Forum - May 2011

Your Technology Future How can you anticipate and meet the needs of increasingly “ connected” members? Companies such as Forrester, Nielsen and Gartner have invested tremendous time and energy researching technology trends and consumer behavior, and their insights provide understanding for where members are headed.

This research shows three major trends that will impact your organization’s member service strategy going forward:

1. Mobile. A substantial part of your membership will be engaging through mobile/portable devices. For instance, Morgan Stanley’s April 2010 State of the Internet report predicts “mobile will be bigger than desktop Internet by 2015.” And according to Nielsen’s October 2010 report, The Increasingly Connected Consumer, “Consumers using Apple iPads and iPhones spend their time accessing news ( 53 percent iPhone), magazines ( 25 percent iPad) and books ( 39 percent iPad).”

2. Social Networking. Members themselves will drive most retention and recruitment activities, product sales, program development and educational content. According to Gartner’s February 2011 report, 10 Consumer Mobile Applications to Watch in 2012, “social networking is the fastest-growing consumer mobile app category.”

3. Context-Aware Applications. Because you can obtain information about their interests, activities, connection and preferences, members will expect your organization to understand their needs and provide personalized, real-time value in content, products and services.

and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association “Social media and mobile technologies are advancements that no business can ignore.” As such, CEA has a presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and has a strategy that merges personal interactions with technological resources across all its member programs, events and publications.

Greg Fine, CAE, vice president of marketing and communications for the Association for Corporate Growth, predicts that by 2015, most associations will be delivering content across many channels, including print, digital and mobile.

“ACG members are highly mobile
individuals, so we are looking at how we
can build our mobile distribution capa-
bility,” Fine says. “There is no shortage
of information in our space, so we are
looking at ways to be a ‘vetted’ source
for content and develop segmented pub-
lications for our membership. Associa-
tion publications will need to keep pace
with the consumer magazines and offer
interactive experiences like multimedia,
social media delivery and reader-to-
reader interaction.”
Christie Tarantino, CAE, president
and CEO of the Association Forum of
Chicagoland, believes that the key to
providing the best customer service
and member experience is creating a
personal experience designed for each
member based on their preferences and
to provide current, relevant information
that is easily accessible.

Lead, Don’t Follow Many leading organizations already are aware of the importance of new technologies to their success and are preparing for a more connected future.