Matrix Group International

Tag: Strategy

  • Reflections and Predictions: What Associations Should Be Thinking About in 2026

    Reflections and Predictions: What Associations Should Be Thinking About in 2026

    Every January, I like to reflect on the previous year and consider what the coming year might hold for associations, nonprofits, and Matrix Group. This year, I did something different. I invited a few of my amazing team members at Matrix Group to join me on our podcast, Associations Thrive, to talk about the major trends they saw in 2025 and what they believe is coming in 2026.

    Joining me were Dave Hoernig (VP of Software Engineering), Jessica Parsley (Director of Project Management), and Alex Pineda (Creative Director). We had a wide-ranging conversation, and here are the key takeaways and predictions from our conversation:

    AI Is No Longer Optional

    AI was, unsurprisingly, the biggest theme of 2025. Jessica talked about how many of our clients are turbocharging their teams by:

    • Investing in AI skills and training
    • Creating internal policies for responsible AI use
    • Building custom GPTs to speed up content creation
    • Using AI to streamline editing, content repurposing, and task management

    Dave shared how AI is revolutionizing content migration, especially turning PDF documents into accessible, searchable HTML. He also brought up a big existential question facing associations:

    What content should be visible to AI, and what should remain members-only?

    He talked about how associations are starting to experiment with making abstracts public while keeping full articles gated; this is the same approach academic publishers have used for years.

    AI is also influencing how we format content to make it discoverable to AI engines. Schema markup, summaries, and multimedia versions (like read-alouds) are increasingly important.

    Telling the Story of the Industry

    Alex noticed a major shift in web design: associations are doing a better job of telling the story not just of the association, but of the profession or industry they represent. These “About the Industry” sections:

    • Help the public understand the value of the profession
    • Position the association as a thought leader
    • Offer lawmakers, potential members, and partners important context

    But it’s not easy. Crafting this content requires strategic thinking, consensus building, and often new storytelling skills.

    Doing More with Less

    Jessica saw that many associations felt more budget-constrained in 2025. But instead of just of delaying projects, they asked:

    • “What small changes can we make to our website and email campaigns NOW that will have a big impact?”
    • “What are the biggest pain points experienced by our members or staff?”
    • “Can analytics guide our next move?”

    Alex noted that we’re increasingly using analytics to make smart, incremental improvements, like optimizing navigation, restructuring key pages, or adjusting content strategy. Full redesigns are great, but if there isn’t time or budget, then light refreshes are the way to go.

    Associations Are Going Multimedia

    There is a growing shift away from long blocks of text and toward audio, video, and interactive content:

    • Podcasts and read-aloud tools are making content more accessible.
    • Members, especially younger members, increasingly prefer to watch or listen, rather than read.

    Alex and Jessica both emphasized that younger generations are mobile-first, visual-first, and audio-first. If associations want to attract the next generation, their content and design strategies need to reflect that.

    Personalization Is Finally Achievable

    We’ve talked about personalization for years, but 2025 was the year it became practical for more organizations.

    Dave shared that personalization is easier to implement now because:

    • You no longer need to manually tag every piece of content
    • AI can analyze member behavior and personalize on the fly
    • Tools can now offer Netflix-style, personalized recommendations based on user behavior and demographics

    Imagine offering a member a curated education journey based on their career stage. Duolingo is a great example of this! I’m an avid Duolingo-er and love that my practice lessons are customized just for me. That’s the future for associations and it’s already here.

    Mobile and Voice Are Becoming Even More Important

    Alex noted that mobile traffic is growing, even if analytics still show desktop in the lead for most of our clients and their websites. Younger members are doing everything on their phones and they’re the members of the future. All of this means:

    • Mobile design needs to be more comprehensive
    • Voice navigation and voice search are increasingly relevant

    If it’s not easy to find or access your content via mobile or voice, you’re invisible to a big part of your audience.

    Community Will Be the Differentiator in 2026

    Jessica made a critical point: it will be harder than ever for associations to be seen as the authority in their industry. AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Gemini are giving users quick answers without attribution. That means your content might not be recognized as coming from your organizations. So how do associations stay relevant?

    One important answer: Double down on community.

    Associations will need to:

    • Create spaces (in-person and virtual) for connection and expertise-sharing
    • Offer value that can’t be replicated by an AI bot
    • Make membership the gateway to the best insights, not just the publicly available ones
    • Create smaller events, cohorts, and niche groups to create intimacy within the membership

    A More Level Playing Field

    As we closed out the podcast, I shared a final hope: that the new wave of AI tools will level the playing field for smaller associations. These tools let even the smallest team:

    • Create great content
    • Design beautiful experiences
    • Offer personalized, member-driven services

    You don’t need a giant staff or massive budget to be effective in 2026. But you do need to be smart, strategic, and open to using AI tools to make your organization more high-performing and authoritative.

