Membership Campaign Plan Essay Examples

Executive Summary

Since its inception three years ago, Student Esbin has attracted a membership of 40,000 students from various universities throughout the United Kingdom through Esbin App. The organization proudly stands as the largest of its kind and its growth is not to stop or slow down yet. The organization's success is attributed to the hard work, discipline and dedication of thousands of its members and friends, but most importantly because of the vision of its volunteer leaders and constant strategic planning in all its activities. This campaign plan provides a clear roadmap for the conduct of the organization’s campaign to gain more student members from UK universities. It consists of planned activities from new students throughout their academic years. In addition, it will outline the organization goals, objectives, segmentation and the key theme, concept or idea driving this noble campaign. Additionally, it will discuss in depth the organization customer acquisition and retention strategies and outline communication objectives with key theme and message.

Goals

This campaign plan seeks to achieve two major goals.
Goal 1
Increase the student membership growth exponentially. The purpose is accessing or reaching as many students as possible because we believe that our objectives and programs resonate with the needs and interest of a majority of students across this country. The goal is to generate an average net increase of 50,000 students for the next one year so that membership reaches 90, 000 by 31ST March, 2016.

Goal 2

Increase the retention of student’s members into the organization. Our target audience is the two and a half million universities students in the UK market. We acknowledge and appreciate that this is not a fixed audience. The figure may remain fairly constant, but the audience keeps on changing. An overwhelmingly 25 percent leaves the market each year, and almost a similar figure enters the market annually which, means that a population of about 625,000 change position each and every year. By extension, this means that at least a quarter of our members will annually withdraw their membership. The purpose is ensuring that those who leave the organization for any other reason other than completion of studies are kept at a maximum of 3 percent.

Objectives

According to Stone (45), objectives should be in accordance with the SMART philosophy. For an objective to be specific it should state clearly what is to be done. Measurable refers to the degree an objective can assessed using some stipulated standard. Achievable refers to the ability of the institution or person setting the objective to realize it. On the other hand, relevant refers to the alignment of the objective to the strategic plan while timely refers to the timelines in set to achieve the specified objectives. In line with this analysis, this campaign plan identifies five key objectives.
Develop a strategy for social networking as a tool for communication with both student members and not- members in three months.
Develop at least four annual major events and programs that draw at least 5,000 to specified venues, introducing this number to the organization and giving them reasons why they should join.

Segmentation

This campaign plan has segmented the UK student market for effective prioritization of the organization’s activities and resources. Segments are based on gender, age, regions and bachelor and post graduate students. Englanders, Walers and Scots represent students from England, Wales and Scotland respectively. In consideration of the limitation of resources in the meantime, we intend to put more efforts on Englanders to be followed by Walers and then Scots as we continue to mobilize resources from our volunteer partners and other well wishers. There is also the bachelor students category which is further divided into New Comers, Middles and Outgoing. The New Comers are the first years. The fact that there are new to campus life, and, as a result, more inclined to adventure and exploration not to forget their longer possible lifespan with the organization make this group the priority of our campaign efforts. The Middles are those students in their second and third year at the University. It is an important group on the basis of their influence and experience. It is the campaign second priority. Lastly, there are the Outgoing, which represents those who have only some few months of bachelor's study. The group is also of importance despite their near completion of bachelor studies because some of them could still further their education to master level and doctorate. Further, the campaign plan segments the student population into both male and female with more priority given to the female gender. Lastly, the campaign targets students between the ages 16 and 30 with more emphasis given to those between the age of 18 and 24 because they are the majority group.

Key Theme

A report commissioned by NUS points to the amount of money students consumes through shopping (NUS 3). According to the report, student spending in the UK supports at least £ 80 billion of the county’s economic output, which represents almost a third of what the aviation industry contributes to the United Kingdom. In addition, over 830,000 jobs in the county are supported by student expenditure. Such figures are a clear illustration of the amount of resources students spend in shopping. For this reason, coming up with a digital smart card will attract the attention of students throughout the UK. Furthermore, students share information and news about discounts they have received through the social media, and, as a result, offer very great referral opportunities and a wide opportunity for publicity. Instead of being critics of excessive expenditure among students, and the lots of noise during initial weeks of the first years, it is of great significance to exploit this advantage and establish brand presence at the very onset when students first become managers of their money.

Customer Acquisition and Retention Strategies

Customer Acquisition and retention are the responsibility of each and every member of this organization. However, this campaign plan recommends a Volunteer Strategy Committee that oversees its implementation. The plan identifies several strategies that will drive the recruitment and retention agenda and ensure that the company reaches its goals.
The first strategy is for members to talk consistently about the organization to every receptive audience. It involves selling the organization through the word of mouth and clearly outlining the benefits of membership. The second strategy is the use of visual elements. The volunteer Strategy Committee will mobilize members with artistic skills to work on posters, banners, bulletin boards and flyers. High level of creativity and timing will be required at this level.
The third strategy for recruiting members is a door to door company to hall of residences. This will involve mobilization and organization of members from different campuses to carry out the campaign preferably during weekends. The volunteers will need business cards, which they will leave with the potential recruit for easier follow-up. The fourth strategy is the use of online marketing through social media and an organization’s website and advertisement in campus magazines and newspapers.
The firth is both recruitment and retention strategy. It involves staging special welcoming meetings or ceremonies with the aim of making the new recruits and other potential members feel needed and appreciated. These meeting will be held at different locations in campuses throughout the country. Out of campus excursions will be undertaken to enhance further bonding and retention. Lastly, four major events will be conducted with the aim of attracting an audience of at least 10,000 people during the months of April, August, October, and December respectively. The Figure 1 below is a representation of various processes and strategies that will lead to the realization of customer recruitment and retention.
Figure 1: Customer Recruitment and Retention Strategy

The table below shows budget estimates for the campaign in accordance with its objectives, goals, and strategies.

Communication Objectives and Strategies
The strategy aims at customizing the information to the needs, interests and preferences of the potential member. The visual elements should be in such a way and in such places that result in the highest impact. Therefore, placing the elements at strategic locations is critical in enhancing their effectiveness. The communication should resonate with the key theme but still personalized to each audience (Stone 34). The objective is for the message to reach as many people as practically possible in order to increase the chances of customer recruitment and retention. For this to be realized the message should be customer centered. That is, it should explicitly highlight the benefits students stand to gain when they decide to join the organization. There exists no one effective strategy, and as a result, the communication will be comprehensive. The communication will heavily rely on the word to of mouth, visual elements and online marketing strategies. However, it will be biased towards the latter because the main theme is a digital innovation.

Work Cited

Stone, Phil. Make Marketing Work for You: Boost Your Profits with Proven Marketing Techniques. Oxford: How to Books, 2011. Print.
NUS. Student contributions to the UK economy, 2013. http://www.nus.org.uk/Global/Student%20contribution%20to%20the%20UK%20 economy.pdf. Web