How do people make big engagement decisions, like renewing? Or joining? Or registering? Or volunteering for the board?
What if I told you these big decisions don’t matter as much as we think?
This is volume 5 of the Things I Wish I Knew Then series (volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4), where I share what I wish I'd known earlier in my career.
Well, they DO matter, but they are just part of a loooooog decision-making series. Many tiny decisions ladder up to one of these big decisions.
Here’s an example:
We hope a member will attend an upcoming webinar (a big engagement decision). But they don’t just leap to “YES!” First, the member makes a chain of small decisions, a series of little yeses, before the big YES.
They:
Decide that yes, they will open the promo email.
Then, in that email, later in a social media post, or later still in your newsletter, they decide to click the webinar promo link.
On the webinar registration page, they decide, yes, they are going to sign up.
On the day of the webinar, they weigh whether they have enough time.
At the time of the webinar, they decide whether they feel like attending and click the log-in link.
In the waiting room or during the introductions, they decide whether to stay.
In other words, members need to make many little yeses before they say each big Yes.
So how do you get many little yeses? By paying attention to the small moments when someone has to make a decision. Like:
The tone of your email subject line.
The design of the registration page. Is it easy to fill out? Does it extend below the fold?
The design and content of the reminder emails. Are they short? Warm? Inviting? Make logging in easy.
The webinar example shows how small yeses ladder up to each big Yes, and this system is in place every time a member interacts with your association. Many small yeses are needed before a member reads a newsletter or research report, attends a chapter event or conference, joins a special interest group, or leads a SIG.
Is there a benefit, event, or resource that’s less engaging than you'd like? What chain of small decisions leads to this, and how can you improve these experiences to get more small yeses?