    So what do you think? What trends did YOUR organization see in 2025? What are you preparing for in 2026? Let’s keep the conversation going!

  • Want to Expand Your Reach? Try These Digital Strategies

    Want to Expand Your Reach? Try These Digital Strategies

    Many of my association and nonprofit clients are looking to expand their reach.

    During the pandemic, virtual conferences helped associations and nonprofits expand their reach by connecting with people who couldn’t – or wouldn’t – travel to an in-person event. These events widened the audience, made meetings more inclusive, and opened the door to new engagement strategies.

    Now that in-person is largely back, the question becomes: what’s next? How do you continue expanding your reach and making your content more accessible to more people?

    Here are some ideas we’re exploring with clients right now:

    Embrace Audio and Video in Your Content Strategy

    Younger audiences – Gen Z and Gen Alpha – often prefer consuming content via audio and video rather than reading long-form content. 

    Here are three options to consider:

    1. Launch a podcast.

    According to Riverside, 34% of Americans listen to an average of 8.3 podcast episodes per week, and 83% spend more than 9 hours listening to podcasts weekly. A podcast can help you build thought leadership, keep members informed, and create touchpoints beyond your newsletter and social media posts.

    2. Add “Read Aloud” to your website.

    With text-to-speech services available from AWS, Open AI, Google and so many other companies, it’s now easy (and affordable!) to offer your blog posts, articles, and white papers in audio format. You can even train the AI to pronounce industry-specific words correctly and choose voices that match your brand vibe.

    3. Make your content video-first.

    Consider taking your most popular content – FAQs, toolkits, blog posts – and turning them into short videos. Think: “explainer video” meets member resource. Add captions and transcripts for accessibility and search engine optimization.

    Add Multilingual to Your Strategy, Even If You’re U.S.-Based

    You don’t have to be a global organization to benefit from multilingual content.

    Roughly 41 million people speak Spanish as their first language in the United States alone. And yet, many organizations rely on browser-based translations to serve non-English speakers – an approach that is far from perfect.

    AI makes it easier than ever to serve your content more accurately across languages. Here’s what’s possible with AI today:

    • AI-generated translations trained on your industry’s language and your own content, for improved accuracy.
    • Multilingual closed captioning, in real time, for your educational webinars, conferences, and on-demand content.
    • Live and on-demand dubbing of your content, using synthetic voices that sound natural, in a variety of languages.

    At Matrix Group, we helped SQFI launch a website in nine languages, using AWS Translate and a custom CMS integration. The site is searchable and indexable in all nine languages, and the translations sound great. We also offered closed captioning during the American Art Therapy Association’s Virtual Annual Conference. 

    The Possibilities Are Endless and More Affordable Than Ever

    Not long ago, live translation, voice dubbing, and multilingual content required major investments in time and budget. Thanks to AI and cloud services, it’s now faster, more accurate, and within reach for organizations of all sizes.

    How are you planning to expand your reach this year and next? Have you added new audio, video or language strategies to your toolbox? Let me know – I’d love to hear what’s working.

  • You Don’t Need an AI Strategy — You Need a Business Strategy Supported By AI

    You Don’t Need an AI Strategy — You Need a Business Strategy Supported By AI

    Everywhere I turn, someone is talking about their “AI strategy.” But here’s the truth: you don’t need an AI strategy. You need a business strategy, and AI should support it.

    Too many organizations start with technology. They chase tools, trends, and buzzwords before they’ve clearly defined the problems they’re trying to solve. That’s backward.

    Here’s how we believe you should think about AI:

    Start With the Problem, Not the Tool

    Don’t start by asking, “What can AI do for us?” Start by asking, “What problems are we trying to solve?” Every Thursday morning at 9am, there is an open meeting that anyone from the Matrix Group staff can attend. At first, we focused on AI learning, but we have shifted to talking about:

    • Where are the inefficiencies in our operations?
    • What repetitive tasks eat up staff time?
    • Where are members, customers, or employees frustrated by friction in their experience?
    • What tools or processes need re-engineering?

    Then, we solve! 

    I highly recommend holding regular meetings like this, where you discuss pain points, inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Once you’ve identified the pain points, prioritize them. Make a list of the top five challenges you need to address this year. Then, and only then, start exploring how to optimize and automate.

    AI Might Be the Solution—or It Might Not

    AI is powerful, but it’s not magic. Sometimes the solution involves AI. But sometimes the solution is a better database search, a better process for collecting data, better processes, new integrations, or clearer communication.

