• Leading With ‘Outside-In’ Thinking: Refocusing the Value Proposition of a 150-Year-Old Association

    By Jeff Gibson and Christine Saunders

    The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has been the voice of Canada’s physicians for over 150 years. In 2016, the CMA faced a challenge: creating an association value proposition that would retain members and boost the relevance of belonging.

    The solution? Leading the organization with “outside-in” thinking and placing the members’ perspective at the centre of its strategic planning. The CMA membership team developed personas, journey maps, a membership program and a tone and voice guide to implement a focused, member-centric acquisition plan for members.

    Here are three lessons learned along the way:

    1. Strategic Marketing is Like Digging Pucks Out of a Corner in Hockey

    The work the CMA did to shift its perspective and define its association value proposition is like digging pucks out of the corner in a hockey game. Why? It’s difficult and there are many obstacles.

    For a hockey player, getting pucks out of the corner is a crucial part of the game. They are close to the net, so it’s an intense fight. They are fighting to unlock something difficult but important.

    And although it’s not as flashy as a breakaway goal, it’s hard work and it wins games. That’s how we think of the CMA’s work to renew its association value proposition and core member journeys with a member-centric approach.

    Luckily, having outside expertise from Halmyre helped. The CMA was able to bring in data and a methodological structure to the work, while challenging internal “red herrings.”

    2. The Process of Creating an Association Value Proposition is Continuous

    Creating a member-centric strategy involves a strong commitment. The team was prepared to continuously monitor digital data and regularly update strategic personas. We created user journey maps that technology, marketing and creative teams would be able to improve upon or refresh indefinitely.

    The CMA knows that the best way to provide value is to continuously identify pain points and frictions for members. Then, we figure out how to relieve those pain points to make our members’ lives easier.

    3. There are 3 Keys to Success

    Programs like the CMA’s have three key elements. The first is focusing on your data, the second is listening to what your association’s members want and need, and the third is making both of those approaches a continuous process, not a one-time project. And there is perhaps a fourth: practising patience and persistence, because there are multiple periods with ebbs and flows on the way to each success.

    Shifting your association’s focus to the customer experience is not glamorous, but it’s strategically vital. The process was difficult, and the CMA is still refreshing its membership marketing today, five years later, but it was one of the best investments the association could have made.

    Learn more about the project.

    Join Jeff Gibson and Christine Saunders at COMMUNITY: CSAE’s 2021 Virtual Conference, for a Nov. 10 session charting the CMA’s value proposition journey. Discover actionable tips and ideas for your association from Halmyre’s 2021 Benchmarking NFP Value Propositions report.

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