Thread by @EURACTIV

🔴 LIVE NOW | SURVEY LAUNCH: What way forward for European trade associations?

Join the online conversation using #easurvey.

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@EURACTIV is excited to give you a snapshot of the state of the European trade associations sector at a turning moment, sharing best practices & actionable recommendations. Our hybrid Survey Launch event is now live! Find the full report at the end of the event!
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“Today we would like to leave you with impressions, not just facts and figures,“ says @GoksenC, EU Advocacy & B2B Director at @EURACTIV, kicking off the debate.

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Before we go ahead with today’s debate, here are some insights on the methodology of the online survey, conducted from July 15th to September 3rd 2021, for a total of 7 weeks:
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Representatives from 117 associations took part in the survey, which ended up garnering a total of 165 responses. We included both quantitative & qualitative questions.

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The average association respondent has almost 8 full-time employees and spends most of their time on Twitter and LinkedIn, with a media engagement strategy focusing on EU specialised media.

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What does membership look like across associations? Here's what @EURACTIV found:

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"Is diversification important? What are the pros and cons of having more than one group of membership?" asks Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. #easurvey

“I personally see more pros than cons. You have a direct contact with the local level, which is essential in policy affairs. The Parliament is also more prone to listen to their nationals than to an association.” says @roxanefeller of @animalhealthEU.

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“If there is a con, it’s maybe that you have slightly differing interests.” She adds that representing different members may seem slower, but: “Alone you go fast, while together you go far.”

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"You have a different membership model, consisting of national councils and international NGOs. What is your experience as an exception?" asks Andrianos Giannou. #easurvey

“We want to make the voice of the youth vocal. We’re trying to touch and reach youth that are not normally reached & gather their thoughts in some way, bring it up to EU level & speak to the institutions.” says @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum.
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It's not just the number of members that matters:

How to engage with high-level policy makers is the top benchmark for associations in a changed post-pandemic landscape, as is the number of meetings, states @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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"Which KPIs does your organisation focus on more - qualitative or quantitative? What are the most important elements for you on the quantitative side? How do you manage to measure qualitative benchmarking?" asks @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. #easurvey

“We’re trying to measure the success of our organisation, on the quantitative side, because inevitably, you have to come up with some figures to show your membership what you’re doing,” says @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU.

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On the qualitative side, @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU mentions the impact of legislation. Also important: how often members respond to your emails and events, and whether they reach out proactively.

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“We focus less on legislation & more on EU policy. We use both qualitative & quantitative indicators to measure our success. However, it’s difficult to connect the performance with the impact.” highlights @MichaelFreytag of @WECglobal. #easurvey

Associations base most of their revenue on membership fees. During the pandemic, those fees have decreased for nearly two thirds of associations surveyed, highlights Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“Can you provide us with an example of the strategies or tactics your association has used that have helped it grow?” asks Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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"What's most important is to allocate the resources necessary in order to be present and play a role in the discussion, while the revenue goes down. Thus, get stronger commitment of our members towards our associations" highlights Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech.

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“The success in our policy field is in the diversification factor, it is a very powerful mix to have.” points out @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE.
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Difficulties in business continuity and sustained budgetary uncertainty remain top concerns in the post-#pandemic world, highlights @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. Shortage of qualified staff and limited media visibility complete the list of sore points.

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"Has benchmarking shifted towards different KPIs due to COVID-19? How did you get beyond those challenges?" asks @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“It’s true that during the first few months, we were only talking about COVID-19. But the members could continue doing business as usual, there was no divergence of interest between our members. We did not have many challenges.” says @roxanefeller of @animalhealthEU.

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How did small associations’ budgets fare during the pandemic, and how do big associations compare? Take a look at our survey results. 👇

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We would like to pick your brains on what comes next. Do you anticipate an acceleration of diversification, in addition to the classic membership, such as trade fairs or research reports?” asks Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“In the future, diversification is critical, one of the things the pandemic has taught us is we need to become more resilient to take shocks. For sure, we are now pursuing much more actively a representation of the people.” says @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum. #easurvey

"We believe that sticking to revenue from membership values, for which we deliver back value, is better moving forward. The #COVID crisis isn’t going to change our opinion on that," says @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE.

