Is your content plan stressing your membership?

People actively avoid stressful situations, so brands that offer a stress-free customer experience are inevitably going to be favoured over those that don’t. We all hate being left stuck on hold by a customer service representative, delayed in a waiting room, or having to return a product because it wasn’t what it claimed to be.

In Matt Watkinson’s book, The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences, he spells out seven guidelines for a business to follow that could reduce a customer's stress levels:

1. Consider the customer’s competence
2. Limit choices to a manageable number
3. Make options distinctive
4. Let the customer undo any mistakes
5. Clarify the reason for the task
6. Give frequent and responsive feedback
7. Consider any distractions in the environment

I believe these guidelines can be applied to any membership organisation’s content and publishing strategy, and that following them would significantly improve membership engagement – which is the top priority for such organisations, according to this year’s Research Summary Report by MemberWise.

Consider the customer’s competence

Ask yourself whether there are variations in your membership’s abilities and, if these exist, consider different solutions for each group; this should be from a content and platform perspective.

There is little point in offering state-of-the-art, mobile-first content to a group that will only use a phone to make a call. Likewise, sending student members a magazine full of highly technical papers that they will find inaccessible at their level, will make them feel stressed and overwhelmed. 

Limit choices to a manageable number

It has been well documented that people who face many options often find the experience stressful and prefer to have a few clear choices. Offering a simple content solution – especially if it is part of a wider and more valuable membership package – can often reduce confusion and stress.

If you offer your membership group of senior management leaders dozens of webinars a year, they will be unlikely to have the time to attend them all and will be forced to make lots of choice. Student groups, on the other hand, are likely to have more time to dedicate to their education or learning and will want a larger selection to choose from.

Make options distinctive

Sometimes, I come across a membership group’s website or marketing material that fails to make it clear to which membership category I would belong, let alone what benefits I should expect.

If you give your members the options of which weekly newsletter or annual guide to receive, it should be clear and the benefits made obvious.

Let the customer undo their mistakes

In Watkinson’s book, this section focuses on a customer experience that is forgiving: for example, the ‘undo’ button in Gmail. For membership content, this could be by ‘teasing’ a feature from last month’s magazine on LinkedIn allowing members to undo their ‘mistake’ of not reading it the first time round. And, by resending newsletters to the ‘unopened’ section of the database, members have the chance to revisit something they may have missed.

If members don’t feel overwhelmed by content and have the option to backtrack when they fall behind, they are likely to feel more engaged and satisfied with what they being offered, as well as less stressed by the idea they may not be keeping up with their peers.

Looking at it from a different angle, content is expensive and time-consuming to produce, so it’s worth getting as much as possible out of every piece.

Clarify the reason for the task

Let your members know why this issue of the magazine is going to help develop their career, or why next month’s supplement is worth a read. If I know how reading something is going to benefit me, I will feel more likely to invest my time and attention.  

In today’s digital world, content is everywhere and membership organisations often struggle to get their voices heard. Offering this clarification will help your content offering stand out from the crowd and reinforce the positive messages of why members are with you.

Provide frequent and responsive feedback

Starting a conversation with your members and reassuring them that their commitment to you is worthwhile and beneficial, will make them less likely to lapse in the future. There are cost-effective ways of doing this including, for example, sending an email when someone completes one of your qualifications, or a post-event message to thank them for attending.

From a content point of view, they could be offered articles on similar topics to material they have engaged with before.

This could also be flipped on its head; members could be given the opportunity to give feedback. By telling you what content they have enjoyed, or by making it easier to share with colleagues or peers, members will feel less stressed and more in control.

Consider any distractions in the environment

Our environments are often full of distractions, and it can be difficult to focus on an individual task, so consider how your members will realistically digest the content you send them. The platform on which it is distributed should be designed to match the environment best.

A weekly newsletter can be a cost-effective platform for membership organisations, but, if your members are spending their day driving a van with limited access to email, they are less likely to open it.

If your data shows that many of your members are desk-based and commute by train, a print magazine can be an enjoyable option after a day in front of a screen.

If members have the space and time to digest your content, it is likely to become a more engaging experience.