Redefining the Standards-Based Organizations for Speed in This New Era

Standards-based organizations play a crucial role in ensuring consistency, quality, and safety across various industries. In today's rapidly evolving economic and technological landscape, these organizations must adapt to maintain relevance and effectiveness.

This blog explores strategies that standards-based organizations can implement to thrive both now and in the future.

Redefining Standards-Based Organizations for Speed

The need for speed is more critical than ever. Disruption has erased boundaries and silos, streamlining decision-making and empowering frontline leaders. This shift is driven by adopting technology and data, re-engineering core processes, and embracing new collaboration tools. To sustain speed and agility, organizations must make lasting structural changes. Here are four actions associations can take to prepare for the dynamic market.

1. Building Competitive Advantages Through Digitization

Leaders must navigate a rapidly changing landscape to expand their organization's critical operations. With competition intensifying, it is essential to focus on providing a personalized experience. Consider these two case studies highlighting successful digital transformations:

• ASTM International: Known for setting global standards across diverse sectors, ASTM collaborated with Icreon to overhaul its digital landscape. They addressed outdated applications, cumbersome sign-up processes, and inefficient internal systems. The new user-centric digital experience significantly enhanced member satisfaction and operational efficiency. Members now enjoy intuitive applications for onboarding and voting, while staff benefit from role-based personalization and real-time information updates. This modernization boosted engagement, resulting in a 30% growth in membership and a 20% increase in revenue.
• American Geophysical Union (AGU): A 100-year-old nonprofit, AGU sought to enhance its digital presence for its 62,000 global members. Partnering with Icreon, AGU developed an agile enterprise platform on Sitecore, consolidating over 67,000 pages of content. This platform offered personalized user experiences, real-time data access, and multifaceted communication tools. The impact was profound, with a 297% increase in donations and a 100% rise in conversion rates. AGU's digital transformation underscores how a strategic approach to technology can drive significant outcomes, ensuring the organization remains a leader in Earth and space sciences

Organizations must continuously invest in innovative business models and redefine themselves by offering enhanced customer experiences. Embracing new platforms and tools that improve customer experience involves resisting traditional approaches and setting strategic steps to make digital disruption a friend.

2. Focusing on Key Areas to Engage Customers

Engaging customers effectively is more important than ever for standards-based organizations. Here are two key areas to focus on:

Content Utilization

Many associations began as publishing companies and possess a massive library of content. This content is a critical part of the value proposition for members and often the primary reason they joined. Properly utilizing this existing content can significantly enhance the member experience. Strategies include:

• Repurpose Content: Keep content fresh and relevant by updating older articles with new information, creating infographics from lengthy reports, or developing video summaries of detailed whitepapers.
• Retargeting Ads: Use retargeting ads to reach potential members. This involves creating ads that appear to individuals who have previously visited your website, keeping your organization top-of-mind.
• Multichannel Campaigns: Initiate multichannel marketing campaigns that utilize different platforms such as social media, email newsletters, and online forums. This approach ensures that your content reaches a broader audience and engages them in various ways.
• Content Personalization: Tailor content to meet the specific interests and needs of your members by segmenting your audience and delivering personalized content recommendations based on their preferences and past interactions

Content Findability

A vast amount of content can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Improving content findability is essential for enhancing the user experience on your website. Here are some strategies to achieve this:

• Enhanced Search Functionality: Ensure your website has a robust search capability, as this is often the first place visitors go to find information. Display the search field prominently on every page.
• Search Filters: Implement advanced search filters that allow users to narrow down their search results based on categories, tags, or other relevant criteria. Auto-Suggestion Mechanism: Use an auto-suggestion mechanism to provide real-time search suggestions as users type their queries.
• Personalized Search Results: Leverage data on user behavior and preferences to deliver personalized search results.
• Content Tagging and Metadata: Properly tag and categorize all content with relevant metadata to improve organization and make it easier for users to find what they need.

3. Building a Network of Collaborators

The nature of work has rapidly changed, enabling new ways of communication, productivity, and decision-making. Building a network of collaborators helps organizations engage across boundaries with innovative solutions. Leaders must initiate new approaches to build capabilities through partnerships and collaboration. This flexibility will help organizations reach new heights in the digital economy. Just like having a circle of close friends, organizations need a dynamic network of external partners that can help them utilize emerging technologies.

4. Prioritizing a Proactive and Responsive Approach to Members

To ensure long-term sustainability, organizations must serve members in a personalized way. Creating non-dues revenue, improving member retention, and emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion are key priorities. Strategies include:

• Storytelling and Emotional Connection: Strengthen emotional connections with members by telling stories about their contributions. Such campaigns may not yield rapid returns but can be powerful in creating an emotional bond with members.
• Health and Wellness Practices: Emphasize health and wellness practices through digital tools. In a post-pandemic world, health and wellness are no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have. Auto-Suggestion Mechanism: Use an auto-suggestion mechanism to provide real-time search suggestions as users type their queries.
• Listening and Tailoring Resource: Boost membership retention by listening to members, tailoring key resources to meet their demands, and being open to new ideas. For example, the Health Industry Distributors Association saw a 21% surge in corporate membership through proactive engagement and communication.

Take Action: Future-Proofing Standards-Based Organizations

The future for standards-based organizations is bright but will differ from the past. With the rise of new technologies, it is exciting to see how organizations will respond, evolve, and emerge stronger. By being agile, innovative, and member-focused, standards-based organizations can successfully pivot and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Ready to redefine your organization for speed and success? Connect with our digital strategists and consultants today and start your journey towards becoming a future-proof, agile organization. Let's transform challenges into opportunities together.