Email has been widely available for more than 25 years. A lot has changed in that time!
Spammers have given email marketing and email communication a bad rap. And with the more recent rise of other forms of communication like social media, texting and mobile apps, some people have wondered…
Is email dead?
Nothing could be further from the truth! Email is still alive and well.
If you are struggling to reach people, some of your people aren’t very involved, or you’re not growing as you’d like, email done right can help with those problems.
We have created a new course, Email Communication that Works!
Check out the first lesson: 5 Reasons Email Is Still Incredibly Valuable
If you prefer to read, here are the highlights…
1) Nobody checks websites regularly.
It’s really important to keep your website up to date with news and information, but it’s rare for someone to visit a website unless they’re already aware of something and want more info. You have to notify people (and usually multiple times) to keep them informed.
2) 90% of American adults use email.
According to a 2022 report by market.us, the vast majority of people use email. This compares to 70% of adults who use Facebook (reported by Pew Research) and 40% who use Instagram (also reported by Pew Research) And it goes down from there with other platforms and means of communication.
3) Email open rates are still good.
Open rates for emails sent by faith-based organizations are around 45% (as reported by Constant Contact). This compares to 9% of followers see an Instagram posts and 4% of followers see a Facebook post (via SocialInsider). Social media sites continue to show fewer posts from your friends and the organizations you follow, and more ads and short videos.
4) You own your email list.
With social media sites, you don’t own your list of contacts/followers. If FB, Insta, Twitter, were to shut down, ban you, or limit your communication, you would lose all your contacts.
5) Your people want your emails.
If you’re a church, your people want to know what’s going on. If you’re a ministry, your supporters want to know what you’re doing and how they can help. If you’re a business, your customers want to know about new products, special offers, and professional insight.
Bonus: If you’re a church leader and your main form of communication is the Sunday bulletin, keep in mind that on any given Sunday half your people are not there. And of those who are there, half don’t read the bulletin and the other half forget what was in it the minute they step out the door. Your people need to be reminded via email of what’s going on.)
Email is still a powerful tool to make connections, build engagement, and grow your ministry or business. -Paul Steinbrueck
But it’s also possible to do email badly in ways that frustrate and annoy people to where they don’t open your emails or unsubscribe. So, in future videos in this course we’ll be sharing best practices, mistakes to avoid, instructions for setting up your email systems and more. Stay tuned!
- Why Branded @YourDomain Email Matters
- How to Send and Receive Branded Email with Gmail
- 5 Steps to Create Your Email Plan
- How to Add a MailChimp Subscribe Form to Your Website
- The Fastest, Easiest Way to Create an Email Template in MailChimp
- 5 Secrets to Get More Email Opens & Clicks
- MailChimp to Replace WP-EZ Newsletter Feature
- New Email Communication that Works online course
Click and share your perspective on email, online giving and AI in this month’s Listening Post survey.
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Comment & Discuss
- Is your organization using email to communicate with members, supporters and clients? If so, how?
