Which do you want first: the good news, the better news, or the bad news about e-mail newsletters?
Okay, the good news. An e-mail newsletter will save you a lot of money. No paper, no printing costs, no folding and stuffing, no postage, no competition in the mailbox with vendors who are sending mailers far more compelling than yours.
If that isn’t enough inducement to drop the familiar printed-and-mailed newsletter, here’s even better news: e-mail gets read. Most postal mail gets discarded before being read, including the church newsletter. Even though people are furious about spam, they do comb their e-mail for personal items. A well-designed e-mail newsletter can fit into that must-open niche.
Moreover, people check their e-mail at work, take the time to read what interests them, and click to the Internet to follow interesting links.
What, then, is the bad news about this? You need to do it right. You can’t just put a Word document into PDF format and attach it to an e-mail. You can’t just paste long wordy files into an e-mail. You can’t send out a digital version of the old “bulletin board” — service schedules, upcoming events, pastor’s letter.
You have to play by Web rules. That means:
· Keep it short. One browser window, no scrolling required. If the pastor insists on writing a 600-word essay, post it on the Web site, and place a link to it in the e-mail newsletter. (Then track how many actually click to the pastor’s letter!)
· Keep it pertinent. Not the same old content week after week. Lead with the week’s most interesting item, which probably isn’t the fact that the 11a.m. service will be held at 11 a.m. again this week. Show that you understand your readers and their needs.
· Keep it visually appealing. People scan photos before they read text. Good photos, preferably of people, not buildings. Change the look and feel regularly.
· Encourage clicking. Remember: the Internet is a clicking environment. Show links on the newsletter; let people decide what to read. Draw people to your Web site, where they will find other content you want them to see.
· Sell directly. The old format — “If you’re interested, call Josie” — doesn’t work. Give an e-mail link, or better yet, let the reader click to the Web site, and take their registration and payment, if any, there.
· Customer evangelism. Encourage readers to forward the newsletter to their friends. Capture those e-mail addresses.
Hardest of all is that you must have something to say. You can’t just announce another week or month of the same-old. But then you shouldn’t be announcing that, anyway. People expect more from their churches.
Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant, and leader of workshops. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. The church wellness project may be found at www.churchwellness.com