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"We found that being agile and quick, to immediately move online, was a huge bonus. We managed to do that because we were small," adds @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE. "However, in a bigger structure that may have been very challenging and difficult."

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"On the onset of this COVID crisis, we had more high-level discussions with policy-makers. On the other hand, if we can’t be in a room with people, it’s harder to have discussions, to engage people, that’s the challenge." Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech adds. #easurvey

“How is the situation in the US associations market?” asks Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“The inability to engage with policy-makers was also an opportunity to get greater access, as meetings could take place more flexibly - especially transatlantically,” says @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU. #easurvey

“Because of the economic crisis that was upon us, it actually brought members together. It was easier to find unity, for example on economic recovery. However, you needed to train up quickly," adds @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU.

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A perfect introduction to the next part of our discussion: human resources. The majority of respondents plan to give their staff members the option of working from home one or two days a week - even after current teleworking measures are removed, states @Malerina_. #easurvey

Still, 11% of survey respondents think of teleworking as a temporary measure.

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A surprise result from the @EURACTIV survey: only a third of the associations have provided their staff with digital communication training. Are staff members now prepared enough for the growing online interactions?

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“It’s important to underline that at a global level, online tools are becoming increasingly important. We did a series of highly attended seminars & webinars to support our members. There’s a shift to the post-pandemic world.” says @MichaelFreytag of @WECglobal. #easurvey

"How does the future of work look like?" asks @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. #easurvey

“We looked into what the furthest way to push new opportunities was. My team can now work 3 months from abroad. That is going to increase their life quality, which I am very happy about. I can only see positive outcomes from that.” says @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum. #easurvey

“Despite the fact that we can work in this new environment very easily, there is a huge appetite among our members to come back to Brussels and reunite in person," highlights Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech.

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"We all have a need of human contact. We will have in person meetings regularly - that is important. I hope we’ll get the best of two worlds," he adds.

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"In our organisation, teleworking is now an option for the staff. I do have a sour taste from the teleworking experience, mostly the fact that work gets more intense in our sector. I think a number of people’s health suffered." says @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE. #easurvey

On to communication strategy, budget & planning. Associations decide their communications strategy mostly internally. Despite shifting conditions, they plan activities well ahead. Associations with a communications budget below €25,000 are an exception to this rule.

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“Who decides what the comms strategy should be in your organisation & was that different before the pandemic? Will you go back to how it was before?" asks Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. #easurvey

“It depends what you mean by strategy. You’ve got big thematics and long term planning, but then of course your quick reaction for immediate media actions on a weekly basis as well,” says @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum. “We are a mini democracy."

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“We operate by work plans, established by the secretary, discussed with our board & then voted by the members. It’s a democratic process. We don’t plan to change that in the future, it’s important to involve the members in our plans.” adds @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE. #easurvey

With this being said, we switch to internal communications. Our survey results show that webinars & internal newsletters are the main platforms of communication with members, points out @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV. #easurvey

When it comes to media engagement, two thirds of the associations focus their strategy primarily on EU specialised media, followed by trade/sectorial media. A third of them organise more than the average of 5 events per year, survey results show.

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“Do these results reflect the reality in your organisations too - how do your organisations work? Do you find that you communicate most effectively with your members with webinars?” asks @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“We tend to focus on the media who have an international reach, considering the EU-US relationship aspect. We focus more on internal communications, communicating with our members; through newsletters, webinars, videos, personal emails.” says @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU. #easurvey

Shifting the discussion to social media. Social media are seen as one of the most successful digital tools for advocacy in the EU policy sphere by our respondents, after virtual conferences and webinars.

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Twitter and LinkedIn stand out as the most impactful platforms, but newer channels like Clubhouse and TikTok have also entered the advocacy arena, adds Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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“Which platforms do you personally use? Are you looking into new platforms for advocacy? If yes, which ones?” Andrianos Giannou, Senior Public Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV asks.

