Marketing and Membership

[MI3Eventer]

Hey Ballers!

I wanted to get some input for the AWSA marketing and membership ideas. This year we had ALOT of enthusiasm and return members to AWSA and our goal is to capitalize on that for 2021.

 

The main question: How do we get members to come back and continue to pay the $85?

 

Last year we started the collegiate ski incentive for AWSA tournaments. Which seemed to gain some traction, but we are looking for some more ideas to incentivize membership and participation.

 

Any and all ideas are appreciated!

[6balls]

Reduce tourney fee entry for first time members during their first year.

[Horton]

It is my opinion that nothing drives membership more than participation.

[Fastguy888]

Make it easier for amateurs to practice; possibly through community boats / club boats / fellow member boats... Launch a AWSA Community Boat Drivers Program/License that backs boat owners, drivers with liability coverage and can help them connect with those that don't.

 

Community outreach possibly through Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Summer Camps, Colleges...

 

Fully embrace Wake Surfing & Wake Boarding (doing a decent job already) to reverse engineer / bring full circle the awesomeness of Slalom along with the newer sports.

 

Improve cool factor through promotion of Pro Events. Possibly a Red Bull TV Documentary? Sounds stupid but in college I got a very nice AWSA Decal pack with my membership; I rocked it on my car and family boat with pride then and it pulled in a few new members and made be feel cool. Maybe 1st year members get a Decal Pack and 2nd year members get a shirt...

 

 

[MDB1056]

1. Reduced membership fees X% for multiple years - (buy or renew for 3 yrs )

2. Buy 3 get one yr free?

3. Lifetime membership option? Maybe there is one already. My tournament days ended in about 1974

4. Tie to earlier suggestion of reduced tournament entry fees - Buy 2 yrs AWSA and get 5% off entry fees, 3 yrs get 10% off. Do the math on how many tournaments you ski to calc your savings. Bundle this with 1&2 above.

5. Give T shirts and window decals for buy/renew 2 yrs or more

6. Vendor discounts - Get water sports manufacturers and vendors to give AWSA discounts. To include ski co's, big shops, online distributors etc.

7. AWSA to discount renewal membership fees based on years of membership. The longer in the lower your cost. Yes this is lowering revenue but so many companies are looking only at their new prospective customers and not nearly as much on their current base. ASWA here has 2 goals 1) PRESERVE AND PROTECT current membership ranks 2) SOLICIT NEW.

 

I know some will say that no need to discount for the existing members as those are already the loyal base that love it and will pay. I'm more the mindset that taking care of your existing membership is just as important as adding new. As small as the skiing community is we shouldn't take anything for granted.

 

From my chair the focus of everything in this sport should include PRESERVE AND PROTECT as things keep getting smaller and smaller.

[BraceMaker]

Maybe build in the cost of membership into tournament fees?

 

Like @6balls says but backwards, figure out how much per event per skier per entry you need to keep the revenue. But make registering free with a per tournament charge till x events a year.

 

When you talk to men’s 1-3 skiers who want to ski maybe 1 or 2 relatively local events a season but that’s 85 bucks a year unless it’s a grassroots event. With an entry fee and your paying 120 for 2 rounds. Charge the supporting membership of 20 bucks and 5 bucks per round or let people choose to buy a yearly membership. A family membership at 175 can be as cheap as 30/person/yr for a family of 6.

 

So if you want to keep the collegiate skier involved I think that would be a much better financial choice for the average person to keep themselves at least minimally involved.

 

I think if you’re talking discounting the long term membership you’re just pandering - discount the officials but you want to hook people in so they participate enough to feel the investment is worth it. Ski safe and D3 deals are still more expensive than buying a used ski and having a good insurance guy.

 

[BraceMaker]

If USA waterski membership got me a permit to use my portable course on any public water I’d pay 500 for membership

 

[MISkier]

@BraceMaker, I regret that I have but one Awesome to give for that comment.

[unksskis]

Remove Regionals attendance requirement, support State tournaments, reduce Judging requirements, increase boat Promo programs, etc. Cover a wider variety of participants in the media coverage. Look through all the previous years of The WaterSkier, and you will likely see the same 20 people, which I get it they dominate, but people like a variety.

