top of page

Association Marketing FAQs: Answering the 5 Toughest Questions from Your Board

  • Writer: The Ways and Means
    The Ways and Means
  • Nov 27
  • 4 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Woman at desk working

Marketing Answers That Drive Board Confidence


Association executives often find themselves tasked with defending marketing investments to a board demanding measurable returns. Traditional marketing answers rarely satisfy an audience focused on fiduciary duty, risk mitigation, and long-term sustainability.


Successful marketing strategy requires concise, confident answers that connect communications efforts directly to organizational growth.


Here are five of the toughest marketing related questions associations face, along with executive-ready answers, leveraging the strategic methodologies of The Ways and Means Marketing Inc.


1. How Does Our Association Measure Membership Value ROI Beyond Renewal Rates?


The Board needs to see value throughout the year, not just at the renewal deadline. Renewal rates only measure retention; they don't measure member satisfaction or long-term growth potential.


The Executive Answer: We measure Return on Engagement (ROE), not just renewal. This proves value is being used and felt year-round.


  • Metric 1: Service Utilization: Track engagement with high-value, exclusive services. For example, measure the utilization rates for professional development courses (LMS), downloads of regulatory compliance guides, or engagement with your member-only Single Sign-On (SSO) portals.


  • Metric 2: Advocacy Impact: Quantify the financial impact of your association’s advocacy wins on the member’s business or career, then use marketing to communicate that value directly. The growth of the individual member's career or business (micro need) is the ultimate ROI of the association's voice (macro value).


  • Metric 3: Content Repurposing ROI: Measure the efficiency of your content strategy. A single asset, like a podcast episode, should be repurposed into blog content and social media clips, maximizing the original investment and lowering the effective cost per content piece.


2. Why Is Our Association's Website Strategy Focused on Aesthetics, Not Member Functionality?


Websites must function as a strategic hub, not just a digital brochure. The Board is concerned about the site's ability to serve diverse needs and integrate with the AMS and LMS.


The Executive Answer: Our strategy is exclusively focused on Value Alignment and Friction Elimination. We use the THINK, FEEL, DO Methodology to ensure every page drives a strategic action.


  • Clarity Over Clicks: We eliminate content overload, a costly problem often resulting from competing executive demands, by aligning every page with a necessary user action (THINK, FEEL, DO). This ensures visitors can easily find what they are looking for without navigating endless, low-value pages.


  • Integration as Assurance: We prioritize seamless integration (Website Development) of the website (CMS) with the Association Management System (AMS) and Learning Management System (LMS). This guarantees high-value functions like event registration, dues payment, and course access are efficient, reducing friction and maximizing member self-service.


3. Why Are We Spending Resources on Video Production When Our Budget is Tight?


Professional video production is often viewed as a costly, high-risk expense. The Board needs assurance that the investment will yield tangible returns beyond "brand awareness."


The Executive Answer: We treat video as an investment with a specific, quantifiable purpose. We prioritize video that solves costly organizational problems.


  • Proof of Mission: Video production is one of the most effective tools for building trust and humanizing the organization's mission. We invest in Testimonial Videos and Fundraising Appeals because campaigns featuring personal stories are more appealing than text-based appeals.


  • Compliance and Retention: We prioritize video that streamlines operations. For instance, creating AODA-compliant, instructional video content is a cost-effective way to strengthen member retention by streamlining onboarding and policy adherence.


  • Asset Ownership: Our agreements include the delivery of full rights and releases, ensuring the association maintains maximum control and utility of the digital asset for future use.


4. Why Do We Need a Specialized Agency for Associations? Isn't Marketing Universal?


The Board questions the necessity of a specialist when a local freelancer may offer a lower rate. They need to understand the risk of relying on a freelancer for policy and advocacy-driven communication.


The Executive Answer: Association marketing is not universal; it is sector-specific and policy-driven. We require specialized experience to manage the unique Value Gap inherent in association communications.


  • The Competency Gap: Freelancers or general agencies miss the core executive challenge of translating the macro value ("voice of the industry") into the member's micro need ("what helps my career or business"). This alignment is essential for closing the membership deal.


  • Risk Mitigation: Specialized experience with associations means the agency understands the regulatory, political, and volunteer leadership structures that often derail marketing projects. This deep understanding mitigates risk and ensures campaign messaging is appropriate for your sensitive sector.


5. How Will We Stay Relevant in the New AI Digital Landscape?


The Board needs assurance that the organization is prepared for the inevitable shift to AI-powered search and content generation, which threatens to diminish relevance if not addressed proactively.


The Executive Answer: We are actively implementing an AI Authority Mandate by prioritizing content that proves the association is the leader AI trusts.


  • E-E-A-T Focus: We structure our content, reviews, and mentions to signal high Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T). This ensures that when search engines and AI tools synthesize responses, your association's content is the recognized and cited source of truth.


  • Structured Content: We use Checklists, FAQs, and structured data across all digital channels. This format allows AI to instantly extract and present your content in synthesized answers, securing critical strategic visibility and preventing your organization from being overlooked in the AI era.


Conclusion: Investing in Strategic Clarity


For association executives, clear, confident answers built on strategic methodology are non-negotiable. By framing marketing as the engine of measurable value, not just a promotional expense, you move the conversation from cost to investment, securing the strategic foundation your organization needs to thrive.


bottom of page