How does a membership organization survive in the era of social media, when the community aspects of association are so easy to replicate for free? Help Desk Institute (HDI) evolved its membership model for the online space not just by providing digital content and Web-based certification for IT support and help desk professionals — it also launched successful in-person events and 63 local chapter meetings, providing a benefit social media can’t. Managing Director Craig Baxter spoke to us about how these local volunteer chapters extend account lifetimes, and how events, trainings and subscriptions all cross-sell one another.
Company Profile
Founded: 1989 as Help Desk Institute, a membership organization with print materials and conferences. Launched online around 2000.
Employees: A little less than 40
Business Model: Hybrid (subscriptions, training & certification, events, services)
Paying Subscribers: Fewer than 10,000
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Website: http://www.thinkhdi.com
Target Market
HDI looks to target professionals who need support or training in executing IT support or help desk functions in North America. The site particularly targets line managers or lower level executives who are the decision-makers for their group. Subscribers come from a variety of private and public sector industries (such as the Department of Defense or State government agencies), and are usually providing support to internal staff.
The site’s secondary market consists of organizations with many IT support employees, as well as those professionals/organizations looking to provide help desk support to external clients.
Content
HDI has a wide breadth of content and services for paying subscribers:
- Training and certification, approved by the HDI International Certification Standards Committee.
- Local chapters and forums
- Annual Research Reports
- Research Corner Reports
- Ask the Expert
- Member-only Webinars
- Services: HDI Customer Satisfaction Index Service, HDI Support Center Assessment Services, and HDI Support Center Standards.
- SupportWorld magazine (PDF/online)
- Glossary
- Novice Toolbox: an introduction to the technical service for new professionals.
- Job board
- Downloadable metrics guides, bulletins, and focus books
- HDI Awards to members
- HDI Buyer’s Guide
However, the site is not pay-worthy solely because of quality content. The site also facilitates a lot of personal networking and professional growth through events and training/certifications. The site has 63 local chapters that have monthly or quarterly face-to-face meetings, and just started a virtual chapter for members living in remote locations. The local chapters are run by volunteer officers who serve as president, vp, treasurer, secretary, and an officer responsible for content. These local meetings are the #1 reason subscribers join, according to HDI’s own internal survey of members.
The site also provides surveys that subscribers can use to asses staff or customer satisfaction with help desk support, or assess needs.
The site adds new material to the membership area almost monthly.
The site has fewer than 10 people working on content. A lot of the content is actually contributed by the community for free, but HDI has strong quality and editorial control mechanisms. This free user-generated content serves as professional development and personal networking for members. The research reports are done two full-time staff members who are subject matter experts. The site also gets a lot of volunteer articles and white papers from the community.
Revenues
HDI makes most of its money through its training and certification programs, followed by events and then subscriptions.
The site has multiple subscription price points:
The most popular subscription plan is the Silver level membership plan.
The Forum membership tier has the fewest number of subscribers, but this is a unique plan. In addition to regular member benefits, this plan gives subscribers four private three-day meetings at an off-site hotel/resort, and HDI will deep-dive into topics. For example, the Forum meetings will contain a site tour of actual facilities (either a member’s facilities or an outside organization that simply volunteered). HDI does not pay for travel or lodging for these meetings, but they do provide food and entertainment.
Group Subscriptions
HDI’s main group subscription plan is its Platinum Plus membership plan. Site licenses are offered on a one-off, case-by-case basis and are set up through email registration (not IP address).
Events
HDI conducts two major conference a year, and tickets are normally $1,800. HDI manages both operations and marketing for the events in house, but may occasionally partner with a competitor to increase attendance. About 50% of event attendees are also HDI subscribers, and those who aren’t often join, showing how these two revenue streams complement and feed into each other.
Marketing Tactics
HDI acquires new members through two main methods — email marketing and events. The site also uses postal direct mail, SEO/PPC, PR and social media to drive traffic to the site.
Email Marketing
HDI rents third-party email lists through list broker World Data. The company allows them some trial and error with the lists and if one doesn’t work well, they’ll give HDI another one.
In addition, because HDI requires email registration to view free content, it is able to send marketing offers to all registered users of the sites:
Events
HDI conducts a “Connect & Inspire” tour throughout the US and Canada, where they organize for members to come and speak about the benefits of membership — basically a membership open house. Originally this was directed solely to encourage Forum membership, but the site has found value in promoting other memberships, including access and connection with local chapters.
