IPMA Plans Vigorous Marketing Effort
With a new marketing manager in place, IPMA intends to fortify its membership while ensuring the association remains relevant.
By Bob Neubauer
Faced with a serious drop in membership over the past decade, the International Publishing Management Association (IPMA) has been taking a closer look at its recruitment strategy. As a result, the 41-year-old in-plant organization is redirecting its energies directly at the problem.
The recent hiring of Carrie Griffin—consultant, former in-plant manager and all-around people person—as the association's interim director of marketing, marks a shift in focus directly to recruitment and chapter-building.
"The values of IPMA have changed," explains John Hurt, International President. "We must focus back to our membership and chapters."
And who better to do it, felt IPMA's board, than Griffin, whose enthusiastic sessions have spiced up conferences for years? Griffin's strong belief in the association—in which she once served as a chapter president—is obvious, although the course ahead of her is not.
"We need a marketing plan," she declares. To determine exactly which values IPMA should be marketing to prospects, she feels the group must first clarify what those values are.
"Collectively, we must define the value proposition so that it can be consistently communicated and shared persuasively to every prospective member that we can identify," she noted in a recent letter to members.
Griffin plans to discover these values by contacting members directly and using surveys. She also wants to make better use of IPMA's loyal, long-time members—"partners," she calls them. Their ideas and strong support should be utilized much more than it has been, she says.
The association has long relied on existing members to recruit new ones. But with no one to coordinate this recruitment and follow up on their progress, Griffin says, members can get lax about doing their part.
"You have to have a structure," she insists. Griffin hopes to provide this structure and motivate members to seek out new leads.
Strengthening Chapters
Another of Griffin's responsibilities will be rekindling dormant chapters and livening up meetings. She hopes to visit chapters, provide them with ideas and help their leaders put goals in place.
This is an approach IPMA has not taken in several years. In fact, as participation in monthly chapter meetings began to wane, IPMA more or less stopped emphasizing them, shifting its focus to digital "networking" through its listserv, e-mail newsletter and the white papers available on its Web site.
But in truth, says Griffin, there is room for both the digital and personal approaches. Those who prefer conversing over e-mails rather than cocktails can still do so, but strengthening chapter participation and creating more interesting meetings will satisfy those who enjoy face-to-face networking.
New Headquarters Opened
Some of IPMA's recent moves seem at odds with the legacy of former IPMA Chief Operating Officer Carol Kraft, who resigned just three months ago. Kraft oversaw the closure of IPMA's oversized, money-wasting headquarters and the transition to a home office and association management software. Recently, though, IPMA reopened an office in Kearney, Mo. And the hiring of Griffin suggests a more personal, less "virtual" approach to membership management.
IPMA is not abandoning Kraft's contributions, Griffin insists, but integrating them with new ideas. The AssociationEZ software will continue its useful function. As for the new office, Hurt adds, it became a necessity so that callers could talk to an actual IPMA employee, not just a voice mail, a problem that became apparent only after the previous building was sold.
Griffin notes that "customer relationship management" is an increasingly popular concept in the business world. She advocates a "member relationship management" model for IPMA.
"Our marketing strategy at IPMA must include key initiatives for managing and nurturing member relationships for the long term," she wrote in her letter to members.
This means making sure IPMA provides the services and benefits that members really want, not just the ones the group has historically offered. That's why Griffin feels it's crucial to speak with them directly, asking the same questions each time to get a fair portrait of expectations.
"I want to make sure we're doing what our members really need," she says.
