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#12: In Conversation with Christina Lewellen, about Reimagining Your Magazine into the Association’s No. 1 Marketing Tool
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Today’s guest is Christina Lewellen, MBA, CAE, who has been the executive director of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) since 2019. Christina, who lives in Virginia, is a seasoned association executive who brings a data-driven framework to business planning and strategy. She received an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives.
ATLIS’ magazine, Access Points, won awards from AM&P Network and ASAE after Christina and her team reimagined the magazine. It went from what was, frankly, more of a stuffy academic journal, into a glossy, highly readable, redesigned magazine — but with an intention to use it as their association’s No. 1 marketing tool. The magazine is sent to both members and anyone else who wants it, as a vehicle to recruit new members to the young association.
In this episode, we talk about:
- How Christina and her team re-envisioned ATLIS’s print magazine, Access Points, to use it as their No. 1 marketing vehicle, starting in 2021.
- Why they now send the magazine for free to anyone: members, non-members, member prospects.
- How they worked with an outside partner to redesign and reimagine the magazine.
- How having a marketing goal and non-member readers affects the content.
- The magazine is an investment, not a money maker directly, but the return on investment is an increase in membership and participating in ATLIS events.
- As a small staff, how Christina considers what projects to outsource.
- What a strong relationship with an outside partner looks like.
- Advice for associations who might want to consider this approach with their publication.
- Why long-form and deep dives in magazines are still important — not everything can be short blurbs and soundbites, especially for our specialized audiences.
- Why flipbooks aren’t the answer for digital magazines.
- Access Point’s four “buckets,” which establish the content, align with the association’s existing overall four areas of content.
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