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“At work, we’re mostly using Twitter & LinkedIn. We’re looking towards using Instagram for softer topics like for campaigns on pets, for example.” remarks @roxanefeller of @animalhealthEU. #easurvey

“I’m interested to see what virtual reality is going to bring, but that’s probably twenty years away,” adds @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum.

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"We are choosing social media channels like Twitter, which is used by everyone, and great to convey your message. LinkedIn we use as well. We will focus in the coming year on conferences more," says Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech.

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“We also use LinkedIn & Twitter, we haven’t found Facebook particularly interesting. I’m still interested to see this younger generation coming through.” adds @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU. #easurvey

More than two thirds of trade associations use a policy tracking tool, points out @Malerina_ , EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV , asking what people are looking for in a policy tracking tool. #easurvey

"We use DODS & POLITICO, the information is different, one is more static & the other is gossip-oriented. If I could, I’d like to have three, that would be ideal for me." highlights @roxanefeller of @animalhealthEU. #easurvey

"We don’t use paid policy tools, for two reasons, the first being the budget. The second is we don’t necessarily see any added value,” says @MichaelFreytag of @WECglobal. #easurvey

Moving on to events, Andrianos Giannou asks: is hybrid the new black?

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Most #easurvey respondents foresee a shift toward a hybrid model for their events, while 60% are optimistic about having fully in-person events in the near future.

Good networking opportunities and a good moderator make all the difference for events.

"We have been virtual all the way through until the summer, we’ve been hybrid since September. I think people are missing the networking, there is some fatigue over online events. We’re lacking the relationships between people." stresses @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU. #easurvey

"I think hybrid events are discriminatory for the people that are not in the room." adds @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE. #easurvey

As we round up this discussion, “which trends do you see persisting for the associations market? What do you think is the way forward?” asks @Malerina_, EU Affairs Manager at @EURACTIV.

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"Internally, the biggest challenge that @Youth_Forum had was the impact on well-being, which was devastating. We need to reconceptualise well-being at work. From our side, we are trying to address this internal trend." says @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum. (1) #easurvey

"Externally, with the importance of the European associations growing, what we need to manage carefully is digital connectivity. There are many opportunities coming at us." @JoeElborn of @Youth_Forum adds. (2) #easurvey

"The nature of the office is changing: you come to the office to interact, communicate and exchange - not just to sit in your own silo. In that sense, the nature of work has changed drastically." says @MichaelFreytag of @WECglobal. #easurvey

"We’ve learned how to work online remotely and internally. After this year and a half there is such a strong appetite for in person meetings, that we need to learn how to deal with the new tools in a way fatigue doesn’t build," says Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech.

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"This #COVID crisis has shown how important public authorities are, the role of the European Union has never been bigger. We’ve rediscovered how important it is to keep in close contact with authorities, more than ever. In that way, public affairs will play a key role," he adds.

"Suddenly, we were all on the same boat fighting to survive. I think that will stay and associations will join forces for the sake of the whole sector. We need each other, we’re interdependent and we need to work together," Emmanuel Mounier of @eutraveltech adds.

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"For us, everybody's free to come to the office or stay home; everybody comes in once a week to socialise. I think trade associations are here to stay." @roxanefeller of @animalhealthEU says. #easurvey

"Moving forward, we’ll see much more coalition building, I see that as a very positive trend. It’s only by bringing society with us that we’ll succeed. It is foreseen that the European Associations will look more to the national level." says @adrian_joyce of @_EuroACE. #easurvey

"Everything we do is about communications, that’s a big trend to recognize. Associations need to think carefully about different revenue streams," says @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU.

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"Networking is also absolutely crucial, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out: how to balance the positives of the virtual and the positives of the personal," adds @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU.

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The infrastructure has changed, and continues to change on a daily basis, which brings me to staff: communication and trainings are essential. It’s not a given that everyone will work well together in an international environment," @AmChamEU_SDA of @AmChamEU highlights.
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And that’s a wrap! Thank you for joining our #easurvey launch event today. Download our free full report with key findings on the state of the European trade associations sector now: eurac.tv/9Uh6

Share your thoughts on the event using #easurvey.