The latest episode of the A100 podcast features Rusty Willams, Co-Founder of AnswerStage alongside podcast co-hosts, OnWrd & UpWrd’s Colleen Gallagher and Meghan Henning. He shares valuable insights around the role of video in association marketing from member recruitment and retention to event marketing.  

Rusty’s philosophy around video when it comes to associations starts with the thought that your most valuable marketing asset as an association is your members – you need to leverage the people who attend your events and really participate in your community. 

The conversation turns to the importance of storytelling, especially when thinking about the role of video in driving member engagement. Get your members to tell the stories of why they joined, how your resources have helped them, how volunteering has been fulfilling – and more. The more you can leverage the voices, people and personalities of your association, the better.

It’s no surprise that video can play a huge role in event marketing as well. He encourages associations to showcase speakers providing a sneak preview, exhibitors sharing the products and services they are most excited about and attendees talking about what they’ll get out of the event. Not only can this drive registration, but it can get people geared up and ready to be active from the moment they walk in the doors to your event.

Rusty shares some great case studies and success stories, but perhaps most importantly encourages associations to have a plan, and make sure that plan fits into your overall content marketing and membership strategy. You also need someone to own that plan and finally, don’t forget to have a clear path for how a video gets shared and gets visibility.  

Like most communications and marketing discussions these days, the conversation ultimately shifts to AI. There is no doubt AI will shift the landscape when it comes to video, but Rusty focuses on thinking of it as AI-assisted, rather than AI-created content for now. It can help you eliminate that blank paper syndrome, but work still needs to be done to get it to the finish line and maintain authenticity. 

Subscribe today so you never miss out on future episodes. 

Follow along for best practices, top trends, helpful ideas and smart strategies and tactics that work in the world of associations:

Twitter: @association100 

LinkedIn: /company/the-association-100