Religious communities, small businesses, charities, and non-profits are all struggling for new members.
People have wandered away is larger numbers over the past few years and haven’t returned.
How do you bring them back? Or how do you attract the interest of others who may be looking for you and looking to be a part of what you do?
What are you doing to let the outside world know what you’re doing?
How are you communicating with more than just those who know all about you?
Energy and Sharing the Message
Maybe you rely on members of your community to spread the word. Is that working? Or is that working enough?
Word of mouth is, for sure, the best way to share the message. It’s the best way to stop feeling like you’re struggling for new members.
But even once people have learned about you, how do they learn more? Where do they start? How do they join in, donate, or support you?
Ideally your marketing strategy will ensure the systems within your organisation are supporting your goals, your mission.
If your community has an energy about it, and you’re letting the world know about it, there will be interest. People will want to know what to do next.
Maybe they’ll visit your website or social media account. Maybe they’ll wander through the door. They may take a second look at the sale flyer you sent out and put it on their calendar.
Now What?
Most importantly, once people find out about you, they’ll have questions.
Who do they speak with, how do they learn more about you, where should they go?
Are you ready for that?
Maybe they have visited your website or social media accounts. By doing so, are they going to be learning what you most want them to know?
If they attend your sale, will they be motivated to return for the next one? Why?
If you’d like people to come back, you’ll need to earn their repeat business and loyalty.
What are you doing to support people who are interested? Does your organisation have systems in place to ensure new people stick around? If not, figure out how you can do to change that.
Have people been showing interest? Ask them what brought them your way.
You don’t want to expend too much energy on people who aren’t going to stick around. But, if they seem keen, follow up with them. Don’t let those newbies fall through the cracks.
Find out what they’re looking for. What they want, feel they need, and if they’re finding it.
Then apply what you’ve learned. If you show them you care, you never know how many more people they may help you share the message with as a result.