    Be open and curious about what’s possible with AI, but stay grounded in your goals. The right question isn’t, “How can we use AI?” It’s, “How can we work smarter, faster, and better?”

    And don’t forget to ask your vendors what they’re doing with AI. Many are already building AI into their systems — CRMs, AMSs, CMSs, and marketing tools — so you may already have AI capabilities available to you that solve some of your pain points.

    Successful AI Adoption Is More Than Tools

    Even if AI is part of the solution, success depends on people and process just as much as, if not more than, the technology at play. Successful AI adoption requires:

    • Executive buy-in. Leaders need to be curious about AI, understand what it can do, and use it themselves.
    • Process ownership. Who owns innovation in your organization? Who will manage these projects and ensure they actually move forward?
    • Ongoing support. AI isn’t “set it and forget it.” You’ll need to maintain, refine, and evolve your solutions over time. 

    In my experience, it takes at least six months for a new initiative or process to stick. If you lose focus after just a few months, you’ll be amazed by how quickly your organization drifts back to the old way of doing things. Keep following up, stay curious, and insist on ongoing tweaks and adjustments to the execution plan.

    The Bottom Line

    AI is an incredible tool, but it’s not a strategy. Your business strategy needs to come first.

    When you start with your goals, your pain points, and your priorities, you’ll identify the right opportunities to automate, streamline, and enhance what you already do best.

    And when AI supports that strategy rather than driving it, you’ll see real results.

  • Why Every Association CEO Must Be a Tech CEO

    Why Every Association CEO Must Be a Tech CEO

    Every association CEO today needs to think like a Tech CEO. Technology is no longer just backend support — it’s central to strategy, growth, and member satisfaction. This blog post explains why tech leadership matters and what CEOs should do to lead with confidence.

    Over the past couple of years of hosting my Associations Thrive podcast, I’ve interviewed well over a hundred association and nonprofit CEOs about what they’re doing to help their organizations thrive. The conversations are inspiring, filled with examples of strategic initiatives, membership growth, innovative partnerships, and new revenue streams.

    And yet, there’s one topic that rarely comes up unless there’s a problem: technology.

    CEOs eagerly share how they’re redesigning governance, launching new education products, or revamping conferences. But when it comes to tech, I mostly hear about it when systems are broken, outdated, or failing. Too often, technology is an afterthought — something only discussed when a crisis forces the issue.

    I believe we can, and must, do better. Why? Because technology constrains or powers an organization. Associations with great tech have the data, processes and reports they need to make good decisions and offer members and customers great digital experiences. 

    In fact, I believe every association CEO today should be a Tech CEO.

    What Does It Mean to Be a Tech CEO?

    It doesn’t mean being a tech expert or a coder. It does mean understanding the systems your organization uses and how technology supports your strategy and operations. Here’s what that looks like:

    Know Your Tech Ecosystem

    • Understand what systems you have: AMS, CMS, LMS, community platform, event platforms, financial systems, marketing automation, etc.
    • Know what each system does, what functions it supports, and how it integrates with other systems.
    • Be aware of customizations, integrations, and where there are gaps or redundancies.

    Connect Technology to Mission and Strategy

    • Be able to explain how the AMS powers membership applications, renewals, and engagement tracking.
    • Understand how the LMS supports professional development and non-dues revenue.
    • Know how your CRM drives marketing efforts and personalized member experiences.

    Technology isn’t a separate line item; it’s core to your strategy.

    Demand Visibility and Accountability

    • Ask your team and your vendors for regular reports on system health, performance, and contributions to organizational goals.
    • Request ROI analyses: How much revenue does the AMS support? How many members are using the LMS? Are system investments paying off?
    • Monitor system adoption: Are staff using the systems as intended? If not, ask why. Where are the workarounds?

    Stay Curious About Pain Points

    • Make it safe for staff to share where systems aren’t working well.
    • Investigate the pain points: Are manual processes needed because a system isn’t configured properly? Are integrations broken? Are outdated systems creating unnecessary friction?
    • Insist that technology issues be identified before they become crises. 
    • Conduct a tech debt audit every year: ask every staff member what software they use, what version it’s on, and whether that version is the latest version. If you are not on the latest version, ask why, and then ask what security patches you haven’t been able to apply as a result.

    Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement

    • Integrate technology reviews into regular staff meetings and Board updates.
    • Treat tech improvements like program improvements — constant, iterative, and strategic.
    • Create a culture where technology is seen as a tool for innovation, not just overhead.
    • Insist on the mindset that tech empowers the organization, so how are staff using tech to save time, save money, generate revenue, delight members?

