There was an article describing mentorship’s value for member retention a few years ago, but what made the program effective? No matter how well-planned and executed your organization’s mentorship program from a mentoring platform is, your ability to involve and inspire your members will ultimately determine its success. You will need to put a lot of effort into promoting your mentoring program because it will be up against a lot of other objectives and messages.

Here are a few suggestions we have for marketing your mentorship program after registering on a mentoring platform.

• Early internal champion recruitment

Early alignment of internal stakeholders is crucial for both selling the proposal to the board and securing continuous communications support. Consider the future advocates the program will require to succeed. Get them on the bus right away if your company has State Organizations or other organizations whose support you will need to communicate with members.

• From the Top, Send a Special Note

A personal email out from CEO or another (very) senior executive has proven to be the one method of communication that has been most successful in grabbing attention. According to our experience, the sharper the increase in application numbers is, the more significant the sender’s seniority and the stronger the message that this is an important project.

• Bring the marketing division on board.

The reach and efficacy of your mentoring program could be substantially hampered if there are any marketing obstacles after you begin to roll it out. According to our experience, marketing teams for associations sometimes worry excessively about “over-communicating” with members. Make sure to inform your marketing department of the mentorship project from a mentoring platform and obtain their early support for your strategic plan.

• Keep the surges coming in as you communicate.

More is needed for an AskMe mentoring platform’s mentorship program to succeed than just one “announcement” email. Keep in mind that your participants are not waiting for the start of this event at their desks. If you want to engage them, you must get past their hectic days and inboxes.

We advise you to organize your member communications into the following four stages:

1. Soon to be!

Inform members about the mentorship program’s impending arrival, where to go for further details, and perhaps how to join a waiting list. In the weeks before your debut, this might be mentioned in newsletters, the mentoring platform’s magazine(in case), conferences, or other conventional member communication channels.

2. Open for applications!

Inform participants that the program has begun and is accepting applications. For a better opportunity of a good match, encourage folks to enroll early. The best way to achieve this is with a customized message.

3. Applications are soon to expire!

Members should be informed when submissions are about to shut down and encouraged to move fast. Newsletters can alert readers to the upcoming close date, which can then be reaffirmed in a tailored email.

4. Stories of program success

By posting profiles of great pairs in your newspaper and mentoring platform site, you can inform members about the effectiveness of your program. This highlights the value your organization provides through a mentoring platform and gets members excited for the program the following year.

• Even after the program is over, keep talking.

When your mentoring program has been a success, it can be tempting to assume that your marketing efforts are complete. You’ve just started your marketing campaign for the program’s second year.

• Give the entire account.

Don’t assume that your participants will comprehend how a mentorship program functions or why it can benefit their careers. Make sure that your messaging provides a complete picture when you start your program.

You should provide the following information in your emails or through a reference to a program description on your website.

5. Explanation of why

Give members a compelling justification for joining. Describe the overall goal of the program. Then describe in detail the advantages for both mentors and their mentees.

6. Set objectives

Clearly state the type and extent of the expected commitment. To assist them in determining if they have the time, describe the program’s duration, the education they will be required to attend, and the estimated frequency of meetings. Make it clear if interactions are to take place in person or online. If fewer spots are available, be sure to mention that not all applications will be accepted. The less probable it is that you will see dropouts once the program starts, the better job you will have done setting the expectations.

7. Demand for action

To ensure that members are fully aware of the following actions they must take, emphasize the application closing dates and the next steps. Mentoring platforms make companies go closer to success.

Binod Choudhary