MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING INFRASTRUCTURE 2016-2019

IntroductionThe following analysis has been conducted for the board of PRSA-NY in order to inform its decision making process for investments in marketing technologies. It takes a big picture view of the state of the PR industry, including the nature and degree of digital disruption that has provoked the need for upgrades to the organization’s membership & marketing infrastructure. The opportunities for growth are examined, as well as the chapter’s current capabilities to seize them. Finally, recommendations are provided to close the gap between the current and potential states for the period of 2016-2019.

I. Where we are• PR industry & PRSA• Size & degree of disruption

II. Closing the gap• Sizing the opportunity• SWOT analysis• Best practices used by competitors• Pilot program test results

III. What we looked at• Vendors• Factors for comparison• Limitations

IV. Recommendations

I. Where we are

The PR industry has suffered a significant decline in mindshare over the past decade...

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Google Searches for “Public Relations”

In nearly lock-step fashion, the industry’s main trade group has also suffered a large drop in interest.

Google Searches for “Public Relations Society of America”

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Much of this decline can be sourced to competition from new communications disciplines – disciplines that overlap with, and in many quarters are already integrated into – public relations.

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Google Searches

Public Relations

Social Media

SEO

Within the PR field, much of the value proposition of membership organizations has been replaced by free & fast resources.

Value Proposition New resources

Education

Learn new & niche skills • YouTube | Lynda.com| Podcasts| SlideShare |Blogs

Get answers and advice from industry experts

• Google| Quora| LinkedIn Groups• “PR & Marketing Czars” Facebook group (18k members)

Networking

Find employers/employees LinkedIn| Twitter

Events Platforms: MeetUp, EventBriteNew competitors• Content Marketing Association• Search Engine Marketing Organization• Creative Mornings

PRSA-NY is far from alone in having its business model disrupted, and from having to make significant upgrades to compete.

World’s biggest…• Media company creates no content | Facebook • Taxi company owns no taxis | Uber• Hotel owns no real estate | Airbnb• Cinema owns no theaters | NetFlix• Software vendor doesn’t write apps | Google

II. Closing the gap

Channel NumberEvent attendees, 2013 625Event attendees, 2014 769Event attendees, 2015 590PRSANY.org site 2,000 visits/monthWebsite bounce rate 62%Site visit duration 0:49 secondsPercent of traffic from social 1.5%Twitter followers 3,557Facebook members 458 LikesLinkedIn Group members 4,628 Email database 2945

679PRSA-NY members for 2015

How big is the opportunity gap?

42,404*Comms. pros within 25 miles of NYC

Title NumberSocial media 8,806

Public relations 5,582

PR 3,707

Marketing communications 2,742

SEO 2,404

Publicity 1,393

Corporate communications 1,232

Community manager 1,075

Media relations 957

Content marketing 432

*Source = LinkedIn

What’s the chapter’s ability to close it?Strengths

Opportunities

Weaknesses

Threats

• Historical authority• Brand recognition• Non-profit status• Membership

• Dated online properties• Previous upgrade in chapter tools happened prior

to rise of social media, SEO, paid social & search digital marketing era

• Few analytics to know level of interest in events• Over-communicating/irritating user base w/email• “Generalist” message isn’t as powerful as niche-

specific messages• Digital marketing skills to use new platforms

• Offer PR’s “earned” ethos to new disciplines• Use the credibility of industry’s senior leaders• Tap financial resources to achieve parity with

competing organizations• Board digital experts can train staff

• Competing organizations continue to advance their digital marketing techniques & budgets

• Increasing proportion of digital-native professionals less patient with established organizations

• Multiplication of sub-disciplines will continue to draw members & prospective members away

Closing the gap will require adopting the digital marketing practices currently deployed by our competitors.

Modern website with beautiful art & symbols people want to associate with more than those provided by competing organizations

Mobile-friendly user interface that allows for easy event discovery &ticket purchase Focusing on a larger number of small niches Eliminating blast emails; emailing only when absolutely necessary to precise targets

(primary method of marketing would shift to social media, SEO, digital advertising would continue)

Analytics to measure level of interest in events in real-time (make informed go/no-go decisions on events)

Analytics to measure which words and pictures provoke the most interest Analytics to measure which days of the week/times of day get highest response rate

In 2015 we ran two pilot tests of each of these practices…

Partially out of necessity (current PRSANY.org technology did not allow for easy installation of new art or analytics to track activity), and partially to test new techniques, the MeetUp.com platform was adopted to target two previously untouched communities: social media professionals on Wall Street and Content Marketers.

…and measured how well they performed.

Events 2

Site visits 3,053

Website bounce rate 76%

Visit duration 1:18

Group members 224

Event attendees 110

Return visitor 22%

Age 18-24 28%

Age 25-34 34%

Age 35-44 16%

Age 45-54 13%

Age 55+ 11%

Events 4

Site visits 5,120

Website bounce rate 76%

Visit duration 1:13

Group members 276

Event attendees 116

Return visitor 18%

Age 18-24 11%

Age 25-34 45%

Age 35-44 18%

Age 45-54 19%

Age 55+ 7%

Over the span of six events, the two sites reached as many people as the PRSANY.org site reaches in four months. The time on-site increased 53%, revealing the tangible benefits of mobile access and modern design. While membership in the groups is free, the number of new professionals reached totaled 500, a strong signal for how well the technique of hyper-targeting to niche markets performs. Further, loyalty, measured as returned visit rate, averaged 20%, or 1,600 individuals. Finally, dispelling the assumption that social media skews young, 89% of #SocialWallStreet visitors were over the age of 25, as were 74% of #ContentHackers, solidly in-line with membership target ages.

