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If you’ve been on social media in the last week, chances are you’ve seen your friends post their Spotify Wrapped. Launched in 2017, it has become an annual tradition that recognizes users for their music tastes, listening time stats and even their listening personality type. 

But the real lesson is how Spotify uses Wrapped as an engagement tool and, more brilliantly, an end-of-year member campaign creating that oh-so-important FoMo. 

As associations, you already have plenty of user data – from the courses your members have taken to the events they’ve attended – so how can you leverage that data to create a Spotifty-like member engagement campaign? 

1. Recognize Member Achievements 

One of the main ways members engage with an association is through its content, whether it’s your blog, coursework, events or certifications. However, recognition is more often than not only given upon completion. Regardless of what platform you use to manage your content, you’re likely collecting data related to:

  • The number of articles read.
  • Times posted in forums and community boards. 
  • Time spent on courses (or logged into the platform). 
  • CAE credits earned.
  • Events attended (both in-person and online). 

In the case of Spotify Wrapped, they’re taking the time to track the number of times users are listening, their favorite songs and artists and how they stack up against fellow listeners of the same content. 

For associations, taking the time to recognize your members beyond course completes and certifications not only helps celebrate their achievements but also reminds them of how much time they’re spending with their membership – an essential factor when the time comes for renewals. That could mean recognizing your members for completing a certain amount of coursework within a specific subject area, or creating other milestones for your forum or event attendance. 

2. Leverage Shareability to Build Community 

As we mentioned earlier, chances are you’ve been seeing your friend's Spotify Wrapped for a while now and it’s pretty easy to see why – it’s personalized, well designed and easy to share. While associations may not have the resources to be as elaborate as Spotify, they can work to create something easy to share. 

The latest edition of Wrapped has new integrations with WhatsApp and a personalized Snapchat Lens. Associations can do the same with platforms their users frequent, like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Whether it’s sharable achievements from within your LMS or even creating a simple templatized graphic that your members can customize with their headshot, the easier it is to share, the more inclined users will be to do so. 

Related: Audience vs. Community: What The Difference Means for Associations Learn More >

3. Build Paths to Content Discovery

Finally and smartly, Wrapped also curates all their trends and content in a straightforward landing page. From top artists to viral songs and even new podcasts that were launched, it's an opportunity to help users find new offerings based on their interests while also keeping Spotify users engaged on their site. 

Associations should be thinking the same way – were there any new courses you launched this year? How about upcoming events or webinars? Are there resources or premium content that you can relaunch with new or even churned members?

Take your end-of-year marketing efforts as a way to reengage members, let them know what was popular, what they may have missed and what they have to look forward to in the new year. 

Using Data to Build User Engagement

As associations continue to look for opportunities to personalize experiences and drive member engagement, gamifying your data could be a unique strategy. Not only do you recognize your members for their achievements, but also you’re allowing them to connect with their network. 

In turn, this helps grow awareness for your association while also allowing users – both members and not – to get a view of what your organization offers and why it’s essential to become a member. 

Jose Triana
Post by Jose Triana
December 6, 2022
Jose Triana is a writer and creative focused on helping purpose-driven organizations learn and find value online. When he isn't working on content, you can catch him going for a run or resting with a good book.