NTCA — The Rural Broadband Association conducted a membership review to evaluate retention, member satisfaction and engagement. During this process, NTCA identified four key member groups that either: were less likely to renew, did not see the full value of membership, or did not engage their membership.

Internally, the staff developed a defined “Pathway” for each group, providing these members key opportunities to learn more, connect with the association and get more out of their investment.

CSG was asked to develop a messaging and creative campaign to help lead members down their respective Pathway, encouraging engagement during every step of the process.

The overarching goal of the Pathway program was to increase involvement with the association. Each member type had milestones we wanted them to accomplish to achieve this goal.

To begin this project, we developed a messaging theme for the overall program. Our recommendation of “Get IN” spoke to many of the primary messages we were asked to address.

This theme focuses on members and implies that by getting IN with NTCA, there will be positive outcomes. It positions NTCA as a leader in the industry and something people want to be a part of, without being overly direct.

We also recommended that we revisit the Pathway milestones to align across all four member types to work within this new theme:

• Get INformed — Everything you need to get started with your membership.
• Get INvolved — Everything you need to know about how participating in NTCA events and programs will help your business.
• Get INspired — Use what you’ve learned to share your knowledge with others
  and give back to the industry.

Once the theme was decided, our design team got to work developing four targeted pieces for each Pathway. Although the “carrier” piece was the same for all, the inside cards focused on the key milestones for each Pathway. This allowed for maximum customization at a much lower price point.

In addition to the campaign winning the Goldy Trendy Award from ASSOCIATION TRENDS, the team at NTCA reported that 92% of the Administrator Pathway updated their profile (one of their key milestones) and renewals for another Pathway, the Associates, increased by 10% during the first year of this campaign.

Given the popularity and engagement of this campaign, we were able to expand this program beyond the Pathway marketing to broader NTCA membership marketing, as well as created membership booth graphics and an additional award-winning sponsorship sales piece.