Association: website and missions on the internet
For several weeks now, we have been guiding you through the construction of your online strategy. Today, we want to address a central question: what are the reasons for an association to have a website?
In other words: why should an association pursue its mission on the internet?
Whether you are a small or a large association, you cannot escape the logic of digitalisation — all the more so because it has genuine advantages, both in terms of cost and viral potential. Not everyone can necessarily afford a website, but in that case, read our articles on social media for tips on how to use those channels to your advantage. Here, we will try to explore together how to build your website.
Association and website: positioning yourself where your audience already is
Your audience is massively present online. Did you know that in 2019, a French person spends an average of 4 hours 48 minutes per day on the internet and 1 hour 22 minutes on social media? Why deprive yourself of this visibility?
Drawing on figures from January 2018, also published by Le Blog du Modérateur:
- 88% of French people now have internet access, representing 57.29 million people in France;
- The internet penetration rate in Europe is estimated at 80% (representing a +6% increase between January 2017 and January 2018);
- In January 2018, 93% of French people owned a mobile phone and 71% used a smartphone (with internet access).
With these simple figures in front of you, the conclusion is clear: virtually every segment of the population is now present and active online. Your association needs a website to extend its reach even further. As a result, the famous persona we have been mentioning throughout these articles is, without question, present online. It is up to you to implement all the web marketing advice available to draw your target audience towards your association's website.
Do be mindful of the pitfalls, however. From a data protection perspective:
- 91% of internet users consider data protection and security to be very important;
- 42% of French people delete browser cookies to enhance the protection of their privacy.
At the time of writing this article at the end of December 2018, we did not yet have the internet figures for 2019. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that the landscape has shifted considerably following the implementation of GDPR in May 2018. It is very likely that this year's internet figures will show that users are increasingly vigilant.
Association and website: sharing your knowledge with the general public
Publishing your knowledge for the general public will establish you as a serious, recognised player in your field. This is, in fact, a topic we have already touched upon: your association's website must position you as an expert.
Expertise must become the watchword of your association's online activities. Your association's website must serve that expertise. At this stage, it is worth thinking of your association as an educational vehicle. Why? Because your association holds genuine pedagogical power.
Transferring your expertise online by drawing on your members
Ask your members what questions they had at key stages and moments of their experience with the association. List these questions and formulate clear, precise answers.
Ask those same members where they feel gaps in support still exist. If those gaps remain, address them.
Your members have undoubtedly learned from their own experience. It is up to you to know how to make use of those unique experiences.
The sum of knowledge held by all your members should be seen as an asset. From a marketing perspective, this knowledge is like a trump card for attracting new members.
It is very likely that one of your goals is to offer your expertise and support to all those who might need it. The challenge is finding those people.
Content in the public interest: anticipate your persona's questions
One way to draw them towards you is clearly to position your association — via its website — as an expert. By publishing educational content, you will cover the widest possible range of questions and answers that your persona might have.
Better still: as an expert, you will be able to anticipate the questions your persona will ask in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
The challenge lies in identifying the key questions. Formulating appropriate answers should not pose a problem if you draw on the collective knowledge of your members.
How will your association's website content serve the public interest?
The time has come for methodology. How do you go about turning your content into content of genuine public interest?
- Conduct a survey of the questions your members have asked at the various stages of their support/experience.
- Identify the key questions.
- Formulate a precise, clear, and unambiguous answer.
- Publish an SEO-optimised article — free and accessible to the general public — around a single question. (Example: "Can a school legally refuse to enrol my child with autism?"). One question = one article.
- Invite visitors who naturally land on it to read other questions related to that first question.
- (Optional, within the framework of marketing automation) Ask them to subscribe to a newsletter where they will automatically receive several further answers.
- Keep in mind one key reality: once transposed onto your association's website, these questions and answers will form a body of content. This body of content should be regarded as content in the public interest. Why? Because the general public will be able to find precise answers to their questions.
This article will have helped you realise that:
your target audience is online and your association must have a website to reach even more people;
the knowledge held by your association's members must be put to use in order to attract new members.
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