    Why This Mindset Matters

    When technology is neglected, it becomes a constraint — slowing down operations, frustrating members, and draining resources. The Momentive 2024 Association Trends Survey found that technology adoption drives membership and loyalty. “Members who view their organization as an early adopter are 81% more satisfied, 74% are promoters, and 53% feel more connected.”

    Wow, just wow! So, ask yourself, does your staff see your organization as an early adopter of technology, or do they complain that your tech is old and busted. If they think the latter, put on your tech CEO hat and take action. Because when technology is managed as a strategic asset, it has an amazing impact on membership, revenue, staff morale, and so much more.

    If you’re an association or nonprofit CEO, how are YOU serving as a tech leader? Let’s start a conversation. I’d love to hear how you’re making technology a core part of your leadership strategy.

  • The Looming Membership Cliff: What Associations Can and Should Be Doing

    The Looming Membership Cliff: What Associations Can and Should Be Doing

    Over the last year, I noticed an alarming trend popping up in my interviews with CEOs on my podcast, Associations Thrive. CEOs in the healthcare space were worried about nurses and technicians leaving the industry. Michael DiFrisco, Executive Director of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, surveyed members and found that 52% of accredited members were planning to retire in the next five years. Kelli Baxter, then Executive Director of the American Translators Association, surveyed members and found that 62% of members were close to retirement! I could go on and on.

    I realized that many (granted, not all) associations are facing a membership cliff in the coming years. And this cliff is not just a distant concern – it’s here. What’s contributing to this cliff and what are associations doing to combat this cliff?

    To explore this more, I hosted a webinar through UST Education on the membership cliff. I was joined by Michael DiFrisco of AACD, and Tracey Moorhead, CEO of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing. Here’s what we learned:

    Demographic Shifts are Accelerating

    Demographics are playing a significant role in shaping membership trends. These shifts mean fewer professionals are entering industries and, by extension, associations.

    • Baby Boomers retiring: With this generation leaving the workforce in record numbers, their participation in associations is waning.
    • Gen X retiring earlier: The pandemic has prompted some Gen Xers to exit the workforce sooner than expected.
    • Fewer younger professionals: Low birth rates and political resistance to immigration have created a smaller pipeline of potential members.

    Membership Models Are Under Strain

    The traditional membership model is facing scrutiny. There’s a lot of hand-wringing about Millennials and Gen Zers who are not “joiners.”

    • Low student-to-professional conversion: Many associations struggle to transition discounted or student members to full membership.
    • Perceived value gap: Younger professionals often question the ROI of membership, believing they can access similar resources online for free.
    • Competition from for-profit offerings: Private companies are creating compelling, alternative benefits tailored to niche needs.
    • A la carte preferences: Members are gravitating toward customizable and flexible benefits rather than one-size-fits-all membership models.

    The Private Equity Impact

    Private equity is reshaping industries, often at the expense of associations. This trend surprised me the most. Once private equity was mentioned during the webinar, the chat lit up. It seems private equity is impacting industries in a HUGE way.

    • Reduced memberships: Mergers and acquisitions result in fewer independent companies, shrinking the pool of potential members.
    • Less investment in associations: Private equity firms frequently provide internal training, certifications, and resources, diminishing the perceived need for association offerings.
    • Staff reductions: When private equity acquires firms, workforce cuts often follow, reducing the number of individual members.

    Strategies for Mitigating the Membership Cliff

    So how are associations addressing membership challenges and declines? We had nearly 100 people in the webinar and the chat was going crazy with insights and comments! Many execs realized that they are not alone in facing a looming cliff, many realized the need to survey their members about demographic trends, and many shared the strategies they’re exploring and executing. Here are my notes from the chat:

    1. Associations Are Learning to Make Data-Driven Decisions

    • Analyze demographic and membership trends.
    • Share insights with boards and leadership to align strategies.
    • Monitor competition and member needs to stay ahead.
    2. Associations Are Experimenting with New and Different Membership Models
    • Experiment with subscription-based or incremental pricing.
    • Pilot “free membership with paid events” models to attract new participants.
    • Offer flexible, tiered options tailored to varying member needs.
    3. Associations are Refining Their Value Proposition, Especially to Different Audiences
    • Highlight exclusive benefits like certifications, networking, and education.
    • Craft offerings that resonate with different demographics—young professionals, mid-career changers, or retirees.
    4. Associations are Connecting Members to Deepen Engagement
    • Launch mentorship programs to bridge generations and foster loyalty.
    • Invest in localized and hybrid networking opportunities to meet members where they are.
    5. Associations are Building Strategic Partnerships
    • Collaborate with private equity firms to underscore the value of associations.
    • Partner with universities, corporations, and other nonprofits to develop pipelines for new members.
    • Co-develop educational events and certifications with industry leaders.

