Communications Strategy Redevelopment and Rollout
We started work with The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum at the beginning of 2024. We began with data mining and a strategic review, looking at introducing new strategies for marketing and acquisition, along with retention and re-acquisition. Opportunities for growth were also identified. Strategic implementation began in April 2024, re-acquisition (win back) began in June 2024, and every touchpoint for members was reviewed in the context of retention, in order to improve the retention rate.
Membership was trending downwards, and predictive analysis suggested that 2024 would close with around 32,500 to 33,000 members by the end of the year. In reality our input drove an immediate trend reversal in under three months, achieving rapid growth. The financial year closed with 38,223 members and has since exceeded 40,000 members (ongoing year-two results). This is an actual increase of 5,258 members and is 2,900 more members than the organisation has ever had in its long history.
We drove £606,780 revenue growth in the first 12 months, for a scheme with 35,000 members. Year two performance is ongoing, tracking at an extra £1million in revenue, currently.
“From the outset, [apt] provided quality resource, strategic insight, and marketing expertise, working seamlessly alongside our internal team. Their flexibility and ability to adapt to our evolving needs made them an invaluable extension of our organisation”
Emma Griffiths, CEO, Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum.
Key Results
- New acquisition strategy responsible for 10,932 new members.
- Reacquisition strategy (to lapsed member database) is ongoing, but so far has driven 1,061 members (and counting) worth £47,745. There is a lag in rejoining of up to five months, so more recent batches are still gaining returning members. That’s a 433% ROI so far, with an expectation that the campaign will deliver 1,500 members total with 513% ROI.
- Improved retention rate from 66% to 78% for the year has also had an impact.