[MitchellM]

Just some thoughts from an amateur skier.

 

I've never heard of the AWSA until I saw this thread. Even when I googled AWSA, multiple other sites come up before I get the connection to USAwaterski.org. This is not good. Even though I had guessed the acronym prior to looking, you have a bad search presence. This needs to be corrected in the day and age.

 

What's in it for me if I become a member? Sure, I want to support the sport, but why would an amateur skier want to join each year? I don't see any list of benefits for my membership that would entice someone learning the course. I'm the sort of new member you should be courting if you want to grow and expand your membership rolls.

[Horton]

@MitchellM we all hate to hear what you said but we need to hear it.

[dave2ball]

Nothing drives memberships like participating. Unfortunately AWSA can’t dictate the entry fee of tournaments.

 

[unksskis]

@dave2ball kind of with registration and judging requirements

[aupatking]

One year membership included in new ski purchases. I’m sure that there’s $85 wiggle room in new ski price markup. If you get a membership with a ski, maybe you’ll want to try your first tournament too. For long time members, maybe it drives you to buy that new ski too since you get a little extra with it you don’t get from a used ski.

[BraceMaker]

@dave2ball sure they can. What’s your membership number? Ok *punches into website* your fee is 55$ 40 for event 10 for membership fee.

 

Which now @MitchellM you’d come to do lessons at one of the many ski schools and I’d give you a membership number. Every kid getting a lesson gets a number. Every guy demoing a ski gets a number. I now get to email you happenings in your area, events etc. want to join we make sure you pay a fee at the event or buy an annual but either way you are a member.

[dave2ball]

@unksskis AWSA can’t dictate what a tournament organizers do as far as entry fees or give away a as far as free ski if you judge unless AWSA is running the tournament. That discussion has been had many times in the south.

[disland]

How about a 1 tournament price, a 2 tournament price and $85 for unlimited tournaments.

[BraceMaker]

@disland functionally that is the idea. If you figure out how many events a person skis why are the families with 5 kids paying 175 bucks to ski local events regionals states nationals etc. But a single 26 year old pays 85 to ski the two events that he can make this season in his state but doesn't have the funds or time to ski regionals or nationals? Why would someone buy that?

 

Brought my wife to 1 event this year. Paid 85 bucks and entry, I have an active 2 year already. No way to prorate her.

[JetMcCoy]

I have been working on this issue at the local level for years and years before being a member of this national group looking at membership and retention. Really good ideas from some folks here on the forum. Creative thoughts possibly with some teeth. I joined in 1975 because I got an AWSA pamphlet with my new ski. I have been a member ever since. One of my ideas is that with every ski purchased you get a link or download code to a video showing the competition experience. It is made with good solid Class "C" footage of a bunch of fun shots. 3 minutes max. STJ of some weekend tournaments. Young folks and families. Not the amazing Regina or Nate or Adam, Anna or Freddy. Good folks having fun....include some collegiate references and shots of a few teams and their school flags and gear etc. An invitation to join USA Water Ski and how to find what events are within 100 miles of your zip code. A first timers discount of 20% covered by the ski manufacturer isn't a bad idea either.

 

[dave2ball]

@BraceMaker im sorry but I don’t see you your logic. If a tournament is 55 and 40 goes to the tournament and 10 towards a

Membership fee. So you pay your AWSA membership as you ski tournaments? A tournament is not going to give a discount unless your an official. Is AWSA going to pay the difference to the event organizer??

[rayn]

@JetMcCoy Usawaterski should be handing those pamphlets out with every ski, boat, vest and insurance. Make a deal with @perfski and other online shops and have them include in every package that goes out.

[BraceMaker]

@dave2ball maybe I explained it poorly.

 

Event is normally 50 and you need active membership (85/yr) now it’s 60 but membership included. If you ski 8 tournaments a year or more you don’t pay the 10 bucks. If you pay annual you don’t pay the 10. But if a guy wants to ski one event this year he only pays 10 bucks membership.