    Facing the Future with Confidence

    The membership cliff may be imminent, but it’s not inevitable. Associations have the opportunity to adapt, innovate, and reassert their value. How are you navigating the membership cliff? What strategies is your organization exploring to safeguard its future? 

  • The End of Expertise and How Associations Must Adapt

    The End of Expertise and How Associations Must Adapt

    Summary: Trust in higher education, media, and other institutions is at historic lows, while confidence in peers and social media is rising. For associations, this means members are seeking support to protect their credibility and strengthen public trust. This post looks at the data behind declining trust, its impact on associations, and practical ways associations can help members stay relevant and respected.

    “Trust in companies from global companies is in decline, worry over societal threats and establishment leaders misleading us is growing, while peers are as trusted as scientists for information on new innovations.”  – 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer

    A couple of weeks ago, I facilitated a discussion through UST Education about trust and associations with Melanie Gottlieb, CEO of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and Tara Puckey, Executive Director of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). Higher education and the media have been hard hit with trust issues. Americans today question the value of a college degree and mistrust the so-called “ivory tower” experts. They also distrust the media, calling bias and questioning facts. Here are a few statistics that we shared:

    • 27% of Americans say they have not too much or no confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest (Pew Research)
    • 39% of Americans, a record-high, say they don’t trust the media at all. (Gallup)
    • 50% of Americans under age 30 have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from social media, just under the 56% who say the same about news outlets. (Pew Research)

    Here are some of the discussion points from the webinar, which was really more of a discussion. These insights came from Melanie and Tara, along with the nearly 100 people who attended and lit up the chat:

    From Melanie: How declining trust is affecting higher education

    • 2023 Gallup data shows that public trust in higher education has dropped 20 points over the last 8 years to a historic low of only 36% having confidence in higher education. This translates into the negative national narrative that college isn’t worth it. At a time when higher education is facing public funding cuts, changing demographics and a challenging student debt environment, institutions are facing an uphill battle to sustain enrollments and stay relevant. 

    From Tara: How declining trust is affecting the media

    • Declining trust is something that isn’t new within the journalism landscape; we’ve been dealing with it for decades. Unfortunately, it continues to rise, spreading from national news down to the local level at an alarming rate. The addition of AI and other technologies to rapidly deploy misinformation and disinformation creates a new layer of complexity that newsrooms around the country are grappling with. The good news is that smart people are working to identify ways that newsrooms and individual journalists can stem the decline and build trust within their communities. 

    How is declining trust affecting your industry or profession?

    • Many attendees expressed surprise over the trust statistics that we shared.
    • Many association execs expressed the belief that declining trust is affecting their industry, including execs from higher education, medicine, public health, foreign affairs, media, real estate, government, technology, science, veterinary medicine, and libraries.
    • A few execs said their industries are not affected, including tourism and agriculture.
    • Members report having to work doubly and triply hard to shore up their credibility.

    How is declining trust affecting your association?

    • Declining trust is leading members to leave the profession.
    • Members are increasingly distrustful of government and jaded about advocacy, leading to less engagement in advocacy and government affairs.
    • Members are turning to their associations to help them shore up their credibility and address increasing public distrust of their industry or profession.
    • Members are asking for resources they can use to bring people together and enhance trust within their communities.
    • One association said their communications strategy has evolved to include: government relations, public relations, and consumer relations.
    • Meetings and events are becoming increasingly politicized, with arguments over location of conferences, and the politics of keynote speakers.
    • Declining trust and polarization is affecting national organizations’ ability to partner with their chapters.
    • When a keynote speaker at an event leans one way politically, associations are more mindful of having another speaker who leans in the other direction.
    • Social media and sound byte journalism is making it harder for associations to share balanced research, facts, and perspectives

    What are associations doing/should be doing to shore up trust in their industries?

    • Execs agreed on the importance of educating members about trust issues in their field.
    • Some associations are partnering with peer organizations to push out messages and expand their reach. 
    • Some execs recommended more explicit communications about their professional code of conduct guidelines or code of ethics to increase public trust of their members.
    • Organizations are having to remind members that discourse should always be civil and open-minded. 
    • Many execs say you always need to circle back to your mission.
    • The American College Health Association (ACHA) has developed a trust toolkit for its members.
    • The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) holds a three-day conference + ongoing training for members about advocacy and communicating the value of the profession, members and association to different audiences, called the STR Program.
    • Some medical associations are developing patient resources that have been double- and triple-vetted and that members can share with patients, building up the members’ credibility and authority.
    • Some associations are doing more public education and public outreach, eliminating the jargon and focusing on the WHY.
    • One exec expressed interest in resources to share with our members to teach them how to have conversations about controversial topics.
    • Many execs reinforced the idea that communications should be clear and transparent.
    • Some associations are providing more training for Board members and other leaders to be effective spokespersons for their industries.

