SNMMI Rekindles and Sparks Recruitment Among Their Lapsed Member Base

With nuclear medicine and molecular imaging rapidly expanding, it’s critical that The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s (SNMMI) members stay informed about the new therapies, devices, and drugs that are redefining the way patient care is managed. SNMMI is a dedicated society that proudly represents 17,000 nuclear and molecular imaging professionals worldwide, working to facilitate the knowledge, tools, and resources necessary to strengthen and advance their meaningful careers in the field.

However, when surveyed, members revealed that the most significant professional challenges they face are keeping up-to-date with trends and expanding their level of expertise.

The need for a new messaging strategy

In the past, SNMMI was sending generic “we miss you” messages to members hoping they would renew, but there was minimal strategy behind their marketing actions.

Like many associations, they did not have a 100 percent renewal rate, but were hesitant to utilize the marketing tools that were available but unfamiliar to them, for fear of making a mistake that would negatively impact the member experience. SNMMI identified a need to address these technical challenges and appeal to lapsed members with a new messaging strategy.

Getting in touch with members through automation

SNMMI invested in strategic services for marketing automation with Higher Logic in 2017 to develop a lapsed member campaign to support their goals.

Higher Logic staff trained SNMMI staff to strategically use tools like member personas, sample messaging, compound targeting, marketing automation, and data tracking to communicate with lapsed members. As part of their reinstatement campaign, SNMMI successfully completed four, unique automated workflows for three lapsed member categories.

Kaitlin Solomon, Senior Manager of Member Engagement at SNMMI, said: “Something that I know was invaluable for me, and that I’ve shared with everyone at the office, is learning the benefits of using compound target groups. Between developing personas and learning how to do the automated campaigns, it was worth every penny.”

The Results: Putting the campaigns in action

Each campaign focused on three distinct messages disseminated over several weeks. They targeted lapsed members by member type, using member personas developed around their profession. After the automated workflow, SNMMI repurposed the emails to target those who had not opened any previous emails. This allowed them to use content they knew was well-received, but with different subject lines. They also targeted those who had opened every email for follow-up messaging (digital and direct mail), since these were considered hot targets based on engagement.

Here’s the breakdown:

SNMMI developed 4 unique automated workflows that led to 115 renewals from lapsed members. The repurposed emails saw 27 additional conversions from the campaign to members in the technologist section and 8 additional conversions from the full member category. In total, they achieved 237 total renewals from the lapsed member list: 194 technologist renewals and 41 full member renewals.

SNMMI can contribute 150 of these renewals directly back to this campaign. The additional 87 reinstatements were indirectly impacted by the campaign. 2 additional renewals came from other member types.

“The numbers speak for themselves. We immediately got a return on our investment with the revenue from returning lapsed members.”

Kaitlin Solomon, Senior Manager of Member Engagement at SNMMI

As for revenue, SNMMI achieved $28,206 total reinstatement revenue in only 60 days. They ran campaigns with technologists, physicians, and other member categories, seeing great results from each.

“From the technologist campaign alone, we more than made up our services expenses. Aside from learning new tools and tracking hacks (valuable from a staff standpoint), we also saw an obvious return on investment with the reinstatement revenue totaling $28,206.”

Kaitlin Solomon, Senior Manager of Member Engagement at SNMMI

Looking to the future

SNMMI is focused on their strategy and have a clear vision of where they want to go with it. With a newfound benchmark to measure success, they are excited for the future. In Kaitlin’s words, “It’s not just about one campaign or quickly sending out one email, it’s about using the lessons learned and acquired tools to continue the process.”

Moving forward, SNMMI’s staff now has the knowledge and skills needed to efficiently:

• Develop strategic, automated marketing campaigns using the Higher Logic platform for a variety of functions, including recruitment, renewal, sales, and event registration
• Set up compound target groups to track those who have opened every email but didn’t convert. These are their hot targets since they are paying attention, and most importantly, not unsubscribing
• Use analytics to determine what messages were most cost-effective, in terms of open rates, CTR and conversions.
• Adjust messaging, subject lines, and delivery order of next year’s automated renewal campaign
• Re-purpose messaging and design templates for recruitment campaigns, regular renewal outreach, and member engagement based on the established personas

Kaitlin said, “It’s been really encouraging that our leadership has liked the direction we’re going in, from the new look to our approach to strategic planning. We’ve got a lot of great feedback and I think that ties back into doing something with a purpose, with a plan, something methodical, even considering failures.”

Marketing automation supports an advancing field

Most importantly, marketing automation software has allowed SNMMI more time to connect and educate industry professionals, support a rapidly advancing field, and focus on their ultimate goal: improving human health.

Gabrielle Wathen

Content Marketing Manager, Flockjay

Gabrielle is the Content Marketing Manager at Flockjay. She has a background in journalism, film, and marketing. When she’s not writing, you can find her cuddling her cats Harvey and Wilbur, traveling the world, or storytelling in any way she can. Favorite food: All things cheese. Favorite place: Black Rock City, NV.