Association Insight International & European Association Insights Winter 2015 | Page 25

Association Insights Association Success Story NETWORK Background Previously IBMS student membership was limited to “Free Associate” membership - offering one year of free membership and only available to students at IBMS accredited universities, with the option to continue in membership as a paid Associate member. The majority of students delayed taking Free Associate membership until their final year of study meaning we lost up to 3 years of potential Associate membership fees from students. Attrition amongst Free Associates was poor, staffing resources required were intensive and print and postage costs were substantial. The IBMS also had limited control over marketing messages and limited direct communication with Free Associate members. In order to address the issues of a costly student membership offer with a high attrition rate and to offer a wider group of students a cost effective offer that would better meet their needs, the Membership and Marketing Team proposed an online only student membership; IBMS eStudent membership. IBMS eStudent was designed to be an electronic only membership category of the IBMS - developed in conjunction with biomedical science students – providing a branded microsite, tailored content and regular electronic communication. Activities In order to achieve the Institute’s strategic goal of amending our value proposition and expanding our membership into non-traditional markets, the Membership and Marketing Team proposed developing an electronic only, paid student membership category. This proposal, along with market sizing data, was presented to the Institute’s Membership and Marketing Committee (MMC) in Autumn 2012. It was agreed that additional research around the content and pricing of the offer be undertaken and presented at the next Committee meeting. Developing an offer to meet students’ needs at an appropriate price point was central to the eStudent offer’s potential success. Extensive research was undertaken by the IBMS Membership and Marketing Team with student focus groups and via surveys, indicating that students wanted information tailored to their needs and would prefer to be communicated with electronically. Having secured MMC approval to begin development of the eStudent offer, the research undertaken with students, price comparison and further financial modelling was undertaken and a price point of £10 was proposed by the Membership and Marketing Team and approved by the Institute’s MMC in April 2013. The Membership and Marketing team then began work with our web supplier and database manager to develop an online only offer. This involved developing and hosting an automated online joining and renewal process and creating of a microsite on the main IBMS website featuring eStudent branding and developing tailored content. The student research was used to develop the tailored content on the eStudent microsite and an eNews roundup. The online only membership prompted the development of an online version of the IBMS journal The Biomedical Scientist. In partnership with our publisher. The Head of Communications worked with a designer to develop a brand and logo that would feel like it was part of the IBMS brand, creating a sense of community, but with a distinct identity of its own - emphasising the modern, electronic nature of eStudent membership. The branding was used for the eStudent website and all eStudent promotional materials. ESTUDENT LOGO: www.associationsnetwork.org Winter 2015 | 25