 

The lost revenue should be made up by people who didn’t ski at all before because they didn’t want to pay 85 for a few events.

 

I’m not saying it’s perfect, but how do you square 85 for a guy in North Dakota who has 1 event he could ski this year vs.someone in Florida who has 50 he could possibly attend?

 

I skied 1 event this year due to injury. My 3 year membership was discounted but I’m not pleased with the ROI. I was already hurt before my first event and wouldn’t have bought a membership at all this year as I only tried the event to see if I could then didn’t ski for 2 months.

 

Maybe just refund membership fees if a skier doesn’t get a proper amount a year - call it 5 events as average and refund 10 bucks per event less than 5. Point is figure out membership so someone can ski one event a year and not feel ripped off.

[dbutcher]

Why make things so complicated? The cost of an individual AWSA membership is no more than one night out for dinner and drinks for two. In order for a person to join AWSA and stay a member, the person has to want to be a member. If the person joins for a year but loses desire or interest, that person will not remain a member at any price. It is an admirable goal for AWSA to encourage a person's desire and interest, but the bottom line is that desire and interest come from within each individual. Membership has to fulfill a need. If a person no longer has a "need" to join or remain a member, there is nothing AWSA can do about it. I joined AWSA in the early 1970's and have been a member continuously since. I cannot even remember why I joined, but it was probably because skiing was fun and interesting. I wanted to know as much as I could about skiing because of my strong interest. AWSA helped fulfill that interest, and interest turned into a need. I remain a member because I still have that interest and want to ski 3Event tournaments.

[MISkier]

This was the last page of the 1954 Evinrude booklet "How to Book of Water Skiing" that they distributed with the engine at the dealership. There was no expiration date. I probably should have mailed it in with my $50 before I donated the book to our Hall of Fame exhibits.

 

 

[chrislandy]

A lot of what has been mentioned here is done in the UK, have a good trawl through https://www.bwsw.org.uk/home/ I'm not saying it's perfect by any means and we are always talking about UK growth of the sport (plus our government has stopped directly funding the sport!).

 

For those who don't want to read through it, as a british water ski member we get discounts at various ski and sport related shops, discount courses & coaching (driving and skiing), youth schemes, help with setting up or keeping ski sites and personal accident insurance and the list goes on. For example, my son went on a U18 tournament training day (full day of coaching with 4x 30min sets) for £30 (about $40)

 

Fee wise, about $100 for a single member or $140 for a family and even that is discounted by about 20-30% if you're a member of an affiliated club

[klindy]

Here's a current list of USA-WSWS member discounts. I can probably find $85 worth of value here alone annually. https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Water-Ski/Member-Discounts

 

[jgills88]

I think @aupatking has an awesome idea concerning including memberships with new equipment purchases. If someone buys a new ski who hasn't joined before, hopefully they would take the free membership and return the next year, and if they were already members, maybe they could gift it to a friend and get them hooked as well!

 

If it were viable, maybe partner with dealerships and include a family membership with a boat purchase. Getting people signed up is the first big hurdle of getting and retaining members.

 

Someone else in here mentioned that maybe revamping the "Welcome to the AWSA" email that you get after signing up would be a good idea. It might be hard to program, but if you took the new signup and sent them a list of AWSA Sanctioned events in their state/region hopefully it would encourage them to actually go and connect with their "local" community.

 

A second person talked about highlighting more beginner-intermediate level skiers might help people feel more connected to the sport. Many of us have learned that the experts are usually happy to talk to anyone about skiing, but it's still super intimidating for those who dont know. Maybe highlighting a Grassroots/Class C tournament in each region every month would help break down the idea that only amazing athletes and children ski. There are tons of events where for every person trying -35, there's another adult trying desperately to run their opener or land their first jump.

[wski1831]

Earlier in this thread it was stated “participation drives membership “ I fully agree with that. A large portion is access. In Berkeley @matteovargas started "ski league" every Wednesday night. That has brought in quite a few new skiers. if you are ever in Berkeley on a Wednesday night in the summer check it out. You get 6 passes and dinner. You score off the dock then finish your 6 passes. Prize money each night and overall winners for the year.

