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How To Attract Younger Members To Your Club

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Many clubs in Australia and worldwide face the same problem: they have an ageing membership base. If all your members are in their 70s, that means that there is a time limit of how long they will be able to stay an active member of your club. If all of your members eventually become too old to stay actively involved in your club, then your club won’t have much of a future. 

Today, we will talk about how to start attracting younger members to your club to help revitalise your club. The good news is that Member Jungle has been working with clubs for many years and has a lot of experience with what does and doesn’t work for clubs. The other bit of good news is that I am a lazy avocado-on-toast-obsessed millennial, so when I tell you how the younger generations think, it’s coming from experience. You know, I’m a real millennial because I was too lazy to come up with a more timely or accurate stereotype than avocado toast. 

 

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This article will cover the following topics: 

  • What Age Of People Should You Target To Be Members Of Your Club?
  • Using Technology To Attract Younger Members To Your Club  
  • Making Your Club More Affordable And Flexible To Attract Younger Members
  • Ensure Your Club Is More Socially Conscious To Attract Younger Members  

What Age Of People Should You Target To Be Members Of Your Club?

The first step you need to take before you can start attracting younger members to your club is to work out exactly what age groups you should be targeting. Therefore, one thing we need to clear up is just how old the generations actually are. 

I feel like when a lot of people hear millennial, they picture a 21-year-old too busy eating avocado toast to buy a house. However, the oldest millennials turned 42 in 2023, so now might be a good time to reexamine how old all the different generations actually are. 

 

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By looking at the above table, you can see that older Millennials and Generation X are prime candidates for new members of your club. They are likely to be in a stage of their lives where they are looking for new hobbies and expanding their horizons, and if they join your club, they could be in it for decades to come. 

So, with that in mind, let’s have a look at what you can do to attract Gen X and Millennials to your club. 

Using Technology To Attract Younger Members To Your Club   

Attracting and retaining the attention of younger generations is crucial, and technology is the key to achieving this. It's no secret that younger generations are quite fond of technology. Personally, I'm writing this with an AI chatbot open in another tab, four different smart devices within arm's reach, and a fifth across the room playing music.

How technology can help you attract younger members to your club can be broken down into two categories: Social media to capture potential members' attention and a good website and mobile app to keep it. 

Using Social Media To Attract Younger People To Your Club

The way older and younger people use social media and the social media platforms they use varies quite a bit. While platforms like Facebook are quite popular with the older generations, they don’t have as much market share amongst the younger generations. 

If you want to attract Gen X and Millennials, you should start targeting Instagram and TikTok. It's worth noting that X, formerly known as Twitter, has historically been a popular platform for Gen X and Millennials. However, the platform is undergoing a lot of changes at the moment, and I’d recommend holding off on using it as part of your plan to find new members until we have more clarity about its future.

To attract Gen X and Millennials, you are going to need to adapt how you approach marketing your club. While Facebook groups and posts may have been enough previously, they will likely not have the same reach with the younger generations. Consider starting an Instagram or TikTok account and posting often on them to start attracting new younger members to your club. 

While we’re talking about social media, let’s talk about Facbook groups. While Facbook might not be as popular with the younger generations it doesn’t mean that they don’t use it and it certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a club Facebook page.  

A lot of club’s fall into the trap of having a private facebook group that the general public can’t see. If you're running a club, I suggest setting up a public group to showcase the activities and events that your club offers. This way, people can get a glimpse of what your club is all about, and if they're interested in joining, they can do so officially. Facebook recommends public groups to users who have similar interests, which can be an effective and free way of advertising. 

Think of public Facebook groups as a free limited trial or your club. Let people see what your club has to offer, give them a taste of all the benefits of membership. Completely closed and private Facebook groups will do little to attract new members to your club. 

If you are looking for a more detailed breakdown of how to use social media to attract new members, check out The Best Social Media To Use To Grow Your Club For Free

Using A High-Quality Club Website And Club App To Get Younger Members To Join Your Club

While websites and mobile apps may not be critical to older members, they are crucial to potential members from younger generations. The younger generations, particularly Millennials, are digital natives. We have grown up surrounded by digital technology and kind of expect it to always be there and always be as fast and helpful as we imagine. 

