Related blog articles
Many business group websites offer a simple brochure of their online presence. Typically, a basic website with a few pages of core pieces of information and details about their membership. These sorts of websites are easy to make and don't cost a lot to make. Sounds ideal, right
However, where a lot of business groups are missing out is on providing a more advanced user experience to engage with members or potential members. A well-thought-out website for your business group enhances memberships and drives down running costs. Here at Memba, we understand that business groups come in all shapes and sizes and therefore need a wide range of functionalities and personalisation. To stand out from the crowd, business groups need to provide personalised and memorable user experiences.
If you want to convert the initial interest in your group into actual long-lasting memberships, a business group must foster relationships with its members. By having an integrated website and CRM, a business group can power-up their user experience as well as streamline the internal process.
Today, we are going to discuss how to elevate your business group website to have superpowers. So let's get into it.
What Is A CRM For Business Group Websites?
Superpowers? What do we mean when we say superpowers? We are referring to what we believe is a secret weapon to elevate your business group website to the next level - a CRM.
A CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is software that essentially helps you streamline all your information into one place. At the same time, it helps your business group to cultivate relationships with members and enhance the user experience.
A CRM provides a new way to gather member behaviour and gives you different ways to engage with them. A CRM can include features that allow business groups to create content, manage events, manage memberships and so much more.
A CRM is what can make a website more than just a website. It can become a critical tool in your business group. When a dynamic interface for your organisation is done properly, it can help your group achieve its aims and objectives.
What Features Would A Powered Up Business Group Site Need?
There is no size fits all when it comes to an integrated membership system. In fact, it was reported that 85% of companies with a CRM picked the wrong tools because they didn’t know what their key goals were. That's why Memba websites and CRM have a customisable interface to allow you to include the features that matter to you. Below are some key features that business group should consider if it wishes to elevate them to the next level.
Member Reports
A dynamic snapshot of membership activity will massively benefit the organisers of a business group. Memba uses Google Analytics and has a built-in report dashboard that allows you to understand your member's activity and behaviour better.
A way to take your business group website to the next level is by utilising member information to tailor your member's experience. For example, analysing user behaviour can help you understand what your member finds useful so you can precisely tailor content and events to them.
Publishing News
A lot of professional business groups have a common interest. Whether members use the business group to network or keep updated on current affairs, a feature that allows you to publish news articles, blogs and announcements will benefit your group.
Rather than sending out news or blogs in an email newsletter, you can publish the most recent news updates straight to the member's dashboard. Members of business groups will find this adds value to being part of the group.
Create Events
As a business group, you might hold a lot of events throughout the year. Having a place to streamline all the logistics, invitations, updates, and comms is a great way to keep organised. Having an integrated CRM will boost your organisation to the next level.
Similarly, you can see when people accepted the invite, declined the invite, what food options they may have picked, and any other data entered. Again, this saves you time going through every response and categorising.
Member Dashboard
A dashboard is what your members will see when they login into your membership system. Here they will find all the discussions, news articles, and upcoming events; whatever you decide is important for your group. It creates a user-friendly environment for both the admin and the member.
From the dashboard, members can see forums, discussions and any special interest groups that they might be interested in joining. These will all be secure and confidential, with access for members. Additionally, you can control varying permission levels to edit content and manage other members as an admin.
Smart Groups
Memba CRM has a unique feature called Smart Groups. Smart Groups help to take your business group website to the next level by allowing you to add members with shared interests and expertise into specific groups. You can then utilise these Smart Groups to send targeted messages, news articles, or events.
Business groups will have members of all different expertise. For example, an engineering professional networking group will have engineers with all sorts of interests. Therefore, having a Smart Group allows you to share accurate information and discussion to the right groups.
Smart Groups are a great collaboration and networking tool for your members to take advantage of.
Payment gateway
One of the most practical advantages of a CRM is having a payment gateway. It is easy for you to manage your membership plans and subscriptions.
How Does A Integrated CRM Benefit A Business Group Website?
An integrated CRM could offer some amazing features to your business group website. But what are the benefits? How can these features allow you to develop a business group website with superpowers? Here are some of the benefits.
Understanding Your Members Better
It is hard to understand your members if you're using multiple systems and without collecting behavioural analytics. It is something you didn't know you needed until now. A CRM allows you to understand your members a lot better by gathering information about them, such as:
- There specific interests
- Dietary requirements
- The industry they work in
- How long they spend on the membership website
- What events they have attended
All of these analytics help you create a member's profile. It allows you to tailor content, events, discussions and news specifically for them. As a member, your user experience increases. Members will feel heard, understood and like they truly belong in this business group.
Accuracy Of Information
The accuracy of the information that a CRM can collect for you will save you a lot of time and money. So while a CRM might be seen as a cost outlay initially, it can save you time and resources by improving efficiencies.
Think about it; trying to place every member into specific Smart Groups manually would take you a lot of time. On top of gathering news articles and trying to push them to the right people would be a full job in itself.
A superpower your business group website will gain is the accuracy and speed at which it can organise your members. This accuracy will add so much value for your members and elevate you above the rest.
Streamlining Your Systems
One of the biggest benefits of a CRM is the time it saves you by streamlining all the systems into one place. It drastically chops down the hours spent on admin tasks and manual data entry. Instead, it frees up that time to let you focus on building and fine-tuning member relationships and operations. Wha's more, all your team is using the same centralised, web-based system.
Increasing Members Retention
If you find it hard to retain members, it might be because you are not creating a friendly user experience or providing an easy to use online experience. Members of business groups want to be updated on the news in their specific interest, placed into discussions with like-minded people and invited to events that are relevant to them. They want to feel valued and understood. They also need fast (automated) responses and swift assistance whenever they need it - 24/7. In an ever-increasingly competitive world, the bar has never been higher.
If members are confused and unsure how to get access to discussions or are not invited to key events, they might lose interest and leave the group. Therefore, a CRM helps to increase retention rates by creating a user-friendly experience.
Memba has a user-friendly dashboard that makes it very easy for members to see everything they need. Combined with the power to personalise it to suit your business group creates the ultimate superpower for success.
Adds Value
Ultimately, the biggest superpower your business group website can gain is value. Adding value with a rich tool set for your members to use easily will only help you achieve your business group goals. 33% of consumers said they ended their relationship with a company because they did not personalise their experience.
At the end of the day, you all have a common interest that bonds you together. You all have the same goals and personal reasons for being part of the group. Therefore, adding value by creating a sense of belonging you can all relate to is really powerful.