 

[aupatking]

@wski1831 that is the perfect format for beginners and should be incorporated in every tournament where beginners participate. 6 passes, make or fail, sure makes you feel like you participated. I’ve seen 30 skiers who run 32-39 off stand on the shoreline going nuts yelling for someone rounding 2 ball for their first time ever. I know it adds more time, but how many beginners normally show up to any given tournament? Not more than a couple to the tournaments I’ve been to. Even if you make it 4 passes, for time constraint, it would still be great for the beginner/novice level.

 

[aupatking]

Going back to my initial post, that a membership should come with a new ski purchase, maybe we partner with the larger retailers like Overtons and Barts (just the ones I know). If you’re buying a $500+ ski from one of those guys you obviously like to ski, but probably aren’t familiar with tournament skiing or places like perfski. It doesn’t have to be a year membership, how about 1 free tournament entry, or lesson with a pro? AWSA could do some kind of reimbursement program or fee credits to the tournament or coach.

Again, it gets them participating.

[ToddL]

You can lead a skier to a tournament, but you can't force them to fall in love with competition.

- Me

 

USAWS/AWSA Membership is about commitment to competition participation. Anytime anyone asks about membership, just replace that word with competition. So, the questions being asked is really: How do we attract skiers to fall in love with competition? How do we retain skiers who already compete?

These questions have been asked repeatedly. The same barriers come up each time:

1) Access/ability to train for competition

2) Costs associated with #1

 

As noted above, it is a passion from within. Some have it. Some need it nurtured. Yet, some won't ever develop it. The former and latter will happen without any actions on our part. It is the middle population that matters. It is the skier who likes, follows competitive news/podcasts, etc. but hasn't yet competed. That's the skier who needs attention, assistance, and guidance which ignites the passion. All solutions should be vetted in terms of how well does it align to that audience.

 

 

 

[aupatking]

@ToddL in coastal Alabama everyone I know has waterskied. 99% + of those people do not even know competitive waterskiing exists. Seriously. They definitely don’t know anything about the podcasts.

Making special offers to 3-event boat and mid-to-upper tier slalom ski buyers is advertising to a captive market who has proven their interest with their wallet. Those are also the people we need to spread the word about tournament skiing and definitely the podcasts: TWSPC, Spraymakers, DFC, and TWBC. Get them hooked softly B)

[Skoot1123]

@aupatking - you mentioned some coaching if someone bought a new ski. What better platform than to provide a free @Givego session to the purchaser?

In addition USAWS (or whatever is is called now) can buy stickers from the different media platforms (supporting those that support the sport) and work with manufacturer’s to include that swag in the purchase of ANYTHING skiing related. It would at least get people thinking and seeing what is out there related to waterskiing and USAWS.

[Milford]

I agree that a member has to want to become a member and has to have a benefit to make the $85 purchase each year. For me, it is all about tournament waterskiing. Without that, it doesn't make much sense to join. I think that if AWSA could create one or two more value points to retain current members and possibly attract new members, that should the goal. Example - if I get injured and have to take the year off of tournament waterskiing, why would I sign up? I like the idea of creating a discount for each year of renewal up to a maximum discount say at 5 years, which would create a little more loyalty for those in the sport.

 

Other ideas that come to mind revolve around webcasts. There were several webcasts this year that were really well done and held my interest for the entire day. TWBC seems to have cracked the code with how to do them well, which has tremendous value to those interested in our sport. At some point, could AWSA sponsor such webcasts and require a membership number to log in and view? This would incent me to retain my membership if I were injured and had to take the year off. Webcasts are also the future of our sport and the only way to get to the masses, so why not invest, sponsor and drive people to join AWSA to access? Would more people join AWSA to watch the pros, nationals, etc? Someone would need to dive into this and see if the numbers work, but this reinforces the idea that AWSA needs to have more value than just being able to ski in tournaments.

 

I also like the lifetime member idea, but that could be dangerous if those running AWSA don't manage the funds appropriately. If half the membership chose to opt for the lifetime option, an endowment fund would need to be created to help fund AWSA into the future. If invested properly, this could provide a nice boost to current revenues and secure a nice future.