    Are you having conversations within your association about declining trust, credibility and authority?

    • Most associations said not yet, but after the webinar, they are planning to start discussions with their Boards and staff.
    • One association conducts an annual brand tracker; trust in the association is one of the metrics.

    The key takeaways from this discussion are:

    1. Start conversations at the staff, leadership, and Board levels.
    2. Consider: can you/should you offer tools and resources to help your members address trust issues with their stakeholders?
    3. Educate your members to be discerning consumers of information: webinars, blog posts, podcasts.
    4. Track trends in your industry.
    5. Collaborate with other associations in your field.

    More Resources

    I had been thinking about trust and associations for some time now and I am so grateful to Melanie and Tara for jump-starting the conversation with me, and thrilled at the insightful comments from all of the attendees. Here are more resources as your organization embarks on your trust journey:

    This topic was so popular, that I hosted a second session on “The End of Expertise and How Associations Must Adapt” with UST Education in July 2024, and was joined by:

    • Lindsay Currie, Executive Officer, Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)
    • Matthew Hughes, President & CEO, World Affairs Council of America
    • Tara Puckey, Executive Director, The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)

    Watch the second session here!

  • New Year’s Resolutions For Your Website in 2024

    New Year’s Resolutions For Your Website in 2024

    It’s the New Year and all of us are bubbling over with resolutions. So many of us resolve to exercise more, be kinder, spend more time with family, and so on. What about our websites? Shouldn’t we have resolutions for making our websites, email, and social media accounts better?

    I am a big fan of Dan Pink, author of the best-selling books Drive, When, The Power of Regret, and so many others. He also has a video podcast that he calls the Pinkcast. Each podcast is only 2-3 minutes long and they’re full of amazing insights and advice. In this Pinkcast, he talks about how to make New Year’s resolutions like a pro. The process includes making a list of your regrets, picking the one thing that bugs you the most, and then focusing on just that in the new year.

    What Are Your Website Regrets?


    Getting back to your website, what are your regrets about your website from the last year? Here is what I hear from clients. They wish:

    • They blogged more often
    • They had better visuals on their website
    • They had cleaned up their website by deleting the old stuff and making sure what was left was current and fresh
    • Their website was better optimized for mobile
    • They had a better handle on their website analytics and what it means for their organization
    • Their content was better optimized for Google
    • Their site search was better
    • Their website did a better job of storytelling
    • Their join or registration process was easier
    • Their website templates were more flexible

    This is a pretty long list of regrets. Each of the items above is important and worth focusing on. BUT if you focus on all of them, it will be sometime before you see progress. AND not making any progress on your goals and resolutions early in the year could set you up for another year of regrets. So how and where do you start? 

    Pick 1 or 2 Regrets to Focus on in 2024


    Start by picking just one of your regrets, or maybe even 2, and turn them into goals. Which one is most important that if addressed, would yield the most benefit for your organization? 

    The key here is making specific enough goals that you end up with an action plan and a timeline. 

    For example, if one of your goals is to make your organization’s join process better, your action plan might have these steps:

    • Look at Google Analytics to see what kind of traffic the join page gets and where people abandon.
    • Meet with your membership database and marketing team to map the member join process and map the journey. Where are the friction points?
    • Ask your web team, AMS team or website vendor for suggestions for making the journey better.
    • Resolve to have something, anything done, by the first quarter of 2024.
    • Monitor the results weekly.
    • Repeat until the next set of improvements will bring in only marginal benefits.

    If your goal is to clean up the dead and outdated content on your website, your action plan might look like this:

    • Ask your web manager or web vendor to create an updated inventory of all of the content on your website.
    • Look at your Google Analytics to see where traffic is going and where it’s not going.
    • Do some searches on your site. Is old content dominating the results?
    • Resolve to make some decisions about 5 types of content, eg., news, blogs, annual meeting information, etc. A decision could be: Delete all but the last three years of news, or delete all but the last two years of annual meeting information (except session handouts, which will live in a separate database).
    • Set aside 1 hour per week to do this work. If you set aside too much, it will become onerous. If you allocate less time, you won’t make enough progress.
    • Distribute the work to a team of staff and monitor your work and results monthly, including whether and how traffic and site search are improving.

