For almost as long as the church newsletter has existed, either as a monthly publication or a weekly email blast, pastors have complained that people miss information in it. Bulletin announcements seldom seem to fair much better, so much so that pastors lamenting “It was in the bulletin!” has become its own running joke. It’s frustrating, I know, but it’s not your congregants’ fault.
What if decades of this complaint, of evidence that the church newsletter is not being read or functioning as an effective means of communication actually means that… the newsletter is not an effective means of communication?
Let’s be honest: The church newsletter is little more than a time-honored waste of everyone’s time.
Most of us consume no other information in the form that a church newsletter takes, and yet we assume others should digest and memorize that monster. Why? Who told churches to put everything into one email for the whole week? You know what you’re doing there? You’re betting everything on that one email, just praying that folks are waiting to pour over your weekly missive.
Ask yourself why no one else is telling their story the way churches do in that once a week newsletter email. Marketers know it doesn’t get the results that other forms of communication do.
Think for a moment about how other companies and organizations use email. I probably get 10-15 emails a week from certain major retailers. Those emails are short, to the point, and highlight one item or event.
And I can easily read those emails on my phone. They are styled rather simply relying on plain text and not crowded with image cards.
And those emails from major brands USE THE SUBJECT LINE to communicate. I might delete those emails unread, but I didn’t have to open the email to read the sale announcement. It was right in the subject line!
If I could get you to change one thing about your church email newsletter, let it be dropping things like “1st Presbyterian Weekly” as your subject line and replacing it with one call to action.
Getting Results Through More Direct, Targeted Communications
Emails are free, and they go directly to the people who are most interested in what you have to say. They can be an incredibly effective tool if used well.
Stop worrying about bothering your folks with your news and events. Stop worrying about nudging them into thinking about church, into thinking about their faith, more than once a week. You’ve got a lot going on and that’s awesome! Separate those items and scatter them as short communications throughout the week. Duplicate important items even!
Consider the way you ask a friend for a favor or invite her to an event. You send a quick email or text like, “Hey, can you pick me up at 7am on Thursday and take me to the airport?” It’s direct and to the point. You don’t bury your plea for a favor in the middle of a multi-paragraph, multi-section email. You want your friend to see your request and to respond. It’s a straight yes or no question, and you can expect a “yes” unless there’s a good reason for a “no.”
If you want volunteers for projects and participants for events at your church, you’ve got to adopt a more direct strategy.
I’d like to help you with that. If you are ready to adopt strategies that get results rather than waste your time, let’s chat.