South Carolina Outdoors
Case Study | South Carolina Nature-Based Tourism Association (SCNBTA)
Realign Website to Consumer Facing to Drive Membership Sales
INITIAL ISSUE
The conversation began with a discussion about the organization’s website needing a makeover. Also occurring simultaneously, but not within the original scope of this project, was that membership in this all-volunteer organization was declining. At that time, an updated website was believed to be the fix.
What evolved during talks with the website committee was that the actual need of the members was for more exposure and more customers or visitors.
SOLUTION
The project pivoted to designing and developing a new consumer-facing website focused on the customer’s journey and away from one devoted to the members. To bulk up the website content, public facilities – parks, fishing piers, boat ramps, and waterfalls – were encouraged to be part of the listings to provide consumers with as many reasons and places to get outdoors as possible — another feature allowed member e-brochures to be added so consumers could download those of interest.
A section of the site would be devoted to the membership and contain a list of members, member benefits, and how to join. Additionally, members could now log in, renew their dues, register for the annual conference, update listings and add events to the calendar along with specials or offers.
BENEFIT
The organization has a fresh, new look developed with strong committee and board support. The site serves as the primary marketing tool for new and returning members. A rack brochure was also created to match the new brand identity and is being distributed at the state and regional welcome centers.
Our team also produced an easy-to-implement statewide PR campaign announcing the new website for the organization’s use.
EVOLVING ISSUES
The effort and commitment needed to kick off a membership drive exceeded the available time of key volunteer members.
SOLUTIONS
We assisted in developing a lead-generating and sales-tracking tool and recommended it be housed virtually to be accessed after the initial sales push was completed.
A draft memo was created for the membership committee chair. It outlined how the membership drive contractor could access the tracking tool, focus their energies on this project and set a time for a brief weekly accountability call.
Additional recommendations were offered on how to solicit members annually using a direct mail program after the initial campaign.
BENEFIT
The membership sales effort was defined and formalized for current and future needs. Rather than hour-long phone calls from the membership drive contractor throughout the week, they now would hold all questions until the specified time, and activities would be membership-focused. The call report provided a concise way to view all the activities for the week and if they were hitting required benchmarks.
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