Association: increasing your membership using your website

We have reached the end of our series of articles on the best web marketing levers to use in 2019. Having introduced the most common web marketing practices, we are today going to reveal a few techniques that can work wonders but remain relatively under the radar (well, somewhat…).

How to use web PR as a genuine web marketing lever in 2019

It helps to think of web PR as a discipline very close to traditional Press Relations. The objective is clear: to get in touch with established online media outlets that may — or may not — relay the message you want to convey, the cause your association defends. For the sake of effectiveness, it is best to reach out directly to the individuals most likely to be interested in your message. This work can be painstaking if you do not have a reliable directory. Do not hesitate to contact the editorial offices of the media outlets you wish to approach in order to gather information and sharpen your targeting. This web PR technique has undeniable advantages:

Earning highly valuable backlinks for your SEO (and therefore boosting your search rankings);
A strong influx of traffic and potential conversions (do not forget to ask the media outlet whether you can track visitors arriving from their website). Be mindful, however, that your website must be ready to handle hundreds — or even tens of thousands — of visitors in a very short space of time;
An improvement in brand awareness — and therefore the branding of your association.
Web PR is among the web marketing levers that should no longer be overlooked if you want to take your external communications to the next level.

Betting on video ads to achieve your goals

Video ads can raise awareness of your association's cause among thousands of people. Why not integrate them across all your web marketing levers to boost performance? There is no denying it: video is now an integral part of the internet! According to an article by Webmarketing-Conseil, YouTube was the second most visited website in the world in 2018. Every month, the Google-owned service — part social network, part video platform — is visited by 1.9 billion people. That figure represents a growth of +26% compared to 2017. As such, it makes sense to establish a presence on this type of platform in order to reach an ever-growing audience of potential members. Because yes, our marketing tips will help you increase your membership numbers! We recommend setting up a video advertising campaign. YouTube generates its revenue through advertising — it is up to you to make the most of this space. Do not underestimate the time it takes to build a video advertising campaign. At the same time, keep in mind that 75% of mobile traffic will come from video content alone.

How to get it right with video ads

Before moving on to the final point, here is a series of tips regarding the ROI of video ads:

Create one video per target audience to increase viewer engagement. Defining your buyer personas will therefore be absolutely essential in your preparatory work;
Identify the social network where the majority of your target audience is active. Your video will be shared far more readily if you distribute it on the right platform — even in the context of paid advertising;
Your video will attract curious visitors to your site who may not be familiar with your cause at all. Everything must therefore be clear on your landing page, as well as on all the surrounding pages, before your campaign goes live;
The opening of your advertising video must make an impact. The opening must "hook" the viewer's attention and hold it right through to the end. Be creative!

Why A/B testing will help you make THE right decision

Are you torn between two options? Should a form be one colour or another? Is a CTA more effective in one position or another? Not sure what to decide? Keep it simple and test both versions over the same period AND against the same target audience. When the time is up, analyse the results and compare the two options. You will then be able to make the best decision to achieve your ultimate goal: conversion — turning a visitor into a member of your association. Do be careful, however, to change only one variable at a time. If you modify several areas of your website simultaneously, it becomes much harder to analyse the direct impact of any single criterion. This A/B testing method will always lead you to the best-performing solution! A/B testing should be seen as an effective marketing method for improving the user experience. As a website publisher with a conversion objective, you need to optimise the journey of your visitors. It is so effective that 60% of websites were using A/B testing in 2017, according to an article by Le Blog du Modérateur. Simple to deploy, A/B testing has significant strategic value. Combined with a high-performing homepage in 2019, it will help you make your website a genuine asset for your association.

In conclusion on web marketing levers

We have now reached the end of this three-article series in which we explored the various web marketing levers available to you. We could have developed many others, but their relevance in the context of improving your website or attracting new members would have been limited. Remember that in web marketing, everything is possible — provided you dare to test. You may well discover new web marketing levers in 2019! With that in mind, do not hesitate to share your experiences and discoveries in the comments!