Automating member journeys? Remember, no one-size fits all
Natasha Consolie, Community Manager, Quiip
There is no one-size fits all when it comes to automating your member journeys. It’s important to complement your community management expertise and efforts, and personalise messages that address the specific needs of your individual members.
Olena Lima, founder of MemberBoat, led an “Automating Member Journeys” workshop during the 2022 Swarm conference which explored how to automate and optimise the customer journey. Olena highlighted opportunities to leverage automation in delivering the member experience and provided practical insights on how to implement effective strategies.
Let’s dive in.
Automation can help reduce the time and resources required to manage customer interactions. It enables you to improve the accuracy and consistency of communications, respond to your customer needs in real-time, and provide personalised experiences that improve the customer experience. Automation can also assist with managing customer data, segmentation and campaigns.
Where do I start? And what do I automate?
To automate your member journey, start by tracking your time. This will help you identify repetitive tasks, what tasks are taking the most time and bottlenecks. Having a clear understanding of your business goals and team resourcing are equally important factors to consider.
Once you understand how much time your tasks take, consider what should you automate. Generally speaking, Olena suggests exploring automation for tasks that are repetitive, manual, high volume, prone to human error or time-sensitive.
To identify areas for automation, remember to place yourself in your member’s shoes. The member journey includes key touchpoints such as: how they discover and join your business or organisation (awareness); how they interact with your products or services (consideration); how they are welcomed and on-boarded (joining); and on-going engagement (retention, engagement and advocacy).
Mapping the member journey
By mapping a member journey, you will be able to better understand the online behaviour of your members and enable scoring and tagging for better segmentation and personalised experiences. Customer journey mapping can help you garner a birds-eye view of the member experience and value creation. Are you adding value or creating an obstacle?
Olena emphasises the importance of understanding your member’s needs and preferences at each touchpoint to create personalised experiences. The goal of mapping their journey is to identify and optimise touchpoints to create a positive and satisfying experience that promotes loyalty and long-term engagement.
When tackling a member journey, first impressions count. Consider automating your member onboarding to start.
Know when to automate – and when not to
It’s important to note that while automation can create efficiencies, there are some instances where automation should be avoided. Olena suggests these often include personal communication, low ROI tasks (“will your efforts be worth it?”) and complex processes.
By understanding your members’ journey and leveraging automation tools and technologies, there are clear benefits for your community. You can improve member engagement and retention, enhance efficiencies, reduce operational costs and keep pace with your competition.
With the growing importance of online community management, workshops like Olena’s are essential for elevating your brand and nurturing communities. This year at SWARM 2023, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals, learn from industry experts, and discover the latest trends in community management. General admission tickets will go on sale this month. Sign up for the SWARM newsletter so you can be the first to know.