Case Study:
American Society for Healthcare Risk Management
Using a "Tell a Friend" Strategy to Tap a Valuable Recruiting Asset
CHALLENGE 
While the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) serves a niche industry, it also faces market competition and a crowded field that is saturated with communications. Looking to differentiate itself, ASHRM retained McKinley Marketing to develop a strategy to raise awareness and communicate its unique value to key constituents.
The resulting plan highlighted specific marketing opportunities and strategies. Survey statistics showed that ASHRM had a strong reputation and that a significant percentage of members had originally joined based on the recommendation of a colleague. McKinley recommended capitalizing on this strength by implementing a word-of-mouth recruitment campaign.
APPROACH
ASHRM reengaged McKinley to develop and track a “Tell a Friend” email campaign to build on the word-of-mouth potential of ASHRM members. With a deep understanding of ASHRM’s previous research and expert association knowledge in place, McKinley was poised to lead the campaign. McKinley’s plan for the ASHRM program focused on campaign structure, incentives and other expenditures, tracking and measurement, as well as a messaging and promotion schedule. The plan not only introduced the methods necessary to execute a successful campaign, but also positioned ASHRM to duplicate the campaign in subsequent years.
ASHRM decided to use two of its events – Healthcare Risk Management Week and its Annual Conference – as bookends for the campaign. This meant that the program was launched and concluded during times of heightened organizational awareness. Next, McKinley determined the appropriate dollar amounts for campaign incentives and administrative costs based upon ASHRM’s marketing budget. McKinley then determined the most effective way to track and measure referrals. Finally, McKinley provided guidance on messaging and delivered a promotion schedule to guide campaign communications.
RESULTS
ASHRM realized its recruitment potential by leveraging its members as organizational ambassadors. Using a break even analysis, McKinley determined that ASHRM would have to recruit 15 new members to cover the cash incentives provided to the top recruiters and the administrative costs associated with the campaign. The implemented plan far exceeded this point. ASHRM recruited 109 new members during the campaign, which equaled a 663% ROI for this specific marketing campaign investment, assuming that these new members would not have otherwise joined.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“We really did not want this to be a one-time event. McKinley helped us develop a process that is repeatable, which should benefit us in years to come.”
-- Kara Clark,
Executive Director