By Denman Wall
It’s not too often that one meets his or her clone within a common community. However, it does happen from time to time, and when it does, it’s pretty cool! I met Bob Spangler a few years ago at an association industry event. Which one it was, I don’t recall. Then, a couple years ago, Bob spearheaded NYSAE’s Marketing and Membership Summit and that’s where I immediately recognized our similarities. Not so much in appearance, although we both wear glasses and are about the same height. Rather, I noticed the similarities in our professional experiences, working at the intersection of Information Technology and Marketing in the association sector.
In our continuing E-Interview series, Bob shares his perspectives on what he does, where he sees IT and Marketing converging, and what organizations can do to increase efficacy in these two disciplines which are often separated by the org chart.
Here is that interview.
Robert Spangler, NYSAE Board Member and Associate Executive Director, Operations and I.T. at New Jersey State Bar Association.
Denman Wall: Thanks for participating, Bob, and for being a member of NYSAE and a part of the Board of Directors for the organization. Tell our readers about the New Jersey State Bar Association and its mission.
Bob Spangler: Thanks Denny – Glad to share! The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is a voluntary membership-based association that essentially serves as the “voice” of New Jersey attorneys. The official mission of the NJSBA is to serve, protect, foster and promote the personal and professional interests of its 18,000 + members. We also present more than 400 professional education events annually that range in size from 20 to more than 3,000 attendees.
Denman: Thanks for that introduction to the NJSBA. Bob, I noticed that your job title is Associate Executive Director, Operations and IT, and that you oversee all marketing activities for the association. That is very interesting and something that doesn’t seem typical of most associations. Tell us about how those two seemingly diverse career disciplines fit into your leadership role.
Bob: Great question! As a data-driven marketer and a business technologist, I’ve always believed that the better you can leverage technology and data, the more effective your marketing, and really, your organization can be. With the rise of mobile media and the content marketing/social media revolution, I think it’s almost essential for marketers to straddle both worlds – or at least to have a functional understanding of how technology continuously reinvents, and in the process, creates new opportunities.
I should mention that I’m not a fan of using technology just for the sake “keeping up with everyone else” – that’s peer pressure, and not a business decision… it also leads to mixed results at best. For some campaigns, traditional print marketing outperforms electronic marketing. The key is to use technology and data wisely to understand what works best in each circumstance, and how best to express the value and relevance of whatever you’re promoting.
Denman: Thanks. What is the biggest marketing challenges facing associations and non-profits from your perspective?
Bob: I think the two biggest marketing challenges are 1.) “being heard in a crowded room” and 2.) Reaching younger prospects.
The first challenge is technically easier to overcome, but requires a great deal of work because of the institutional email/media fatigue that has set in as a result of the 24-hour news cycle (a constant bombardment of news alerts from just about every outlet). I’ve seen some innovative things that effectively combat this – some organizations send e-news (only short, VERY relevant news bytes mixed with advertorial marketing content) daily at a given time. Others have moved to video news/marketing bytes (video costs have come down – especially when you factor in ROI) that are released via email and social channels.
As a guiding principle, the one key element that seems to separate success from failure is relevance/value. Backing this up, some people have opted to send less email because they believe that putting too much into the market is detrimental. While there is a tipping point, the 2017 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report (http://www.informz.com/resources/library/2017-association-email-marketing-benchmark-report/) examined data from 1+ billion association emails sent in 2016, and found that more email actually led to more action…the key factor for success wasn’t volume, it was relevance and value.
On the second point, one of the most successful ways of reaching younger audiences is by channeling social influencers. While Social Influence Theory isn’t new, creating long social influence campaigns designed to attract a younger audience (Oracle has a great blog article on Social Influence that I like to share: http://www.oracle.com/oms/social-influencer/blog-sw-influence-2212090.html). The key is, of course, that social influence can’t be left unattended – it needs to be nurtured and constantly used in order to achieve any sort of result. It also gets stale quickly, so in order to properly incorporate it you need some partners that are truly open to sharing regularly with your team.
Denman: And, conversely, what are the biggest technology challenges?
Bob: Whether we like it or not, technology is constantly evolving. From a marketing standpoint, the key is to monitor your audience and follow their trends – essentially, you need to determine where and how the most important conversations are taking place (not just which social media sites, but what technologies are your members themselves using, and what technologies are their websites using).
From a protection standpoint, it’s also important for nonprofits to make sure they invest in their systems, and that they maintain them properly. If they do that, they will have access to data that will help in the decision making process, and will be far better protected against any threats that come their way.
Denman: Those are both huge challenges. From your vantage point of sitting at the intersection of Marketing and Information Technology, what tips can you share with Marketing and Information Technology leaders in other associations about how to work more closely together?
Bob: I think quick, regularly scheduled interaction is key. For example, marketers will always want more data / better data. It’s not always possible to get that data, but sometimes it may be – it’s just a matter of maintaining clear communication and establishing realistic expectations and regular dialogue.
Similarly, I think that IT leaders often take a reactive stance when it comes to organizational business models and strategies. This leads to creating an “IT Roadblock” as opposed to tapping into the value that IT can provide. Instead, it is not just important – it’s increasingly essential – for IT leaders to step forward and take a more proactive role in helping their organizations to grow. From cybersecurity to new technology platforms, the most successful organizations maintain strong partnerships between Marketing, IT, and all of their other departments.
Denman: As NYSAE approaches its 100th year, what can we do to ensure that we continue to reach our audience?
Bob: From my standpioint, it all comes down to relevance and value. If we continue to provide valuable content, programming, and opportunties that can’t be found elsewhere, we’ll maintain/increase our relevance and have an easier time reaching our audience.
Denman: Thanks so much. Just one more question. Earlier in the interview, you mentioned the concept of “peer pressure” as a reason not to use technology to keep up with the Joneses. The concept of peer pressure being a primary motivator instead of business decisions being the key factor is really intriguing. Can you elaborate on that concept for just a bit?
Bob: Absolutely – I think that the speed at which technology changes makes people feel a little too comfortable when it comes to adoption of new technologies and moving in a given direction without fully understanding the repercussions. If anything, the rate of change means people have to be even more data driven / calculated when it comes to moving into new technologies.
This is especially true with marketing / social media technologies, but applicable to almost all major business initiatives other than security and updates. Much like any other business decision, if you hear people saying “I feel like we’re behind”, or really, “I feel” in general, the immediate response should be “What data do we have to support that?”
Similarly, as associations, we don’t have big budgets, and we have to be careful when we chose to move in any new technology. We can learn quite a bit by monitoring what our members/industry/prospects/constituents are using and consuming, as well as how and where they are communicating. We can also look at any big industry players to see what technology they are effectively leveraging. Last, but not least, we can talk to/survey our members.
This data-driven approach has served me very well over the years. For what it’s worth, nobody remembers the first smartphone (Ericsson R380 – released in 2000), but everyone knows what an iPhone is (first released in 2007). Apple didn’t do it first and didn’t cave to any external pressure - they did their research and did it better. I’d always rather be Apple, even if it takes a little extra time to have the data handy and make informed decisions.
This concludes our E-Interview for this edition. Thanks Bob!
Denman Wall is the Director of Interactive Services at Dolci Interactive, a full service digital agency and part of Dolci Management Services.
Robert Spangler is the Associate Executive Director, Operations and Information Technology at the
New Jersey State Bar Association