 

Just a few thoughts from someone who has no idea how to run an association for a bunch of water-skiers.

 

[ToddL]

Well, maybe some of that extra $55,000.00 of revenue from moving the website to the new host could pay for stickers and a card with a link to the site for all ski and inboard boat purchases...

 

From JeffS on the website thread: "A decision was made about 3 years ago to go this route, we could either pay to rebuild a new site or take advantage of being part of the USOC and not only get a free website but get paid $55k a year for using their platform. "

 

Heck $55k/yr pays for over 640 individual competitive memberships. Seems like it would cover a 1st year free program. I doubt we have gotten over 600 new members each year, possibly never.

[BraceMaker]

@aupatking problem with the membership w/ ski formula is that if I want to get someone new into skiing it’s.

 

Use my combos

Use my wide slalom

Use my spare skis

Buy your own used ski

Take some lessons

Get a membership

Enter a tournament

Improve

Lessons

Tournaments

Repeat till you want a new ski

 

[TDL]

An auto renewal option would be nice or at least an email notification that your membership is about to expire.

 

Also, make the emails fun to open with links to waterskiing content or inside scoop about past/future events. The discount program makes the usawaterski emails feel like junk mail.

[skidawg]

There is zero incentive to join USAski unless you ski tournaments! If they want to increase membership they have to have a product worth purchasing....only reason to join is because you have to in order to ski sanctioned tournaments.

[slow]

Opening this thread with how do we get people to pay our annual fee versus all the benefits you are missing out on by not being a member does nothing to make me want to join.

[aupatking]

@slow just like @skidawg says, no reason to join unless you ski tournaments. That, in itself, should not be seen as the problem. The solution is to get more new people to ski tournaments. If that’s the only reason we’re members, that’s the only way you’re going to get new members

[aupatking]

@BraceMaker you have a point but that’s just another avenue. We’re not reaching those guys until they want to be reached. I’m just saying that if you give an incentive to join to those buying, while they are buying, you have a captive market with obvious interest in skiing. Right now, we’re missing the easiest target

[unksskis]

How many years of membership do I get with my new jump skis purchase?

[ALPJr]

There is something to be said for having the inner desire to learn and become involved. I first joined in my sophomore year of high-school in ‘75/76, because I thought skiing was so cool and I found info about the AWSA and The Waterskier in our library’s card catalog. The magazine is basically what I got from it, and to me that was a lot and very worth it. It brought the sport to me, inspired me to find others who were really into skiing, get a better ski, a better rope and handle, upgrade the 50hp, to a 70 and then a 115. It was 13 years later that I entered my first tournament and I still like The Waterskier mag.

[loeweb]

Like others have said, what are the benefits to the masses of skiers out there that have not, and probably will never ski in a tournament?

There should be more to promoting the sport than pass the handle one day a year. unless you have access to a course, the timing and effort that goes into skiing is what you make it. The problem I see as a non tournament skier is there is too much of a gap between the tournament skier and the rum dumb like myself. There has to be a way to get more people interested in slalom skiing. I think things like the Off Course and Virtual Slalom Skiing are a great start, but those things need to get more traction and gain a following through virtual tournaments and meet ups to "show off." The chances of anyone who absolutely loves slalom skiing, but has yet to ski the course joining an organization that has no benefit but skiing in tournaments is slim to none.

[The_MS]

An actual team of lawyers that can help gain access for slalom course permits on public water would go a long way. People may join just to get help from a team of people that know the ropes.

[aupatking]

Along the lines that @The_MS has brought up, for help getting and maintaining access to places to ski, I’d like for AWSA/USAWSWS to have a dedicated person/team to help establish ski clubs. I incorporated a not-for-profit club so we can get more people skiing the course, but not have to shoulder a ton of personal liability. I love getting new people to ski but, let’s be honest, it’s a dangerous sport and that puts me in financial danger. I reached out to USAWSWS but never got anywhere. I’m not trying to make money, I’m trying to spread the love of slalom (and I sometimes tow a tricker).