Last fall, a company with a truly successful online marketing strategy used a traditional medium to advertise its prowess. Amazon.com's amusing television commercial depicting anxious, confused shoppers outside closed brick and mortar retail outlets at 3:00 a.m. brought home the expectations of online shoppers in a not-so-subtle manner. This change in customer expectations brought on by the Web are not just dramatic, but revolutionary. And, although most associations now have a presence on the Internet, they have not recognized the operational enhancements and customer service responsibilities this presence imposes their business.

The consulting firm 1to1 Marketing conducts semi-annual surveys of the Web to determine which sites employ the best practices of one to one marketing. Steve Skinner, their president and CEO, reported on their most recent findings during a presentation at Internet World in October, 2000.

Let's examine how association executives can make their organizational Web presence an effective outreach and response tool for their members.

Many associations have used the Web to extend a virtual community tool for their members. Users will be most likely to engage and participate in the community if they know the information they are sharing will remain private. State your association's privacy policy in a prominent location on your site, and use concise, plain language. In other words, avoid as much "legalese" as you can. Describe exactly what will be protected, remaining solely with the association, and safe from distribution to vendors or other organizations. Request the minimum amount of information to participate, perhaps just a login name or member number, and password. Giving your members the option of providing additional information, and allowing them to opt out of providing it, is also a good practice.

Once the information is gathered, you need to encourage members to participate in discussions. Recognize that you are always going to have a majority of lurkers, and a minority of active participants. Seeding your listservers or discussion groups with advocates (special interest group leaders, committee members, etc.) ensure that dialogues will occur with relative frequency. Consider also training your staff to consistently monitor and participate in the discussions, directing members to information resources available both through your Web site and offline.

Current technology also allows associations to customize the look of their Web sites to the user. For example, if the member logs in and is identified as a participant in your government relations special interest group, the next page that appears to them can show the latest news about your organization's lobbying efforts. You can also list the most recent articles from your magazine or newsletter detailing legislative topics. Your site's search engine can seed the pull-down menu with the topic areas related most closely to their area of interest. This organization of the site features around the user's needs makes the experience more valuable.

Everyone realizes that the Web does not replace human interaction. Simply because you may offer online eLearning does not preclude the need for face-to-face seminars or conferences for your members. The same reasoning holds true for customer service. Having a Help button or Contact Us link to your staff listing is a must for your Web site. Most important, though, is having a response strategy for the questions that come through this system. A maximum 24-hour response time is imperative for any emails that are submitted through your site.

Remember, expectations that consumers have through their personal Web experience transfer to the demands in their professional world. These expectations are most likely higher because their affinity to the organization is stronger. Recognizing the tenets of successful online marketing will help your Web site to personify the strong customer relationship management practices your association delivers to its members.