the state of

DIGITALMARKETING
in

ASSOCIATIONS
 Table of Contents
Introduction 3

Executive Summary 5

The State of Association Marketing 7

Association Marketing 9
Capabilities & Tactics

Strategy Ownership, 19
Execution & Measurement

Digital Marketing Portfolio 22

Tasks & Skills 25

Metrics & Analytics 28

Budget & Resources 31

Analyst Bottom Line 38

Acknowledgements 40

Appendix: Survey Background 42

[CURRENT SECTION] THE STATE
THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017OF ASSOCIATION MARKETING | [OVERALL SECTION] 3

Introduction
INTRODUCTION THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017 4

The State of Association Marketing Benchmark Study is now in its fourth

year. From its inception, the study’s purpose has been to help associa-
tions become better at marketing. To do this, the study inventories associ-
ation marketing practices and through analysis attempts to identify those
associated with the highest level of marketing effectiveness.

The importance of member understanding has continued to emerge as

a key success factor in association marketing. A deep member under-
standing is crucial for many reasons, not the least of which is so asso-
ciations can better allocate their budgets. Those associations that have
certainty about the needs of their members will allocate line items in their
budget to better serve them.

Past studies have seen slight, incremental movements in most measure-

ment categories. This 2017 study saw more significant movement
compared to past studies. One area of movement was in average budget
sizes, where across the board decreases were seen. HighRoad Solution
chief marketing officer Suzanne Carawan shared some insight about the
possible reason why, which this report will reveal.

This study takes a broad look at the issues shaping the association
marketing landscape, reports data from a study survey, and provides anal-
ysis and commentary to help association marketing improve.
[CURRENT SECTION] THE STATE
THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017OF ASSOCIATION MARKETING | [OVERALL SECTION] 5

Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017 6

Participants in the study were from membership, trade, company, and non-profit associations.
They represent a variety of roles and departments within their associations, the largest groups being marketing (31 percent) and communications (16 percent).
The membership size of associations participating in this study ranged from less than 100 to more than 50,000.

The analysis of associations contributing to this study provides these key findings about the current state of association marketing:

The associations in this study that rate their effective-
ness as “Somewhat” or “Very” effective is 76 percent, a 5
percent increase year-to-year.
Of the 13 marketing capabilities most commonly found
within associations, on average associations claimed to
have just over six of them. Just 14 percent have 10 or more
of these capabilities, and almost one-fourth have three or
fewer of these capabilities.
Over two-thirds of associations studied claim to under-
stand their member needs well, and this understanding
correlates to how associations allocate their budgets.
Just over one-fourth of the study participants report that
members perceive association marketing and communi-
cation efforts as “Always relevant and professional.”
Associations that have a good member understanding are
twice as likely to also report their member communica-
tions and marketing efforts are perceived as “always rele-
vant and professional.”
Association marketing effectiveness has less to do with
what tactics are being used, and more to do with how well
they are used. Associations in the study are for the most
part doing the same things, but some are much better at it.
The difference seems related to skills or execution and not
the choice of tactics.
More associations are leveraging social media adver-
tising with back-to-back yearly increases in Facebook and
Twitter paid advertising.
There has been an increase in almost every category of
marketing metrics usage from the previous year’s study.
The average, estimated association marketing budget
has gone from $260,000 (2015), to $240,000 (2016), and
finally $205,000 in this year’s study.

This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data.
For more detail on the survey participants, please refer to the Appendix.
[CURRENT SECTION] THE STATE
THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017OF ASSOCIATION MARKETING | [OVERALL SECTION] 7

2017

The State of
Association Marketing
THE STATE OF ASSOCIATION MARKETING THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017 8

For the association marketing benchmark study, participants were asked figure 1
in each survey to rate the overall effectiveness of their marketing effort.
Association Marketing Overall Effectiveness
Figure 1 shows results from all assessment years.
Association marketing effectiveness is virtually unchanged
Figure 1 remains a picture of consistency, with just slight change over since this study’s inception.
the years. The ideal, of course is for steady improvement, In 2017, the
combined “Somewhat effective” and “Very effective” responses total 76 Very ineffective Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Very effective
percent, the highest ever in the history of this study. ineffective effective

The data in Figure 1 will serve as a basis for comparing other study data.
2014 8% 16% 65% 10%
As in past years of the study, participants were divided into “High” and
“Low” marketing effectiveness segments, based on the data shown in
Figure 1. These effectiveness segments are depicted in Table 1.
2015 10% 14% 62% 11%

2016 11% 15% 61% 10%

table 1
Association marketing effectiveness groups. 2017 8% 15% 62% 14%

Effectiveness 2017 2016

Perception Rating Percent of total Percent of total
Using these segments, the association marketing benchmark data was
High (Somewhat or Very
76% 71% analyzed to determine the differences between associations with high and
effective)
Low (Neutral, Somewhat or low marketing effectiveness ratings. The “Somewhat to Very Effective”
24% 29%
Very ineffective) perception has increased by 5 percent this year compared to 2016. This
is the first noticeable example of improvement in all years of this study.
This report presents additional findings that associations can use to bench-
mark their own marketing performance and derive best practices to help
marketing become more effective.
[CURRENT SECTION] THE STATE
THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017OF ASSOCIATION MARKETING | [OVERALL SECTION] 9

Association Marketing
Capabilities & Tactics
ASSOCIATION MARKETING CAPABILITIES & TACTICS THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN ASSOCIATIONS 2017 10

The study again inventories association marketing capabilities, providing figure 2

insights into association marketeering priorities. Study participants were
Association Marketing Capabilities
encouraged to select all applicable marketing capabilities. Figure 2
Four-year summary of association marketing capabilities.
shares this inventory, with comparisons to past study years included for
reference. 2014 2015 2016 2017

Figure 2 reveals several interesting findings. On average, associations Marketing

Communications*
claim to have 6.1 of the 13 capabilities listed in Figure 2. Just 14 percent 70% 68% 70%
Membership
have 10 or more of these capabilities, which is slightly down from last retention
47% 62% 64% 65%
year; and almost one-fourth (24 percent) have three or fewer of these
Membership
capabilities. engagement
52% 62% 63% 62%

There was also a difference in the average number of marketing capa- Membership growth
51% 54% 61% 60%
bilities claimed by the effectiveness segments shown in Table 1: the
Brand management/
“High” segment claimed an average of 6.3 capabilities, while the “Low” awareness
54% 63% 61% 62%
segment claimed 5.3.
Strategy/planning
56% 61% 55% 62%
Higher levels of effectiveness, not surprisingly, correlates to a broader
Graphic design &
set of marketing capabilities. Finally, strategy and planning has seen a 7 production*
51% 54% 50%
percent increase, certainly movement in the right direction, however, the Event planning &
data doesn’t show a consistent, upward trend here. coordination* 42% 50% 46%
Partnerships/
The data in Figure 2 leads to several conclusions about the shifts in asso- Business development 30% 33% 39% 31%
ciation marketing capabilities from 2016. During this period, strategy/plan-
Membership winback
ning has gone back up. Most other areas stayed consistent. 24% 32% 38% 32%
Public Relations/
Thought leadership 39% 40% 35% 32%
Member/
Market intelligence 31% 41% 30% 32%

Other capabilities
11% 7% 7% 6%

*New category added in the 2015 survey

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