    Once you’ve got one one of your regrets tackled (at least for now), tackle the next one. And so and so forth. 

    Of course, your organization could opt for a total website redesign, which would presumably help you tackle a whole lot of regrets, challenges, and issues. Barring that, however, focusing on one thing at a time will give you the mental energy to actually make a difference on that item that’s been bugging you.

    What are your biggest website regrets from last year? What “regrets” are you planning on tackling first this year? Leave a comment and let us know!


    Need some help planning, strategizing, and/or getting the right technology in place to reach your goals and clear your year of regrets? That’s our expertise! We’d love to partner with you to help your organization thrive this year – in the digital space and beyond. Get in touch and we’ll schedule a time to tackle those “regrets” together!

  • When Do Your Customer Journeys Actually Begin?

    When Do Your Customer Journeys Actually Begin?

    I have two friends who have walked the Camino del Santiago. The friends are Peter Schwartz, who is my business coach, and Gordon Bernhardt, a member of my CEO peer group. Both of them did the French route, which takes you from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. It’s a 500-mile journey that you do on foot over 30 to 35 days.

    My friend Gordon’s journey began when he walked out of his hotel room in France and started his Camino journey. He said something really interesting to me when I was talking to him about the Camino. He said, “Joanna, back in the day, if you were a pilgrim a couple of hundred years ago, your journey actually began when you walked out of your house in Germany or some other part of Europe, wherever you might have been.”

    Joanna Pineda and Gordon Bernhardt
    Joanna with Gordon and his book, Buen Camino

    This comment from Gordon got me thinking. I am in the business of helping associations and nonprofits create amazing member journeys. My company creates online shopping carts, online meeting registration forms, resource centers, etc. All of my clients are concerned with creating seamless and effective customer journeys so that their members and non-members find what they’re looking for, purchase the items they’re looking for from the store, or register to attend a conference or seminar.

    The question is: when do these customer journeys begin? Do they begin with the customer at the point of registering for a meeting or at the point of adding something to the shopping cart? Or do they begin when the customer starts with a Google search, clicks on a link in an email, or has a conversation with a friend about something that they might need?

    I believe that we all need to think of these customer journeys as starting much, much earlier. When a person ultimately registers for a conference, that attendee journey probably started days, weeks, or even months before the actual registration. It started when they had a conversation with their boss, did a Google search, or visited the website.

    When thinking about your customer journeys, ask yourself and your web team: 

    • How do people find whatever it is we’re trying to sell them or whatever it is we want them to use or do on our website? 
    • How findable is a specific product in our store on Google? 
    • How findable is a specific webinar from our site search, especially when a person doesn’t have the exact title? 
    • How findable is a specific resource on your website that perhaps was mentioned during a keynote presentation or a webinar?

    And even though you may not have complete control over the platforms they start their journey on – Google, email, social media, etc. – there are things you can do to make those touch points better. For example, to improve the journey from search to your store you can: 

    • Talk to your web team to make sure that every product in your store is actually indexable by Google. 
    • Make sure that each product has good navigation. 
    • Make sure that each product actually has a primary link URL, and each product page has a URL. 

    When we do these things, we make it easier for Google to find our products and also make it easier for the site search to find products.

    The next time you’re thinking about a product or service that your organization has to offer, think about the customer journey and when exactly those journeys begin. 

    Chances are you need to go much, much earlier in the process to make that journey better for your customers.

    Need help rethinking and retooling your member journeys? Let’s talk! We’d love to help.

  • What Do Successful Associations Have in Common? What We’re Learning from the Associations Thrive Podcast

    What Do Successful Associations Have in Common? What We’re Learning from the Associations Thrive Podcast

    In case you missed it, Matrix Group now has a podcast. It’s called Associations Thrive! Each week, I interview association and nonprofit CEOs, Presidents and Executive Directors about the things their organization is doing to increase membership, generate revenue, and ultimately thrive.

    Associations Thrive came out of a marketing planning meeting I held with my team at the beginning of Summer 2022. You see, at least once a year, we do a webinar where we showcase some of the amazing projects of our clients. This year, we thought, “Why not showcase what associations and nonprofits are doing, regardless of whether or not they’re clients, and why not do it through a podcast for greater reach?”

    So in October of this year, we launched the Associations Thrive podcast. The podcast is available on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher (you have no reason not to listen!). I am absolutely loving the conversations I’m having with my guests, some of whom are clients, while many are not.

