This membership marketing campaign was the 2020 ASAE Gold Circle Award Winner in the membership recruitment campaign category.
As the global electronics industry’s trade association, IPC’s certification, training, advocacy, and industry intelligence benefit thousands of member companies. But, what IPC is primarily known for is their IPC standards, which are trusted and followed worldwide in all sectors of the electronics industry. They are both IPC’s strongest brand assets and one of their biggest challenges in terms of expanding their membership. Many in the industry see IPC as “the standards people” (IPC standards are available to nonmembers) and may not be aware of the full value of an IPC membership.
IPC turned to the David James Group to develop a strategically driven association membership marketing campaign that would communicate the value of membership and all that IPC offers, add new members and increase retention. We determined that the campaign should communicate an IPC membership is key to improve the quality, reliability, and consistency of the electronics their members build and the world relies on.
Campaign Objectives
- Objective #1: Increase association membership by at least seven percent year- over- year
- Objective #2: Retain or renew at least 4,275 member sites
- Objective #3: Develop this association membership marketing campaign around the “improved quality, reliability and consistency” message
- Objective #4: Create tools and messaging to communicate that an IPC membership pays for itself.
ASAE Gold Circle Winning IPC Membership Marketing Campaign Strategy and Tactics
To deliver the results that IPC expected, we identified the following three key strategies that guided the entire campaign:
- Develop a multi-channel membership marketing campaign
We outlined a two-phase approach that included planning and pre-launch preparation in the first phase and campaign rollout and execution in the second phase. Tactics included a print and digital ad buy, an email program, booth graphics for use at IPC’s annual conference and expo, video, a campaign landing page, an IPC ambassador marketing toolkit, ROI infographics and more. - Ground the campaign theme and creative in a positive, industry-affirming idea
DJG and IPC decided to take on the “standards” challenge head-on by creating the theme “Start With the Standards” (SWTS) for this membership marketing campaign. The idea was designed to redefine “standards” by associating the word with what the standards make possible: quality, reliability and consistency. We added to that the notion that IPC as an organization is the fourth standard. Ultimately, this theme challenges the industry to “start with the standards” of quality, reliability, consistency and IPC when designing and manufacturing electronics. Visually, the campaign featured imagery of positive situations made possible by electronics. The campaign messaging communicated how better electronics mean a better quality of life for all. - Place a compelling offer at the heart of the campaign
We included an offer of 50% savings on a first-time member’s first year in all communication vehicles. The offer was valued at a minimum of $675.
Campaign Results
At the conclusion of this phase of the campaign (IPC will be extending this ASAE Gold Circle winning campaign into 2020) we were able to turn in exceptional results for IPC:
- Objective #1: Increase membership by at least seven percent year- over- year
The SWTS membership marketing campaign performed well beyond expectations. At the end of 2019 IPC experienced a 24% gain in new members. After adjusting for lost retention their net growth in members sites was 17%, which means we more than doubled IPC’s minimum growth goal of seven percent. - Objective #2: Retain or renew at least 4,275 member sites
At the start of the campaign, IPC set an objective to retain 4,275 member sites. We exceeded their retention rate objective by four percent and met their goal to improve retention.
Financial Implications
65% of IPC’s new members were first- time members, which means they were eligible for IPC’s 50% discount offer. These first-timers delivered a net increase in revenue of more than $520,000. Non-first-timers (or “re-joiners”) drove an approximately additional $550K for a total increase in revenue from new members of more than $1.1MM in 2019.
Return on Investment
Based on IPC’s budget, we estimate the campaign’s ROI at 485%.
Lifetime Value
Assuming IPC’s average retention rate and taking into account their average member tenure, IPC can expect additional revenue from dues of roughly $8MM to $14MM over the lifetime of their new members based on today’s average annual member rate of $1,350.
2020 ASAE Gold Circle Award Winner
This membership marketing campaign was the 2020 ASAE Gold Circle Award Winner in the membership recruitment campaign category.
