By: Ashly Stewart, Content Marketing Manager

The Current State of Online Communities 

Tools & Strategies to Enhance Online Communities

Demographic Statistics about Online Communities

Community Member Behaviors 

• 77% of users join online communities to discover new things. 

• 66% of users join online communities to connect with people who have similar interests.  

• Visitors visit the website more times than entry generators, they open few topics and add few contents.   

• Research found that more than half of users in the U.S. are actively looking for product recommendations on community sites. 

Preparing to launch your online community? 

If you’re getting ready to launch a new online community or you’re rethinking giving your online community a refresh, check out our guide to growing your online community in the first 90 days after launch.  

And please let us know if we can help you connect with the members in your community by reaching out today.  

Sources:  

1) Mobile Marketing 

2) Sage Journals 

3)  Reddit Case Study  

5) The Nonprofit Times 

6) Regent University  

7) Hubspot  

9) Personify  

The post 15+ Top Stats about Online Communities appeared first on Personify.

March 25, 2020 – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofit and event professionals, today released findings from its new research, New Decade: New Experiences, New Challenges, which focuses on the role of experience in shaping the constituent relationship with an organization and the challenges that organizations face in the market today. The research is based on survey questions that were fielded throughout 2019 with more than 1,000 members in the United States.  

Personify explored key questions about the role of experience and discovered:  

• The critical role of a compelling, and relevant, experience in acquiring new constituents; 
• how experience continues to drive evolution of trusted engagement methods and propel new ones forward; and 

• experience ecosystems and how an organization’s technologies must provide value independently but also together. 

Personify’s findings also found that:  

• 70% of Generation Z prioritize stability and security in a job over passion and flexibility. 
• Millennial members were 16 percentage points more likely to say being part of an association is growing in importance. 
• African American members surveyed were significantly higher than average to agree that being part of an association is more important than it used to be, at 66%. 
• Across all groups, constituents report that email is an effective way to reach them, with a large majority (82%) of those surveyed ranking email first or second. 

• 80% of constituents told Personify that they like or love personal emails from their association and three-quarters have a favorable opinion of e-newsletters. 
• When asked to indicate whether an individual’s social media usage had grown in the last two years, Facebook (40%), Twitter (39%) and Instagram (44%) all saw adoption grow. 
• Overall, 45% of members told us they liked or loved receiving a phone call from their association, with 51% showing the same level of appreciation for text messages. 

However, the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented an entirely new challenge to individuals, families, organizations and governments around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused systematic change across all aspects of society, with association and event professionals being among the most impacted.  

While essential to maintain global health and safety, event cancellations and extreme social distancing have limited engagement efforts for many organizations. Personify’s research finds that there’s an opportunity for organizations to provide digital connections and touchpoints that can supplement the lack of interaction that would typically take place at work. 

“The findings of the research, which were fielded before Coronavirus became the global pandemic we’re seeing today, suggest that delivering an experience to constituents is the path to long-term success in the 2020s and beyond,” said Amanda Myers, Vice President of Product and research author. “Our survey respondents told us time and again that a mix of digital channels was important to keeping them engaged with an organization. Now, as we look to navigate these uncertain times, delivering an omni-channel experience isn’t just important—it’s critical.” 

An on-demand webinar, hosted by Personify, explores the findings of the research in more detail. Association, event and nonprofit professionals will leave with an understanding of how to apply these findings to the challenges they face today.  

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August 13, 2019 – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofits and corporations, today released findings from its new research, Member Experience 2.0, on association professions and the future of multichannel and omnichannel engagement that was conducted in July 2019 with more than 300 members in the United States.

