Case Study: ArcStone’s sister company making major changes.

Annie Ketcham | January 2018

You may know ArcStone as a digital agency, but did you know we have a sister company, AMO? AMO (Association Management Online) is a software product that helps associations and membership organizations manage their events, database, email communications and more. In 2017 AMO made huge improvements; from product to development, to a new website and mobile app. Take a look at our case study to see what we’ve done and perhaps what you could learn from this year of growth! If AMO sounds like a helpful tool for someone you know, send them our way.

 

The main goal of AMO in 2017 was to simplify the life of association managers all while creating great member experiences. 

Fresh website redesign & user experience assessment

AMO wanted a site that was easier to use and contained more resources for both customers and curious prospects. Using a web design tool called Divi and WordPress, AMO’s new site is more modernized and user-friendly.

With this clean slate, our designers and strategists were able to clear up unnecessary content and add in more useful information. This included new user paths and quicker access to CTA’s like “schedule a demo” and “set up a free trial” so new users could learn more. We also added a quick video tour to give additional insights into the product. 

amo-website-redesignAMO’s new homepage

 

New content strategy

We also added a blog, The Association Insider, to help keep customers informed and contribute to the knowledge base of the association world at large. Now, product specialist, Annie leads the blogs efforts, sharing ideas on association leadership strategies, marketing, revenue management, event planning and AMO’s tools that help with each.

If you get how valuable a blog is but need some helping launching it, check out, “How to manage a clear cut content strategy.”

 

Cleaned up interface

Given that AMO is a software product, one of the most important improvements for us was to improve the user experience of the application itself. This started with a major clean up of the administrative interface – the first place AMO customers see when they login.

The first thing users now see is a clean and informative dashboard. It includes analytics regarding association members broken down by membership types, as well as upcoming events. From there, the module workflows were improved so that new users can acclimate to the system more quickly. Stylistically, it also now matches the website. 

associations-management-online-interface

AMO user interface

 

Customized plugins

Another crucial feature of AMO is that our team seeks to fit customer needs, even if they require customization. To keep things simple, we came up with a plug-in structure which allows our developers to create custom programs and workflows on the platform without affecting the rest of the system. 

 

 

 

AMO custom application setup

 

Mobile application

Several of our associations are often on the go. To meet their needs, we’ve been developing mobile applications. One the first allowed for an association to set up a check-in system for their members at meetings. With a QR code, members could scan into events and the association could ensure only paying members were allowed in. 

AMO mobile app


Partnering up with CardConnect

AMO prioritized flexibility with payment types from the get-go, but even if we support six different options (Stipe, Authorize.net, PayPal, etc.) we saw there was still an inconvenience to customers. They had to deal with high processing fees. To mitigate this and find a more secure option, we formed a relationship with CardConnect — an option we vetted and analyzed for several months. Now, customers save a whole percentage of the processing fees. They can also process refunds in just one click and trust that their payments are highly secure. 

Talk to a Digital Strategist

Questions about your project? We can help.