In 2014, the International Association of Fire Chiefs wanted to grow its membership. IAFC especially wanted to attract emerging officers, which meant increasing the number of members ranked lower than fire chief. But the group had to overcome a big misperception, says IAFC Marketing Manager Cathie Larocca: that it only served individuals at the chief level, as its name implied.

So, with the following four goals in mind, IAFC created its "We Are the IAFC" campaign:

• Correct the misperception that the IAFC only represents fire chiefs.
• Use the members' voice and stories to show the value of membership.
• Prove how members have benefited from membership.
• Increase the number of members below the level of fire chief.

The Start

To get started on accomplishing these goals, IAFC brainstormed and reviewed several sources, including previous ASAE Gold Circle Award winners, and decided that a campaign showing members' personal stories was needed.

The group had to overcome a big misperception: that it only served individuals at the fire-chief level, as its name implied.

IAFC then sent invitations out to select members, asking them to submit their stories of how they utilized their membership and specific member resources to overcome a challenge or meet a goal. After reviewing all the submissions, the group carefully chose 12 stories from a diverse group of people to make sure it had good representation of members from different demographics (e.g., experience, rank, and so forth).

Doing so allowed IAFC to segment and personalize its marketing to specific audiences. The team then incorporated the members' stories into a variety of media, including electronic ads, its website, flyers, email, and direct mail. In addition, IAFC created a logo for the campaign, which was used on all the collateral, and applied the theme to the large pavilion at its annual conference.

The Results

The campaign did so well that, after three direct-mail promtions were sent, IAFC had a 40 percent increase in membership for officers ranked lower than fire chief over the prior year. Ultimately, the "We are the IAFC" campaign resulted in 280 new memberships, 51 percent of which were ranked lower than fire chief. It also had a conversion rate of 8 percent, and the overall ROI of the campaign was eight-to-one. IAFC even saw the highest increase in membership (20 percent) in more than eight years.

So, not only did IAFC surpass its goals, it also earned an ASAE Gold Circle Award in 2015 for the campaign.

Larocca attributes the success of the campaign to the diversity of the people featured and the marketing mix that was used. As it was such a successful campaign, IAFC is continuing it this year, but with some new features. The group plans to incorporate video, add more member stories featuring those who benefited from new programs, and include social media.

Although the "We are the IAFC" campaign was rewarding, it was a big time commitment. Larocca says the team spent a lot of time reworking what the members had submitted and going back and forth with them to get permission to use the final stories. She advises associations planning to incorporate member stories into their campaigns to reach out to more people than you need, as not everyone will respond or give you exactly what you are looking for. Also, make sure you are clear and specific about what you want them to provide, and be prepared to do some editing.

However, Larocca does say doing a campaign that involves your members is very fulfilling. She was particularly proud of a story highlighting a member who participated in IAFC's mentoring program and has since been promoted. Given the previous success of the campaign, she is very proud of the team and looks forward to seeing what 2016 will bring.