Assessing The State Of Association Media With A Veteran Of The Space, Robb Lee

Feb 25, 2025

Many of our Fox Tales readers work for associations, typically in the media and events departments. They live and breathe association media every day. They know of the unique and remarkable role they play for their members and the larger market. They also know that very often, their magazine is their number-one member benefit.

Association-media professionals feel a special responsibility to deliver value—strong content and industry-leading events. And they know the delicate balance between content on the one hand and membership, donor relations, and fulfilling board-of-director goals, on the other.

One person who’s as immersed as anyone in association media is our old friend Robb Lee, currently senior vice president for integrated strategy at the association-services agency Yes&. Prior to that, he spent nearly 20 years at ASAE—the American Society of Association Executives.

Robb has an interesting perspective on the association-media space, having served on the supplier and association sides of the business. He’s also accessible and frank. We caught up with Robb earlier this month for a brief but illuminating conversation.

Fox Tales: Characterize the state of association media, circa 2025.

Robb Lee.

Robb Lee: Complicated.

There is a continual effort to discover and deploy the channels and assets that serve members and advertisers in a manner valuable to them. There are endless options, and determining which channels or platforms to support is difficult for many organizations. That said, there are tremendous opportunities to test and expand.

Fox Tales: How are things looking with association advertising, specifically?

Lee: Digital, digital, digital.

Targeting of digital media for niche associations remains a top priority in terms of channels. Important options to consider include:

Paid Search on Google and Bing to capture search intent. Associations solely focused on Google Ads are missing an important piece of the search market on Bing and should strongly consider mirroring Google Ads to Bing.
LinkedIn offers unmatched professional targeting that allows associations to amplify their content beyond their members and followers. It’s a tool to expand their membership base and increase subsequent ad revenue too.
LinkedIn OTT offers the advantage of using professional targeting for in-feed advertising. Associations can also reach audiences on OTT/CTV, which provides a high-impact brand-awareness opportunity for associations to be efficiently targeted and reach users on premium streaming content.

Fox Tales: What new channels are proving most effective for association media?

Lee: Some associations could take more advantage of their first-party data:

CRM/Member data: Members, prospects, conference attendees, and other audience segments can be used to target users through digital advertising beyond their inbox. This is also efficient for associations because it only reaches a finite audience, vs. a prospecting audience through third-party or interest-based targeting. This can be particularly helpful in reaching dormant members or members who are less engaged with email marketing campaigns.
Retargeting: It’s also helpful to make sure that websites are tagged with partner and retargeting pixels for remarketing campaigns, and segmenting audiences based on the content they are consuming.

Fox Tales: Where does media fit in the association revenue mix?

Lee: It really depends on the market/industry the association operates in. But generally speaking, the revenue from publishing is driven through websites and other digital media. I think there are continuing opportunities to maximize specific assets through some of thoughts shared above.

Fox Tales: Tell us about Yes&.

Lee: Yes& is a full-service communications company. We provide every marcom discipline from brand strategy and marketing campaigns to website design/development, design and creative media planning, social media, public relations, event marketing/management/production, crisis communications and organizational development too.

We serve clients across a number of sectors including associations, nonprofits, higher education, for profit and government sectors.

Fox Tales: How do companies like Fox Associates aid the association media ecosystem?

Lee: The association-media landscape is fragmented from the standpoint of an association’s media needs. Opportunities can vary widely based on the size of the organization and the industry that it serves. Fox Associates provides an invaluable service helping associations navigate their unique opportunities through leveraging their experience across the industry.