Key findings from the research include that:

• While members of all ages and groups value membership, 43% of survey respondents say associations seem out of touch and nearly a third do not understand the benefits.
• Respondents expressed a preference for digital engagement channels with younger members more likely to choose digital channels over print (73% for Gen Z, 64% of Millennials).
• Across all groups, members report that email is the best way to reach them with a large majority (82%) of those surveyed ranking email first or second.
• Nearly half of all members surveyed report that public social media sites are the worst way to engage and least effective.
• The phone was ranked as #1 and #2 as the channel of choice by 46% of those surveyed. Overall, 45% of members told us they “liked” or “loved” receiving a phone call from their association, with 51% showing the same level of appreciation for text messages.
• A majority of all members surveyed (52%) indicated events were “very valuable” in making them feel engaged with their association. This number was significantly higher with African-American members reporting events were valuable in terms of engagement (75%, +23 percentage points higher than average), and LGBTQ members sharing the same sentiment (62%).

An upcoming webinar, hosted by Personify will dive deeper into the findings of this research and share how association leaders can apply these findings to their organizations.

In addition to the new research, Personify announced the recent release of its Wild Apricot member management software at the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition conference. The latest version introduces new features and an updated look and feel for the user interface.

Recognized by Capterra as the leader in member management software for the past six years, the latest additions to the Wild Apricot solution will help streamline the member experience and include two new payment features for Wild Apricot Payments allowing users to activate recurring donations and simplify the checkout process. Additionally, Wild Apricot users will experience a new modernized look that is unified under the Personify product portfolio.

“Helping organizations better connect and engage with members is at the core of what we do,” says Eric Thurston, President and CEO of Personify. “We’re proud to bring new features to the Wild Apricot solution to help associations and nonprofits provide a seamless user experience, and we continue to innovate, creating tools designed to meet the needs of today’s organizations.”

Association professionals experienced Personify’s new capabilities and learned about the Member Experience 2.0 research during the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition that took place August 10-13 in Columbus, Ohio.

To learn more about Personify’s solutions for associations, charities and corporations, visit, www.personifycorp.com.

About Personify

Personify is the market-leading Constituent Management and Engagement (CME) platform that empowers organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. For over 20 years, Personify has served as the technology foundation for a diverse group of organizations including associations, nonprofits, event professionals, YMCAs and JCCs. For more information, visit https://personifycorp.com/

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That simple question opened Monday’s “Research. Solve. Repeat” session at ASAE Annual in Chicago. And while many organizations believe they know the answer, retention efforts or low-engagement levels may reveal a different story.

The good news? Getting back on the same page can be a relatively simple process and one with long-term benefits.

Before you get started, the presenters recommended some initial prework to help set the stage for the research to come. As noted in the presentation, an informed board is a supportive board and one important tool for helping your board (who may not talk to members on a daily basis) develop a strong, foundational understanding of who your organization serves are member personas.

While your board may have good visibility into others who have shared their membership experience or may be at the same stage of their careers, how well do they understand the collegiate members you’re trying to convert into a professional tier membership? Or maybe a demographic with whom they have little in common?

Personas can paint the picture and help provide the context for the full breadth of your organization and the audience its programs serve. It can also refine the focus of any member research you embark on by creating a common vision for what you’re hoping to learn.  But once you have that in hand, it’s time to get started with four straightforward steps for effective member research:

1. Ask the Question: And ask frequently. Develop a business model that includes constituent research when making critical decisions. Take the time to prioritize your questions, ensuring you’re starting with the end in mind, and being thoughtful in what you’re asking. What problem are you trying to solve? Take the time to digest all of the information as well. Early returns on data can lead to inaccurate conclusions and giving everyone the opportunity to absorb member feedback ensures that each stakeholder has total visibility into valuable information.
2. Hear the answer: Listening can be hard, but hearing an answer can be even harder, especially when the answer is one you may not have expected. Prepare to adapt and to respond efficiently and effectively to industries and/or audiences that change quickly.
3. Act on the Answer: Create a culture of leveraging research to solve real problems with data-driven decisions.
4. Listen Again: As the presentation reminds us, there’s always another question to ask! Being proactive instead of reactive provides the opportunity to better align on the big issues, but a regular cadence of surveys and outreach can set the stage for asking additional questions with answers to questions you may not have thought about – especially when the answers are viewed alongside your personas.

Acquisition, engagement, retention. All of these activities, which represents the lifeblood of an organization, benefit from the value member feedback can provide. Research, solve and repeat offers a simple approach to get started!

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