How the Society for Neuroscience Built a Stronger Global Community
Category
Marketing
Industry
STEM
How SfN combined search, display, and social advertising to more than double the industry benchmark click-through rate and drive 68K visitors to its membership page.
Overview
Ahead of its 2025 membership renewal cycle, the Society for Neuroscience needed to reignite engagement, attract new members, and simplify a referral-heavy join process. Here's how a coordinated search, display, and social campaign backed by real conversion data helped SfN exceed every benchmark it set.
Program impact
70% Of visitors interacted with multiple membership pages, showing strong interest and engagement
Process change
68K Total visitors driven to the Become a Member page through paid ads
Scalable growth
2X Click-through rate achieved, more than double the industry benchmark
Introduction
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a global leader in advancing the understanding of the brain and nervous system. With tens of thousands of members worldwide, SfN connects researchers, educators, and clinicians through education, networking, and advocacy building one of the most influential scientific communities in the world.
Challenges
SfN aimed to expand its global reach, increase membership signups, and strengthen its digital presence, all while gaining deeper insight into user behavior on an external membership portal that operated separately from the main website, making it harder to track conversions and understand the full user journey.
Referral-Based Membership Process
New members were required to be referred by existing members, which often created friction for first-time applicants unfamiliar with the community.
Early Drop-Offs in the Join Process
More than half of visitors left before completing the first membership step, pointing to confusion or friction in the experience.
Reaching Global Audiences
SfN needed to expand awareness beyond the United States, engaging researchers across diverse geographic regions while maintaining cost efficiency.
Fragmented Platform Performance
With audiences split across multiple ad channels, it was difficult to pinpoint what was actually driving the highest engagement and conversion.
Limited Urgency to Act
The value of membership wasn't immediately clear to prospects, leading to hesitation and incomplete sign-ups.
Inefficient Optimization Strategies
Ad creative and audience-targeting strategies lacked the sophistication needed to meaningfully improve performance over time.
Solution
RQ Platform's Marketing team combined search, display, and social campaigns with insights from user behavior on the membership portal to refine performance and guide ongoing improvements.
Integrated Multi-Platform Campaigns
A cohesive strategy across Meta, LinkedIn, Google, and StackAdapt ensured strong visibility across diverse audience segments, academics, medical professionals, and researchers.
Expanding Awareness With Display and Video
Awareness was expanded using the Google Display network across YouTube and science-related sites, introducing SfN membership to a wider audience and cost-effectively building visibility across neuroscience and related research communities.
Reaching Targeted Academic Audiences
Social advertising was tailored by platform: Meta focused on university affiliations, job titles, and international audiences, while LinkedIn targeted professionals in healthcare, higher education, and research sectors across key U.S. regions.
Enhanced Member Referral Path
A Member Directory integration was introduced within the membership flow, making it easier for prospective members to connect with existing SfN members for referrals.
Membership Journey Analysis
The team tracked exactly where users slowed down or dropped off in the process, using that insight to recommend simpler forms, clearer calls to action, and stronger reasons to join.
Implementation of Conversion Tracking
Tracking where users came from and how they moved through the membership process made it possible to identify top-performing ad platforms and continually optimize campaign performance.
Impactful Creative and Messaging
Refined headlines and visuals emphasized member benefits career advancement, research access, and global networking paired with testimonials to reinforce credibility and trust.
Results
Exceeded Engagement Benchmarks
The campaign achieved exceptional engagement across all digital channels. Overall interaction on membership pages surpassed 70%, with users viewing multiple pages per session and showing strong intent to join or renew.
Advertising Outperformed Industry Benchmarks
Paid campaigns across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn all exceeded benchmark performance, demonstrating that SfN's messaging and targeting resonated with key audiences:
Google Ads achieved a CTR above 5%, surpassing the 3%–5% industry benchmark and driving the highest-intent traffic.
Meta Ads delivered a 2% CTR at an exceptionally low cost per click (~$0.25), reaching more than 60% of total campaign users.
LinkedIn Ads reached professional audiences with a 1.5% CTR, outperforming its 1% benchmark and generating high-quality traffic from research and academic sectors.
Improved Conversion Pathways
Detailed user flow analysis revealed exactly where potential members paused or dropped off, leading to clear recommendations for simpler forms, clearer CTAs, and stronger motivation throughout the join process. Once users began the membership process, the majority completed checkout confirming an effective end-to-end experience.
Enhanced Referral Experience
The Member Directory integration gave new applicants an easier way to connect with existing members for referrals, removing a key friction point and supporting a smoother path to joining.
Optimized Multi-Channel Strategy
RQ Marketing's integrated approach combined search, display, and social ads with real-time performance tracking, using insight into where users came from and how they interacted with the membership portal to identify top-performing platforms and refine strategy on an ongoing basis.
Reporting and Analytics
Comprehensive tracking enabled robust reporting and actionable insight for strategic decision-making, with reliable tracking mechanisms in place to support ongoing adjustments and performance improvements.
"I'm highly impressed with the marketing team, their extensive knowledge and invaluable recommendations have significantly improved our campaigns." - Dori Gedris, Director of Marketing, Society for Neuroscience
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