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How to Utilize ZOOM to Engage Your Association Members During COVID-19
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, many are working from home and annual conferences and monthly and quarterly meetings have been postponed or cancelled. For associations, these meetings and conferences are a major part of what they offer members. This has prompted many to embrace their creativity and take these opportunities online as virtual experiences for their members. One of the challenges, however, is how to arrange a virtual meeting that offers your members the same value as they would get from an in-person event or conference. There are many ways your association can utilize virtual events to deliver value to your members. Below are some ideas for utilizing the Zoom virtual meeting platform for use for everything from group meetings, to continued education presentations, and even annual conferences.
About Zoom
Zoom has grown in popularity and usage due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This is because it is a platform that allows people to conduct virtual meetings and allows businesses and associations to continue operating. Zoom allows for up to 100 people to be present in a single meeting and with a paid subscription, unlimited meeting length (free version allows up to 40-minute meetings.) Audio and video capabilities, screen share, text chat function, and break-off rooms allow for many different uses of the platform. With a shift to virtual meetings on Zoom, there are some things to be aware of; and we will discuss those as well.
Zoom Meetings
The most popular use of Zoom for associations, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, is Zoom group meetings. Zoom allows you to host meetings and invite people to them. These meetings allow for audio and video sharing as well as screen sharing. This is a great way to keep your members informed of policy or membership news or host an informative guest speaker or panel. It is also very useful to hold important meetings with your board members to keep things running as smoothly as possible. Being able to set a password and invite specific people to meetings allows for privacy. You can set a schedule and send out reminders via email of upcoming meetings to ensure meetings are timely and successful.
Webinars and Continued Education
Zoom is also very useful for webinars and continued education opportunities. If your association usually offers courses, classes, or other learning opportunities, these can be done virtually so your members can still take full advantage. Set up much like a Zoom group meeting, you can have a presenter use share screen to show a presentation or have a lecture. The option to allow one person to be on video if desired and mute all attendees, helps prevent distractions and allows a more effective learning experience. Zoom also has the capability to stream live to YouTube and Facebook, so you can reach even more people if you would like to. This way any certifications or credits can still be achieved by your members without any roadblocks to accessibility. Zoom also allows for recording of sessions, so that it may be available later on to members at times convenient to them.
Networking Opportunities
For some associations, a big part of what they offer are networking opportunities. Whether through annual conferences or monthly meetings, networking is a big part of what many associations do. With Zoom, you can allow members to come together; and using the breakaway feature, they can break off into smaller one-on-one meetings and then return to the main group later. Members can also utilize the private chat options to send text chat to other members and exchange information that way. If you have multiple committees within your association, you can set up separate meetings, so people can network with those most beneficial to them.
Zoom Etiquette and Other Tips
When it comes to Zoom meetings, it is very important to conduct yourself like you would during face-to face meetings. There are a few things to consider that will allow you to conduct yourself in a professional manner, and have a successful experience with virtual meetings and networking.
Be aware that your camera and audio are connected until you fully exit the Zoom application. Avoid doing or saying anything you wouldn’t want everyone to see or hear while the Zoom application is running, even if you are not actively in a meeting or think you are muted. Also, dress appropriately, if you would normally dress business or business casual, dress that way on Zoom meetings as well. You may be joining in from home, but you should still carry yourself professionally.
Use discretion when using Zoom backgrounds. These are backgrounds you can download to have displayed behind you during a meeting. Don’t use a flashy or inappropriate background that will cause distraction in a meeting. If you choose to use a background, pick a professional image such as an office backdrop. Also, test out the background before using it in a meeting in case there are any incompatibilities or technical issues.
As we continue to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important members know you are there for them. You must reach out as much as you can. Offering virtual opportunities is a great way to show value and keep your members informed of association activities. With the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, associations must get creative to keep things running and work hard to show value. Zoom group meetings, webinars, and networking events are great ways to offer members quality opportunities while we get through these difficult times.
