at https://memberwise.org.uk/influence100/