    What are some of the themes that are emerging? What do successful organizations all have in common? Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

    • Successful organizations have chief executives that work cooperatively with their Board. This sounds so unbelievably obvious, but it makes sense. When Boards provide the guidance and oversight, and then let their Executive Directors or CEOs execute on their vision, great things happen. For example, Lindsay Currie of CUR has a Board that practices anticipatory planning and has an innovation fund. Russ Webb of the Bay Area Apartment Association says he doesn’t tell his members how to run apartment buildings, and they don’t tell him how to run the BAAA, but his Board does provide mission and guidance.
    • Successful organizations took advantage of the pandemic to update their governance, update their strategic plans, think proactively about the future, and revamp their education programs. These are organizations that are not going back to their pre-pandemic structures and offerings. For example, CASE updated its strategic plan and created a new career journey framework during the pandemic.
    • Many are re-imagining their conferences. They are updating the formats, creating new events, and rethinking legacy events. For example, Russ Webb of the Bay Area Apartment Association has a FOMO (fear of missing out) event strategy. The BAAA’s annual conference is held at different times of the year, in different locations, and with different program elements. The Book Manufacturing Institute has a Book Manufacturing Mastered event that is offered at different locations and the program is guided by the most important topics affecting book manufacturers at the time.
    • Research and reports are helping members navigate the future and create amazing member value. For example, AAPACN has research that shows having at least one AAPACN-certified nurse at a skilled nursing facility improves quality outcomes and increases reimbursement rates. The BMI and CASE report data from members around the world.
    • Technology powers successful organizations. For example, CASE updated its technology to become a more nimble association. CUR updated its technology and is now an all-remote association.
    • Successful organizations value member feedback and create opportunities for hearing member concerns. For example, Alan DeYoung of the Wisconsin EMS Association visits member agencies once a month to solicit member feedback, distribute goodies, and ask how WEMSA can help. Vince Talucci of the International Association of Chiefs of Police went on a listening tour to solicit deep member feedback. The Pet Advocacy Network meets members at industry events to solicit feedback and share what Pet Advocacy is doing to showcase the industry and its issues. Then, they act. 
    • Successful organizations are committed to making their member journeys amazing. For example, NVAR revamped the physical space at their HQ, created a member experience team that can answer any and all member questions, and even created a digital studio to help members navigate social media, and record audio and video. 

    What a pleasure and an honor to learn about these successful association leaders and their organizations. I hope you’ll give Associations Thrive a listen and give me feedback on the content, format and guests. And if your organization has added member services, updated its governance, or launched new services and are seeing great results, I want to hear your story! Please ask your chief executive (or their assistant, most likely) to visit https://podcast.matrixgroup.net to apply to be on Associations Thrive!

  • Is The Future of Conferences in Small Scale Meetings?

    Is The Future of Conferences in Small Scale Meetings?

    A couple of weeks ago, I attended Non Dues-A-Palooza, a conference about generating non dues revenue hosted by 100 Reviews. The event had about 125 attendees and was held at City Winery in Nashville, TN. I’ve been attending conferences since the Fall of 2021, so this wasn’t my first foray back to in person conferences. I’ve attended large and small conferences around the country. Here’s what I loved about Non Dues-A-Palooza.

    • The scale of the meeting wasn’t threatening. With 125 people, the meeting felt intimate and very manageable. I’ve spoken with people who say they are still nervous about attending conferences with thousands of people and I get it. Every time I get on a plane or attend a gathering with a large number of people, I’m taking calculated risks.
    • The venue was lovely. City Winery is a winery, tasting room, restaurant, and music hall. Its wood interior was warm, the music hall was a terrific space for the presentations, and the upstairs gallery was wonderful for the end of day gathering. The venue was a welcome change from the cavernous, stark and cold convention centers of large conferences.
    • It felt like I could really meet people. All the sessions took place in one room, with breaks and lunch in the next room. It was easy to bump into people. There was even a cute networking gimmick where attendees picked up goodies from a basket. But instead of keeping the goodies for ourselves, we were tasked with gifting the goodie to the person named on the goodie. It was awesome when Mary Baehr approached me and gave me a purple stress ball! Awesome networking idea!
    • United for a common purpose. Teri Carden, the Non Dues-A-Palooza organizer, specifically eschewed colors or ribbons that marked attendees as association execs or consultants or (the dreaded) vendors (or industry partners, as some like to call us). The conference organizers took great pains to announce that everyone attending NDAP was there to talk about non-dues revenue. 
    • The event felt one of a kind. Because Non Dues-A-Palooza is held in a different place each year AND the format is transformed each time, the event  felt fresh AND I’m excited to see what next year will look like. The FOMO is strong when it comes to this event!

    If your organization holds small scale conferences, take a page (or two!) from the Non Dues-A-Palooza playbook. Create something unique, make it intimate, create ample opportunities for really connecting with other attendees, and have amazing content.