For more information, or help with your association’s content marketing strategy, visit www.arc3communications.com or contact Patrick Burns at pburns@arc3communications.com or 678-348-6024.
How to Show Your Members More Value During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis Now
COVID-19 has caused associations across the country to cancel annual conferences and other important member activities to protect the well-being of their members and themselves. With uncertainty as to when large gatherings will be allowed to take place again,There are many ways an association can show their worth and maintain relationships with members and sponsors alike. Below we have listed some ideas that will help you show your value in these challenging times to your members and potential future members.
1. Virtual Meetings and Webinars
Many people have taken to the popular video meeting app, ZOOM, as a way to conduct business meetings and keep things running as smoothly as possible. ZOOM allows multiple people to join in a video conference together where they can choose to share video and audio as they meet with others. There are share screen options so sponsors and members can give presentations they have prepared to up to 100 participants at a given time. This tool can be utilized in a number of ways for your association such as hosting member webinars, association meetings, courses, and other events. This is not the only digital conference tool available, and there are many available if you have specific needs to be met. ZOOM is free to use for 40-minute group meetings or an unlimited one to one meeting. There are premium paid options that allow for longer meet times and more participants. Virtual meetings, webinars, and courses are a great option to keep members engaged and feeling valued.
2. Keep Communications Open
Whether or not you have had to cancel events or not, it is very wise to keep communication with your members and sponsors open during this time. Providing them with updates, news, and plans show them that you are considering them and their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. A weekly email update is a great way to keep in touch and let your association members and sponsors know if and when things change and what the association’s plan is if they do have to cancel or reschedule an event. If an event is canceled, many members and sponsors may want their money back, or they may be looking for other ways you can get them what they’d hoped to get out of the canceled event. This is where hosting a virtual meet and greet could come into play or scheduling a presentation by your sponsors to the group they had hoped to target at your event. There are many options you can offer before giving an automatic refund that could be more beneficial to your sponsors and members and really show them that you are working your way through the challenge to bring them value. They will respect your dedication and it will strengthen the relationships you have.
3. Be Empathetic and Provide Resources
Many of your members and sponsors are part of companies that are dealing with their own challenges that have arisen due to COVID-19. Some businesses and companies are having a harder time than others in navigating their way through this crisis, so empathy and useful resources are always welcome. Reach out and let your members and sponsors know you are there for them and send along any resources that might be helpful. There is no shortage of useful information for businesses and companies who are working their way through these uncharted waters; sending them this helpful information can go a long way in showing that you appreciate them and are supporting them. Make sure to word your messages in an empathetic and hopeful way to help alleviate stress and let your members and sponsors know we are all in this together.
Help and Hope
As an association, your members and sponsors are what make your association run. They trust you and look to you in times like this for support and guidance. Doing all you can to show your value will not only keep your members happy but will help strengthen those relationships and cause these members to want to stay with you through thick and thin. It is important in these trying times that we all step up and show our value and help one another through. COVID-19 is unlike anything we have faced in recent times and it is taking a lot of hard work and effort to get through. The more we help each other, the easier overcoming this major challenge will be.
For more help with your association’s needs sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media or contact us here.
How to Know if You Have a Strong Association Website
Trade associations, like everyone else, have made the move to the digital world. Recruitment, education, events, donations, and industry news are all now shared online through their websites and social media accounts. Many members register through the association’s website and rely on this website for the latest news and updates regarding the association and the industry itself. With this being the case, it is vital for your trade association’s success that your website be secure, up to date, mobile first, and user friendly. Below we discuss the importance of each of these aspects, and what you can do to make sure your association’s website meets these criteria.