HDI also has an annual meeting to train local chapter volunteer officers. 25%-30% of volunteers will pay their own way to attend this event, where they learn what it takes to make a chapter successful and run efficiently.
Postal Direct Mail
HDI uses both in-house and rented lists to acquire new members. While postal direct mail efforts have dwindled since HDI’s print days, the site has found that direct mail does sometimes get better conversion rates than other marketing methods. The site drops thousands of pieces a month, usually brochures, postcards and gatefolds.
SEO & PPC
HDI admits its search engine optimization is less than ideal, but BAxter told us that PPC campaigns have been effective in promoting and selling events and trainings (which are the site’s major revenue streams).
PR
In the past, HDI usually wrote and released their own press releases, usually promoting an event or certification. The site recently hired a PR firm to take over this function.
Social Media
HDI has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin:
Faceboook: 1,843 likes
Twitter: Following 210, 1704 Followers
LinkedIn Group: 6,360 members
The site also has a separately branded blog called HDI Connect.
Baxter reiterated what most subscription site executives have said: Social media serves branding and awareness functions, particularly for events and trainings, but has not been a highly effective acquisition tool for subscriptions.
However, the blog is visited frequently by both paying subscribers and free users, and is updated regularly with both editorial and user-generated content.
Catfish Bar
HDI also promotes its major events through a catfish, or stationary, bar at the bottom of its webpages (see below). This bar remains in place as site visitors scroll up and down the page.
Conversion Tactics
HDI employs a number of conversion tactics:
- Email registration to view free content.
- When a user registers with an email, s/he are automatically opted into six newsletter lists, for which they must un-check a box to opt out.
- On the email registration page, a free registered user can also opt-in to receive “more information about membership.”
- There’s no double opt-in for email registration (we advise against this), but the thank-you page does lead you to other benefits and features on the site, increasing site engagement.
The site also has a number of free offers/lead gen devices, such as Webcasts, virtual events, salary benchmark reports, occasional free copies of Support World magazine, and prizes like a Amazon gift cards and Dr. Dre Beats headphones. They used to give away iPads and Kindle Fires, but now feel that most people have purchased them on their own, so they’re waiting for the “next big thing” in electronics.
The site only offers free trials to Forum members and for its support services. They use direct sales calls to convert trial-takers, which is a smart move given the hefty price tag on Forum memberships.
Retention Tactics
Baxter told us the site has renewal rates north of 50% and less than 70% for individual subscriptions. They have seen some improvement using nurturing techniques — i.e., reinforcing the value of membership through email communication. One of the most favored benefits is the local chapter networking, and the site has seen better retention by emphasizing this benefit.
While memberships are not on auto-renewal, subscribers are sent renewal notices annually and asked to initiate the charge.
Cross-Sales & Upsales
HDI upsells its events and trainings to subscribers, and reaches its best prospects by segmenting its email lists. Their direct sales team maintains lists of current and loyal customers, and often the person who’s attended an event and bought a subscription is the person who can make the decision to send a whole team for certification and training.
About Craig Baxter
Baxter actually started his career as a practitioner and manager in the IT world, and UBM, the parent company of HDI, brought him on as a subject matter expert. He now “loves” the paid content business.
“My whole career I was a consumer and user of these things. Learning about the publishing and editorial and event business — it’s a lot more complicated than you’ll ever imagine. When I had been in the exhibit hall, I didn’t appreciate what went on behind the scenes to put an event on.”
His best advice is to take your subscription business beyond the content and really try to help people connect. “I don’t know people take advantage of digital side as much as quality networking in face-to-face opportunities that we facilitate.”
Vendors & Technology
Because HDI is in the IT space, it remains “vendor neutral,” and does not reveal the technology providers that support their operations.
Subscription Site Insider Analysis
HDI has done an impressive job of keeping a membership model alive in the era of LinkedIn. They’ve clearly harnessed a digital platform in a unique manner by connecting its membership base offline through local chapter meetings. They’ve also skillfully tapped into the site’s sense of “community,” evidenced by the fact that paying subscribers are willing to volunteer their time to create content or lead local chapters. We also like that the site has multiple conversion entrance paths, requires email registration to view free content, and cross-sells its trainings, events and subscriptions to each other.
In terms of improvement, the site should seriously consider a more robust sales program for site licenses. It’s unusual that a professional training site would not pursue this path heavily. In addition, individual subscribers should be on auto-renewal. And lastly, given that the site caters to the IT niche, they should also employ better SEO practices, and pursue a more formal word-of-mouth program.
