Lurkers are the silent majority in your membership. They read your newsletters and forum discussions, but don’t participate in your online courses and education programs.
These lurkers are a captive but passive audience who invest their money (dues) and time in your association. But how do you activate them into deeper engagement? Discover association member engagement strategies that can help you maintain your hold on their attention and wallet.
Why Online Learning Programs are Lurker Activators
Members want and need to acquire new skills and knowledge to stay employable and promotable. Online education programs provide a legitimate reason for members to deepen engagement: they need to learn the skills these programs teach.
Education programs are structured, non-threatening opportunities for interaction, unlike open-ended, intimidating networking events. Members know what they’re going to get from an education program: an exchange of knowledge for participation.
As they participate and build their competence, they also build the confidence needed to get involved in other association activities.
Why Don’t Members Participate in Education Programs?
Members prefer to hang back because they:
- Fear looking foolish or inexperienced if they speak up.
- Feel intimidated by the expertise of others.
- Believe they have nothing valuable to contribute.
- Rather learn by observing before participating.
- Don’t see the value in getting more involved.
To nudge members out into the open, you must give them a sense of psychological safety. Show them how involvement increases the value they receive from membership and helps them advance in their careers.
How to Build Data-Driven Association Member Engagement Strategies
For marketing messaging to be relevant and persuasive, it must be based on data about the member’s:
- Past behavior and activities
- Membership tenure
- Professional interests (topics)
- Career stage and employment status
- Career goals, which, if unknown, provide an excuse to reach out
By integrating your learning management system (LMS) with your association management system (AMS), you can use automated workflows based on member data to promote activities and programs to lurkers.
Track these engagement metrics to identify when members are ready for the next level:
- Consumption: course enrollment, completion rates
- Reaction: course ratings, private feedback
- Engagement: forum posts, content review
- Connection: messaging peers, group participation
- Contribution: volunteering
Automated engagement campaigns personalize and hasten the transformation process from inactive lurker to engaged learner/member.
How To Increase Education Program Registration by Turning Inactive Members into Learners
The learner activation plan creates low-barrier entry points and then gradually increases the level of the member’s involvement.
Start with Anonymous Learning Entry Points
Lurkers are most content when learning on their own, anonymously. Offer learning experiences that meet them where they are in their psychological safety zone. These activities build trust with lurkers, while they become comfortable with your learning platform.
Asynchronous (self-paced, on-demand) programs are the best way to ease members into learning because they can participate anonymously whenever it’s convenient. Examples include:
- Free on-demand webinars or session recordings
- Self-paced mini courses
- Email series of learning snippets
Make learning content easier to digest with microlearning. Break content up into ‘bites’ rather than pile on a full meal. Use a mix of media for instructional content and interject quick activities and assessments to help learners recall and apply what they’ve learned.
Host resources, programs, and courses on a mobile-friendly LMS so members can dip in and out of learning when they have time—during a commute, while waiting for an appointment, or at the gym.
Add Private, Interactive Learning Opportunities
Insert polls into programs and courses:
- What’s your biggest challenge with remote work?
- What’s your biggest takeaway or insight from this module?
- How will you apply what you’ve learned today?
Encourage members to take a skills self-assessment that directs them to relevant programs. Offer note-taking and bookmarking tools to use privately while taking an online course.
Survey inactive members about their professional expertise and willingness to contribute as micro-volunteers. Introduce them to a few ways of getting involved—don’t assume they know.
- Provide deeper feedback (via phone or Zoom) about an online education program they completed.
- Review an education program in development.
- Take a course as a beta tester.
- Review conference session or abstract proposals.
Give members opportunities to apply their expertise to workplace problems. Present industry challenges and ask for their solutions privately. Host innovation challenges where members submit ideas without having to publicly present them. Validate their contributions before asking for their public participation.
Invite Members to Deepen Participation on Their Own Terms
Use automated workflows based on member data to promote next steps:
- After they download multiple resources, ask them to review/rate the content.
- If they visit forums but don’t post, send a “we’d love your perspective on this proposed regulatory change” message.
- When they complete a program, invite them to a program or discussion on a similar topic.
In forums, when a hot topic emerges in discussions, send a poll to lurkers asking for their level of interest and feedback on that topic. Offer the option to ‘like’ or upvote forum questions and answers.
However, learning in solitude can get lonely. Give members the option to participate in live education without having to turn on their cameras. Always accompany live events with a chat box where members can ‘like’ and comment on the discussion or presentation—a less intimidating way to ease into participation. During live sessions, give participants the option of asking questions anonymously.
Guide Members into Group Participation
Most members join associations with a desire to connect with others. If they don’t take the initiative, help them.
Build discussion forums into the curriculum of every online course. At the start of online courses, offer to match them with other learners—a pair or small cohort—for interactive exercises, exam prep, and accountability.
During live virtual programs, assign attendees to breakout rooms for small group discussions. Recalling and applying new information helps reinforce learning while helping members connect with peers.
Co-Create Association Member Engagement Strategies with Apti
Members will deepen their participation in your programs because they’ve found value in the learning experiences they’ve enjoyed on their own. Contact us to learn how Apti can help your association design engaging learner pathways for different comfort levels.