- Have a clean, up-to-date website
One of the first aspects that should be considered with your trade association’s website is if it is clean and representative of your association. Outdated websites look clunky and can be hard to navigate for users. If your site is not already on WordPress; we highly recommend making the switch over. Over 34% of the world’s websites are built using WordPress including major industries such as Disney, Sony, and The New York Times. WordPress is the best content management system on the market. It’s ease of use, functionality and affordability make it one of the best CMS systems in the world. A variety of themes, plug-ins, and design elements allow for your WordPress website to be created to your specifications. It is easy to make a site that is user friendly and simple to navigate. Websites built on WordPress look professional, clean, and go far in making sure your members have a positive user experience.
- Keep your website safe and secure
In the digital realm, security is of the utmost importance. Your members’ data as well as your reputation may be on the line if your website falls victim to hacking. There are many negative effects an attack on your website could cause. Identity theft, slow speed, having your account suspended, and a complete crash are a few of the big things that can happen; all of which can tarnish or even ruin your reputation. A lot of the time, for WordPress sites, these attacks take place when themes and plug-ins are not regularly updated. Updates are usually released to better the security of a theme or plug-in and leaving yours out of date leaves your website open to bad actors. An easy way to prevent this and stay updated is to have a maintenance plan, this is someone who regularly updates all of your plug-ins and themes, creates backups, and performs security scans. These plans are affordable; and save you time and money in the long run if something were to happen to your website.
- Having a Mobile-First Website
One of the most important aspects of your website is that it is mobile first. This simply means that it is optimized to be viewed on mobile devices without losing quality or functionality. Most people view websites now on their smartphones and mobile devices and your website needs to show up looking just as good as it does on a desktop. Not having a mobile first website will not only effect how your visitors see your website on their devices, but also how Google will rank your website. This, in turn, affects where your site falls on the search engine result page (SERP) which is the page you see when you search for your association or related industry key terms on Google. If you are unsure if your website is mobile friendly, simply attempt to look at it on your phone. Make sure to test all of the menus and features to make sure they work and load quickly. You can also run a mobile test with Google here.
- Strong, Timely, Thoughtful Content
When you have a secure, mobile first website that looks amazing, you need to fill it with strong and engaging content that will bring visitors to your site and help drive your membership. Content can take a number of forms including blogs, videos, photos, podcasts, infographics, case studies, white pages, and reviews. It is suggested that you have thought-leadership content that relates to your association’s industry and will be of interest to your audience. Regularly releasing relevant content will not only keep people interested and visiting your site, it will also help your Google rankings. For associations, it is also good to continue to provide your members with good content, so they feel they are getting the value they deserve for their membership. It is even possible to make some content members only or paid content to add the additional value to members. A good content marketing strategy will keep your association’s website timely and relevant.
All of these aspects work together to make sure your association is well represented by your website and has a strong online presence. This helps your membership retention and recruitment, credibility, and overall value. Arc 3 Communications provides everything you need to build, operate, and maintain a professional association website. We also are able to create and put in motion a content marketing strategy that will work for your association including content calendars, content creation, and content program analysis. Our maintenance plans assure your website is safe and secure and all of your themes and plugins are updated. This also includes backups of your website and performance scans to make sure your website is running smoothly and quickly. For help optimizing your association’s website, contact us at pburns@arc3communications.com or call us at 678-348-6024.
For more information visit us at www.arc3communications.com.
The 2 Most Popular Article Types for Association Content Marketers
In a digital age, content marketing is one of the best marketing strategies that can be used by associations’ large and small. There is a wide variety of options in the world of content marketing and choosing the best types of content for your association can be challenging. Of course, you do not have to use just one type of content, in fact using a variety of different content formats is good for keeping your membership and stakeholder audiences interested. These different types of content can be tailored to fit your association and reach your target audiences. This guide will identify two of the most popular forms of content out there right now and explain what each of these can accomplish for your association.
