Reader Survey Says…

Your association is constantly producing content, whether that’s through a publication, blog, social media posts, enewsletters—you get the idea. And it can be a lot of work. But how can your association know whether its membership values all this content? Or how they prefer to receive and engage with it? That’s where a reader survey comes in.

Christine Barnhart, vice president, strategic communications at Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS^®—an association partner for which YGS recently performed a reader survey—sums it up perfectly: “The data sets the course for how best to move forward. Members can be very passionate about their association publications, so I wouldn’t want to do a major overhaul without first soliciting their input.”

Identifying Your Goals

The primary objective of a reader survey is to evaluate the perceived value of the content your association is presenting to members, likely through a magazine and other communications. It should be designed to include a variety of question styles, from multiple choice, to ranking, to open-ended. This will provide participants with an opportunity to elaborate on their responses when desired, but also keep the requested time commitment under control—your members are busy folks!

Questions should also be formulated in a singular manner; avoid compound inquiries that could potentially lead to misleading interpretations. Questions should be consistent, concise, and formulated to yield meaningful data without bias toward any preconceived opinions or inclinations.

Getting Started

There are several host sites on which to create your survey. YGS Association Solutions prefers Survey Monkey due to its ease of use, detailed response filtering options, and analytics. When formulating your questions, ask yourself:

• How am I going to incentivize participation in this survey?
• What demographic questions should I ask so I can easily recognize trends among certain groups (e.g., age, job title, gender, geographic area)?
• What communications do I care to learn most about (e.g., magazine, newsletters, web-exclusive content)?
• What launch date will likely allow for the most engagement, and how long should I keep the survey open?
• Will I ask the same questions to all members, or tailor surveys to specific member types?
• How will I promote the survey once it’s live (e.g., direct mail, email blasts, website ads)?

Key elements to consider when formulating your questions might be:

• Communication frequency
• Communication length
• Reader engagement with each communication
• Content format preferences (digital versus print versus both)
• Shareability
• Content interest and usefulness
• Time spent engaging with content
• Reader demographics

Diving Into the Data

After you’ve received a satisfactory amount of responses, it’s time to roll up those sleeves and dive into the results. Reading through responses on their own will provide valuable insights into how your members value your current communications, reader engagement and habits, how content is typically shared, and what your association could be doing better to align with member needs and interests. However, it’s important to slice and dice the data using the tools your chosen survey platform offers. For example, you might look at:

• Men versus women versus nonbinary respondents
• New members versus those who have been in the association for a decade or longer
• Respondents new to the industry versus those who are more seasoned
• Members in the C-suite versus those in marketing versus those who are more “boots on the ground”
• Younger respondents (18–34) versus middle aged (35–64) versus seniors (65+)
• White versus Black versus Hispanic (or other races)

Putting the Data to Good Use

Once you’ve finished your deep dive, it’s time to implement what you’ve learned and adjust your member communications accordingly. We would suggest taking an iterative approach rather than introducing a bunch of sweeping changes all at once—this can overwhelm not only your members, but your staff as well. Perhaps it’s time to rearchitect and redesign your magazine, overhaul your website, or create a podcast to reach members where they want to be reached with content they truly value.

Sound like a lot? That’s because it is. Luckily, YGS Association Solutions is here to help. Give us a shout to get started on uncovering what your members care about most.