The CEO of a national association said to me, “our association doesn’t have any competitors for our sponsorship program; our association is the best resource for companies that want to reach our members.”

I replied, “I beg to differ; our research shows there are competitors to your association.”

In fact, there were competitors to several of the association’s core programs:

✅ Sponsors have many choices to obtain visibility and positioning as thought leaders. (I had identified 60 options companies had to reach the association’s members.)
✅ Members have many choices to obtain education, networking, and solutions. (An association member told me how much value she gets from Slack Groups.)
✅ Exhibitors have many choices to show their wares. (A company’s website can provide more information 24/7/365 than exhibiting at a 3-day expo.)
✅ Advertisers have many choices to share their marketing messages. (A company told me they get more leads from $5,000 of Google ads than a $50,000 association sponsorship.)