- Listicle Articles
We have all read listicle articles in magazines or on social media, even if we didn’t know that is what they were called. In fact, the article you are reading right now is a listicle. Listicles are highly popular due to their ability to be very informative while being easy-to-read and aesthetically pleasing. Arranging information in a list format and including numbers in the title and body of the article has been proven to be psychologically attractive and draws in readers. People like having their information in list form; and with a catchy title, this form of content can greatly increase page views, shares and likes. Listicles will usually have a numerically based title, for example: “Top 10,” “6 Ways to,” “5 best,” etc. These numbers can either be a ranking system or simply organize information into the list. Unlike How-To articles (which we will discuss next) listicles do not necessarily have to show someone how to do something or teach a skill; it can simply be used for informing readers or for entertainment purposes. The items in a listicle will usually be related to an overall theme such as “10 Things to Consider When Writing Captivating Content for Members”. This theme will be something related to your association that will attract your membership and stakeholders. Listicles are immensely popular and can be tailored to any policy or content bucket.
- How-To Articles
How-to articles are another extremely popular form of content. The how-to article is written in a sequence of steps and shows the reader how to perform a skill or complete a task. In the past it was enough to use a title like “How to do…” but now, with social media and endless online articles for your members and stakeholders to choose from, you have to be creative with your titles and content in order to catch the attention of readers. How-to articles are much more specific than listicles, usually explaining a specific task or skill. Often, listicles and how-to articles can cross paths with steps and guides written in a numbered list format like “10 Easy Steps to Building a Remarkably Popular Website.” This translates roughly to “How to Build a Website” but uses much more exciting and interesting language. Like listicle articles, how-to articles increase traffic, shares, and likes and can benefit your SEO and keyword placement. Writing how-to articles that take a unique approach to a topic and take a new angle on what might be a well-known subject to your members is the key to leveraging this content format.
In the End, Quality Content Works
Ultimately, the most important thing about creating content is making sure that it is of high quality. You can pump out countless content pieces, fast and furious; and have them all fall flat because there is no value to them. Quality over quantity is the golden rule when it comes to creating new content for your marketing campaigns. Well-crafted content will boost the visibility of your website and ultimately increase your audience numbers. Interesting and readable content will go far in engaging your membership and keep them coming back for more. Strong content is also more likely to be shared on social media, thus acting as free advertising and driving traffic to your website and generating membership leads for your association. While the two content types discussed in this article are the most popular and effective, they certainly are in no way the only types you can use to be effective. In the end, if you create quality content, your membership and stakeholder audiences will rely on you time and again as a trusted and valuable resource.
For more information or help with your association’s content marketing visit us at www.arc3communications.com or contact Patrick Burns at pburns@arc3communications.com. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goals and develop successful content marketing strategies to help your association grow.
This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – BuzzFeed, Mobile Websites and Twitter
Digital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations communicate and achieve their goals. Below is a roundup of the more interesting stories that we read over the last week:
Content, Digital and Social Media
Gawker reports that BuzzFeed deleted posts under pressure from its own business department. An internal review found at least 3 instances in which complaints from the site’s business and advertising departments led Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith to delete posts by staff. The 3 deleted posts criticized or mocked an Axe body spray ad campaign (a brand of Unilever), Pepsi’s Twitter account and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. Unilever, Pepsi and Microsoft all are major advertisers with BuzzFeed.
TechCrunch reports LinkedIn’s launch of Elevate, a paid mobile and desktop app for social media management. The app suggests articles to its users based on algorithms from its news recommendation services Pulse and Newsle as well as “human curation”. Users are then able to schedule and share those links across LinkedIn and Twitter. The app will be available to users in the 3rd quarter of this year.
Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs
Ernie Smith, the social media journalist for Associations Now provides an analysis of Google’s implementation this week of an update of its algorithm to favor mobile-friendly websites and its impact on trade associations. Smith provides things for associations to consider as they redesign or retrofit their mobile unfriendly site. Smith notes the challenges facing associations who have lots of legacy content on their websites.
William Powers and Deb Roy of MIT’s Laboratory for Social Machines provides insights on Medium into their research of the town of Jun in southern Spain. For the last four years, the town has been using Twitter as its principal medium for citizen-government communication. Leading the effort is Jun’s Mayor, José Antonio Rodríguez Salashas who has been recruiting the town’s 3,500 residents to join the social network and have their Twitter accounts locally verified at town hall.