Now, I'm not defending this unconscious bias; I'm just letting you know that this is how a lot of younger people think. If I were to click on a website and it took more than a few seconds to load, I’d leave it immediately. If I clicked on a website and it looked terrible or didn’t work properly, I’d also immediately leave. The logic is if you can’t make an effort to make your website look nice and work well, what’s the chance you put effort into your goods or service? Again, I’m not saying that the younger generations or I are right; I’m just saying that this is how we think as a rule of thumb. 

In general, younger generations have less time and prefer to receive immediate rewards for their efforts. They want to be able to view what your club has to offer, join your club, and register for events, all from their mobile phones, likely while sitting on the couch at night, half-watching Netflix, or, if we're being honest while sitting on the toilet.

 

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They don't want to print a form, fill it out, post it, or drive it somewhere and then wait five weeks for membership approval. I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of younger people won't do that. If I had to print out a form, fill it in and then post it or drive it somewhere, I just wouldn't do it. I would simply find another club that lets me join online. 

The younger generations expect things to be online, fast and easy and honestly, the social norms have changed and are unlikely to change back anytime soon. 

If you have old, clunky, outdated processes, it will seriously hinder younger people from joining your club. 

A well-designed website and an accompanying app are essential to attract younger members to your club. According to a 2021 study by Statista, internet users aged 55 and above accounted for only 12.8%, while those aged between 44 and 25 made up 52.4% of internet users. Baby Boomers are more likely to use laptops and computers and social media sites like Facebook. Gen X and Millennials, on the other hand, are much more likely to use smartphones and social media like Instagram, TikTok, and X (Twitter).

As most younger people use phones rather than computers, having apps and websites that are formatted and designed to look and function well on mobile devices will be a huge step in getting the younger generations to sign up to be a part of your club. In fact, many of the clubs we work with report that one of the first things younger members want to know is if the club has an app.

Making Your Club More Affordable And Flexible To Attract Younger Members

Making your club affordable to younger members will be key to attracting younger members, who are likely to have less disposable income, to your club. Your older members likely own their house outright and have lower day-to-day expenses, while younger members are likely still renting or paying off their mortgage and possibly still have kids living at home. 

By making your club more affordable, I do not mean lowering the price of your membership. Your membership price should probably be increasing; they definitely shouldn't be going down. What I mean is diversifying your club’s activities so that they are more affordable to younger members. 

Let me give you an example: earlier this year, I wanted to join a kayaking club, so I went to Google and searched for kayak clubs in my area. I managed to find one that was nearby and had a website that actually worked properly, but there was an issue. The only kayaking events they held were for racing/sprint kayaks. 

Now, I don’t know how much you know about kayaks, but racing kayaks are extremely long, thin and light kayaks that go extremely fast and cost a lot of money; they are designed to go very fast but not far. I own an expedition kayak, which is long, heavy and designed to carry two weeks' worth of camping gear; they are designed to go very far but not fast. My problem was I didn’t have a spare $4,000 lying around to buy an entry-level racing kayak, so I didn’t join that club. They wouldn’t have needed to lower their membership prices for me to join, just slightly diversified their events so I could join in with the equipment I already had. 

Many clubs are doing this, and it is working for them. I’ve talked previously about how the Street Machine Association of South Australia slightly eased their requirements on which cars could join their club and saw an influx of new members as a result. Many clubs that have events at restaurants or bars are ensuring that the restaurants they choose are affordable for their younger members. With just a few tweaks to the events you hold and where you hold them, you can make joining and being an active part of your club much more affordable for younger members. 

Ensure Your Club Is More Socially Conscious To Attract Younger Members  

It may be a stereotype, but that doesn’t mean it’s untrue; younger generations are very socially conscious. Statistically speaking, Gen X and Millennials are more concerned about and more active in supporting social causes like gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights and climate activism. The younger generations are also more likely to spend money on a good or a service if they know it has been produced ethically and sustainably.  

I’m not saying that your club doesn’t currently care about these issues; I’m just saying that taking a more active role in these issues and wearing your heart on your sleeve when it comes to them will help attract younger people to your club.   

How You Can Prepare Your Club For The Future 

Attracting younger members to your club is a great way to ensure that your club will continue thriving for many years. However, it isn’t the only way you can ensure your club has a long and happy future. 

If you want to know more about preparing for the future, please read How To Future Proof Your Club

If you want to know what you should do in the coming year to ensure your club has the best year ever, read 5 Tips To Unlock Your Club’s Success In 2024

 

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