5 Trends Affecting Association Websites and What You Can Do About It

Ray van Hilst Director of Client Strategy rvanhilst@vtcus.com @rvanhilst

5 Trends Affecting Websites in 2012

“If you build it they will come…”

But… no one goes to hear a bad orchestra.

Content Marketing is an umbrella

term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation

and sharing of content in order to attract, acquire and engage

clearly defined and understood current and potential consumer

bases with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering

information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer

action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader

attention and improving brand loyalty.

Content Marketing Examples

• White Papers •  Infographics • Webinars •  Emails •  Fact Sheets •  Blogs •  Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Content Marketing

•  A 2011 survey found that 82% of B2B companies use content marketing •  Predicted Trends ▫  Shifting Technologies (e.g. RSS to Google+) ▫  Emerging content channels will steal the

spotlight from more established media ▫  Curated Content ▫  Search Engine Optimization including off site

optimization (e.g. social channels) http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/6827/content-marketing-trends-for-2012-whats-in-and-whats-out

1 Billion

“I Google something at least 12 to 14 times a day.”

“Google is my primary research source.”

“If I need something I Google it.”

“Google is my homepage so everything starts there.”

“I keep up to date on my industry with Google alerts.”

Personalization Trends from Adobe and eConsultancy •  52% of digital marketers agree “The ability to

personalize web content is fundamental to their online strategy.” •  41% are “Committed to providing personalized

experiences.” •  Data used to personalize the web experience: ▫  Personal Data ▫  Browser History ▫  Purchase History ▫  Onsite Behaviour ▫  User Preferences

http://infographicsmania.com/website-personalization-trends/

Sharing Trends

•  Facebook accounts for almost 53% of online sharing ▫  An almost 10% increase from

2010 • More options mean more

sharing • Mobile sharing is for real

5 Trends

1.  Content Marketing 2.  Search Engine Optimization 3.  Personalization 4.  Social Sharing 5.  Responsive Web Design

You’re Probably About to Redesign Your Website

Top Factors for a Redesign

•  70.2% - Look and feel is outdated •  57.9% - Make it easier/faster to update; •  57.9% - Integrated with other technologies •  45.6% - Lack of functionality •  22.8% - Shifting business Model •  21.1% - Member Complaints •  5.3% - Board directive •  3.5% - Competition

Select the right web platform Make it easy to publish content

“The hardest part of managing a website should be writing the content. Not coding.”

Ray van Hilst Some guy speaking on a webinar

More than just a website editor

WYSIWIG & HTML News Events Calendar Shared Content Lists Form Builder Multimedia Social integration

“My staff really likes their CMS [Sitefinity] - they find it intuitive and with enough safeguards that they're not afraid of screwing up the whole site.”

Cathy Stegmaier Executive Director

Alliance of Cambridge Advisors

Testing a CMS

• Give the vendor sample content to migrate in the demo •  Do a side by side comparison of publishing

content •  Try a Sandbox Demo •  Ask about training and documentation

Content Marketing Creating member value through content

“I am very much of a content-is-the-most-

important-thing [mindset]. You can have

the most effective integrated social media

platform and every kind of technology, but

if you don’t have anything to say, you’re

done.”

- James Carville, Associations Now

Association Content Marketing

•  Industry News •  Press Releases • Magazine Articles •  Videos •  Education •  Blogs • Newsletters

Get Started

•  Content Audit ▫  What do you have? ▫  Where is it? •  Identify your channels ▫  Where should it go? •  Institutionalize ▫  Get everyone on board ▫  Adopt the Manifesto

Content Marketer’s Manifesto (Top 5)

•  #1 – I am a Marketer ▫  If you are creating content – even editorial – you are engaged in

marketing •  #2 – I hold the hottest tool for retention – Content ▫  Relevant content is the best way to create value

•  #3 – My content is aligned with the organization’s goals ▫  I create content that achieves my organization’s goals

•  #4 – I am in the influencing behavior game ▫  My purpose is to provide value through content to influence and drive

behavior •  #5 – I have an ongoing dialogue ▫  Content topics are driven by ongoing discussion and listening to their

needs.

http://bussolati.com/manifesto/

Search Engine Optimization Making your content found

http://readwrite.com/2011/12/13/googles-matt-cutts-good-conten

Good content trumps SEO "Even if you do brain-dead stupid things and shoot yourself in the foot, but have good content, we still want to return it,” “Google tries to make it so that sites don't have to do SEO."

Matt Cutts Google Webmaster Extraordinaire

SEO Tips •  Make it visible ▫  Relevant content can’t be hidden behind a login

•  Know your relevant keywords… and use them! ▫  Headlines ▫  Body Copy ▫  Internal Links

•  Build links back to your site ▫  Press Releases ▫  Partner Sites ▫  Social Media and Communities

SEO Basics

•  SEO Friendly URL •  Title Tag •  Keywords •  Descriptions

Responsive Design Future Proof Your Website

Responsive Design

• One site ▫  Consistent content management • User experience is based on screen resolution •  Device Independent •  Restructured Layout

A website that responds to the device that accesses it

and delivers the appropriate output for it uses

responsive design. Rather than designing multiple

sites for different-sized devices, this approach designs

one site but specifies how it should appear on varied

devices.

https://itservices.stanford.edu/service/web/mobile/about/terminology

User Centric Philosophy

Generalist

Jim •  26 Years Old •  General RT in a hospital •  Early in career •  Single, enjoys life outside

work •  Transaction driven

Susan •  34 Years Old •  Radiation Therapist •  Hospital based •  Married with two small kids,

always on the go •  Transaction driven

Specialist

Sarah •  40 Years Old •  Senior Technician with

many positions •  Engaged at state level •  Married with two kids (8

& 11) Careerist

Bob •  48 Years Old •  Operations Manager •  Service provider •  Volunteers with state

affiliates and national org •  Married with active

teenagers Evangelist

CEs Drive Web Usage Transactional 1

Transactional 2

Career Focused

Evangelist

Check & Manage CEs

X X X X

Continuing Education

X X X

Industry News X X X

Standards X

Events X

Careers X X

Vote X X

Volunteer X

Advocacy

Member Benefits

Welcome Box

Frictionless Social Sharing

AACRAO Sharing •  2,937 Shares (6 Months) ▫  Avg. 6 clicks per share ▫  574% lift through

sharing •  Top Share platforms ▫  Address bar ▫  Facebook ▫  Twitter

Online Community

Why Online Communities Matter

• Members join associations because of: ▫  Networking (22%) ▫  Access to specialized/current info (12%) ▫  Advocacy (12%)

2012 Association Membership Benchmarking Report, Marketing General

Communities Align With Trends •  Create Content ▫  Discussion Groups ▫  Libraries ▫  Blogs •  Facilitate Sharing ▫  Connections ▫  Networks ▫  Relationships

Conversion Points

Integrated Feeds

Wrap Up

Top Takeaways

•  Create good content ▫  Put your users first • Make your content easy to ▫  Publish ▫  Go anywhere your users go ▫  Be found •  Expand your website’s footprint ▫  Sharable content ▫  Create user connections

Q & A

Ray van Hilst Director of Client Strategy and Marketing Vanguard Technology Corporation 703.439.1990 rvanhilst@vtcus.com @rvanhilst