Speaking of municipalities, the City of Philadelphia unveiled on its website this week a real-time analytics tool showing how people are visiting city websites. This tool may promote better civic engagement between staff and residents.
Campaigns and Elections
Dave Weigel reports in Bloomberg Politics on the launch of the app Clear by Ethan Czahor, the former CTO for Jeb Bush’s presidential exploratory committee. The free app which works as an add-on to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allows users to scan their social media for a series of problematic terms that could harm their public reputation in the future. Czahor resigned his position with Jeb Bush earlier this year after it was discovered he had sent tweets disparaging women. Czahor believes that the app can help millennials avoid repeating his fate.
These were some of Arc 3’s most interesting reads in digital and public affairs over the last week. What were your favorite stories? Let us know if there is a neat story that we missed! We’d love to hear from you.
This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Hillary’s Logo, Online Video Ads and LinkedIn
Digital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations communicate and achieve their goals. Below is a roundup of the more interesting stories that we read over the last week:
Content, Digital and Social Media
ZDNet reports that LinkedIn bought Lynda.com for $1.5 billion. LinkedIn’s purchase of the twenty-year-old subscription-based online learning portal is a clear sign of the professional social network’s intention to provide training opportunities for specific career skill sets to its members.
In Forbes, contributor Robert Hof provides a thoughtful analysis of the rise of online video in digital advertising. Hof points out that TV-like online video ads are driving much of the growth in the ad industry. Hof forecasts that the video ads will make our smartphones more resemble our televisions.
Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs
Ernie Smith, the social media journalist for Associations Now asks the question of whether associations should care about the live-streaming video app Meerkat. Smith points out that Meerkat’s ease of use for live-streaming video makes it a valuable tool for capturing key moments at association conferences.
On DigitalGov, Sara Smith, the Social Media Strategist for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides her agency as a case study for the benefits of having social sharing buttons on your government website. Smith notes that NIDA’s addition of sharing toolbars to their website has resulted in a rapid increase in social shares and social media referrals to the site. The agency website is now averaging 20k social shares a month in 2015.
Campaigns and Elections
Western Journalism and Mashable report how Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign logo quickly became fodder for critics on social media. Clinton’s political critics, dismayed supporters and graphic designer aficionados panned the logo as amateurish and unprofessional.
These were some of Arc 3’s most interesting reads in digital and public affairs over the last week. What were your favorite stories? Let us know if there is a neat story that we missed! We’d love to hear from you.
This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Meerkat, Twitter and Millennials
Digital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations communicate and achieve their goals. Below is a roundup of the more interesting stories that we read over the last week:
Content, Digital and Social Media
The Columbia Journalism Review provides an insightful analysis of the economics of the podcast boom. Author Ann Friedman describes how the intense loyalty of podcast listeners make this a strong medium to reach niche audiences.
Marketing Land reports Twitter’s launch of Curator, a real-time search & display tool for publishers. The new tool gives publishers the ability to find relevant content from Twitter and Vine and display it on web, mobile, television and other offline media.
Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs
The Hill reports on how Twitter may be in hot water with one member of the FCC over a decision this month to block Meerkat’s access to its social graph. The regulator hinted that Twitter might have been operating unfairly by imposing limits on what it shares with the live-streaming company.
Associations Now looks a what millennials’ news consumption habits mean for trade associations. The article examines a recent report that found that a majority of millennials don’t pay for news and end up getting most of their information from Facebook and YouTube.
Campaigns and Elections
In Backchannel, former White House Communications Czar Dan Pfeiffer offers predictions on how the live-streaming video app Meerkat is going to change the 2016 Election for campaigns, reporters and voters.
These were some of Arc 3’s most interesting reads in digital and public affairs over the last week. What were your favorite stories? Let us know if there is a neat story that we missed! We’d love to hear from you.