For us, we still use email marketing, and will continue to do so, but we have gone from multiple “articles” and “announcements” in a single email newsletter to single event (and therefore single message) emails.
We know that people glance at what is on their screen when they click on an email, skim quickly and move on. Many only look at the subject line. Long emails lose attention quickly, with the stuff at the bottom being ignored completely since it is usually off the preview screen.
Single event/message emails seem to overcome some of these factors. The subject can be specific to the event/message, and the reader can know whether or not they want to read it simply from the subject. This would not be true of "newsletters". The danger, of course, is that you could overwhelm your subscribers with too many emails when you go with this approach.
The article below prompted my thoughts on this. What do you do? Do you still use email? Or have you moved to RSS, Twitter, Facebook, etc.?
Jason
At least I like to pretend that they are. The fact of the matter is that I hate email newsletters with a burning passion. People mostly ignore them, they’re a pain in the butt to design and I think it’s just a dumb way to get information to your audience these days.
I realize that this is a strong opinion to hold, and one that not everyone agrees with. Lots of thriving ministries place a big emphasis on email newsletters, and Cleve even threw together a great list of bulk email services that he’s had success with.
With that said, I’m trying to move our church further away from email newsletters with every project I take on. Here’s why:
RSS is More Effective
News feeds are finally gaining mainstream popularity due to the abundance of personalized start pages and feed readers that are built into just about everything these days. RSS feeds push information out immediately, can be integrated into countless programs/devices and require no extra effort on our end.
Facebook is the New Start Page
It seems like almost everyone I know starts and ends their time online by checking their Facebook page along with their email. Since our Facebook page automatically pulls in our RSS feed, fans immediately receive the latest news without having to take additional steps to subscribe.
Feedburner Has Email Subscriptions Built-in
If visitors really want to get our news in email form, Feedburner makes it super-easy to get our news updates in your inbox. Check out our subscription page if you like.
Newsletters Aren’t Effective Any More
Do you regularly read the email newsletters that end up in your inbox? I know I don’t. Even if I sign myself up intentionally, I’ll skim the first message I receive (maybe) and will then ignore all of the rest. They even begin to annoy me over time, requiring me to unsubscribe or just block the message as spam. Just like ads online, my eyes are in the habit of ignoring the newsletters in my inbox.
Am I saying that email communication all together is a bad idea? Not at all. I understand the importance of occasional email blasts for special events and promotions. I just feel that the weekly newsletter format is an outdated way to push out your information online.
So there… I’ve layed out my opinion on the matter. I would love to hear your side of the story; do you have a rockin’ email ministry that’s extremely sucessful? Are newsletters still necessary in today’s online world?
[Image © Pepo]
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