III. What we looked atOver a period of 24 months, The Charles Group (TCG), along with several volunteers and representatives of the executive committee, examined dozens of potential vendors. The technology review included companies that provided integrated “suites” of tools and a la carte leaders, vendors that serviced small- and medium-sized enterprises, and a sub-set that specialized in member-based organizations.

Steps taken for the final vendor list include:• Interviews with other PRSA chapters around the country• Review of vendor documentation• Live demonstrations of the software• Reference checks & related financial due diligence measures

At the conclusion of this review, the executive board and TCG found that working with a vendor that specialized in member-based organizations and offered a “suite” approach would offer the best value for the cost.

Four platforms were reviewed in the final round of consideration:1. StarChapter (current platform)2. YourMembership3. MemberClicks4. 123SignUp

42 factors compared Track members in a database, including dues, event payment history, and email

interactions Install and administer back-end system with minimum amount of time and training

(critical for keeping TCG costs down and reducing the time needed to onboarding volunteers to the tools)

Degree of sophistication in aesthetics and ability to work with internal & external design resources

Create custom landing pages (important for micro-targeting and keeping the site fresh at a low cost)

Email system (a must-have ability to micro-target members based on their interests, reduce spam violations, track open-rates and which headlines & graphics work best)

Ability to sell products beyond events Track engagement, performance, experimentation & optimization Social media channel integration Upfront and ongoing costs

Naturally, each platform was found to have strengths and weaknesses. That said, three of the four platforms had weaknesses in areas that were considered to be of high importance to the chapter, namely:

1. StarChapter (current platform)• Limited database capability; difficulty creating groups and targeting by demographic• Very limited, if any, reliable analytics • Outdated graphic templates for email marketing• Limited event customization• Significant functionality limitations requiring extensive time to create and implement workarounds

2. MemberClicks• Limited database capability that didn’t allow for targeting by demographic• Very limited analytics • Outdated graphic templates for email • Limited event customization

3. 123SignUp• Limited database capability that didn’t allow for targeting by demographic• Very limited analytics • Outdated graphic templates for email • Limited event customization• No community functionality for forums, blogs

IV. Recommendation

IV. RecommendationGiven its strengths, coupled with the weaknesses with the other “final four” options, the executive committee recommends proceeding with YourMembership. The platform’s combination of powerful database, effective content delivery, and analytics stands out given the chapter’s needs, in particular:• Fully-integrated email platform (Informz) providing customizable templates and detailed analytics to

optimize impact and deliverability. Expected to be a game-changer for interaction with members and prospective members.

• Templates or custom developed website design with modern look & feel and Google Analytics embedded on the back-end.

• Established SQL database to generate list/reports by any field enabling targeted email communication. This enables hyper-targeting and provides intelligence to inform decision making for the organization.

• Ease of use on both front and back ends delivers lower costs in time and budget for training TCG, board members, and volunteers. This is important given typical turnover rates in new board membership each year and continuous flow of new volunteers into PRSA-NY activities.

• Ability to create groups and communities with their own dedicated pages for events and blogs. This will allow the chapter to convene conversations and enable more interactions between the chapter and its members and members with each other.

• Flexible event management suite to respond to specific event needs, including custom landing pages. This feature allows us to generate pleasing art to promote events and switch it out if the analytics tell us it’s not generating the expected interest.

The committee is expecting to see returns along three lines:1. Increased event revenue due the ability to use modern graphics and design, micro-target

audiences, and optimize messages in emails2. Increased membership revenue following an increase in affinity for the chapter as a relevant and

modern community to join3. Reduced revenue losses due to increased competition, the preference for event ticket buyers to

purchase via mobile, and reduction in membership churn.

Method of paymentThe executive committee recommends drawing from the chapter’s $141,800 in reserves (first year expense = 10%) to cover the costs of the upfront setup, and then using a combination of reserves and new revenues to cover the annualized costs over the next three years (the expected lifespan of the platform before the next tech evaluation would need to be done).

ROI

YourMembership/Informz InvestmentOne-time Setup Fee $2,495.00 One-time Integration Fee 0Annual Fee - YM $6,995.00 Annual Fee - Add'l Email Platform $4,500.00

TOTAL 2016 Cost: $13,990.00 TOTAL Ongoing Cost: $11,495.00

Questions?Given the importance of this initiative, we want to ensure everyone is able to ask questions and review more detailed information about the platforms.

1. Please email Carol Davis Grossman (caroldg@thecharlesgroup.com) with any questions. We will collect the answers and redistribute them to the board members the week of 11/23

2. Attend the PRSA-NY board retreat on Wednesday, November 18th. This deck will be presented during the meeting, and David Rosen and The Charles Group will be available afterwards to answer questions.