why no one reads your s (and what to do about it)

Transcription

1 why no one reads your s (and what to do about it)

2 You can write update s that connect and communicate. You can use this popular, but misunderstood technology to speak to your church in a meaningful way. It s Tuesday. That means it s time to send out your weekly to the entire church. You sit down at the computer, pulling up last week s . You ll change a few sections, add a few sentences, and hit send. If you happen to check the stats, you ll see that 20% of your entire database opened the and 2.7% of people actually clicked on a link. But it s more likely that you never look at the stats because they are too depressing. You (or your staff) take time to thoughtfully compose s to your congregation or groups of volunteers, but it comes across as a task rather than a meaningful form of communication. And what if those who receive the treat it like spam, never opening it or reading it? It doesn t have to be that way. You can write update s that connect and communicate. You can use this popular, but misunderstood technology to speak to your church in a meaningful way. In this resource, I m going to show you: How you re writing to the wrong people How to get people to take action How much information to give people How to write a good subject When you should send an How many s should you send Before we move on, there are two things that you must know. The larger the distribution list, the less likely the is to be read. Or said another way: the larger the list, the more carefully you must craft your . If you send a personal to a friend, it s highly likely that your friend will read the and respond. But the larger your list gets, the less likely it is that people will read, interact or respond. This resource will focus on bulk communication s send to the entire church or a large group of people within the church. Things like: Financial update to all of your donors Leadership lesson to all of your small group leaders Information update to your church Announcement to your database about a special event 2

3 Secondly, you must measure response rates. In order to know if your s are effective, you ve got to track them. The good news is that nearly every communication system provides this data. If you re just sending from Google or your address book.stop it! Sign up for a service like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact so you can better manage subscribers and track actions. There are at least two things you need to measure: What percentages of your s are opened? This isn t a highly scientific number, and it s not always accurate, but it s a good starting point. This is called your open rate. What percentages of your s contain a link that is clicked. This is called your click rate, and it s a great measuring tool of success. With those two principles serving as the foundation, here are the ten reasons people are not reading your s, with suggestions about what to do. REASON #1: IT S ABOUT YOU, NOT ABOUT THEM. The first reason people aren t connecting with your mass is that your communication is all about you and has little to do with them. that raise from their boss, or to see if they were the winning bidder on the replica Sorting Hat from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. People aren t interested in your church s because they are not thinking about your church during the week. You wish that wasn t true, and I wish that wasn t true, but that s reality. People are thinking about work, school, family, money and hobbies they will think about church on Sunday. So when they get their church update on Wednesday, they don t have time. But there s hope. You can do something about this. When you make the about them, they will pay attention. This may sound subtle, but it s really important. Stop telling people about your church, your ministries and your programs, and start talking about them. Don t tell people that the church is serving the community this Saturday; tell them that they have an opportunity to serve the community. Don t tell people that a parenting class is coming; let people know that there is hope for their wayward junior higher. When you re writing, give benefits, not features. Features are focused on your church while benefits are focused on the person. Let s face it: People are not waiting around for a weekly informational update from their church. They aren t checking their every ten minutes to see what new event you re announcing. They may do that when they are waiting on information about 3 So instead of saying, This year, we re going to have five inflatable games at VBS, say something like Your kids will have a blast in five giant inflatables. Instead of saying, The marriage retreat will help your marriage, say something like,

4 You will have a better relationship (and better sex). When you put the focus on the person, you immediately increase interest. REASON #2: YOU DON T UNDERSTAND THE PEOPLE IN YOUR CHURCH. Another reason you re not connecting with people in your writing is that you re writing like a pastor. Not only that, you re thinking like a pastor or church leader. Don t throw your hands in the air, because this is normal. Of course you write and think like a pastor! But with a few tweaks, you ll increase your effectiveness. One of the biggest rules in business is UNDER- STAND THE CUSTOMER. If you want to sell a widget to a farmer, you ve got to get in the mind of that farmer. You ve got to understand their hopes, dreams and fears. When you do that, you ll be in a better position to speak to their needs and wants. The same thing is true in the church world. You ve got to get inside the head of those sitting in your pews (or terrible folding chairs). You ve got to imagine their work schedules. You ve got to feel the fact that your volunteers are coming to that training meeting after a long day at the office. You ve got to get inside the head of the single mom who wants to be a better mom but also wants to have a life. What do people in your church fear? What are their hopes and dreams? What kind of language do they use? They aren t thinking like a church leader, so you ve got to speak to them on their level. They aren t thinking about your latest series on Tuesday afternoon, so when you enter their world with an , you ve got to come on their terms. Here s just one example. Most of the church communication is written to the traditional family a mom, dad and kids. Yet in reality, just 20% of the households in the United States are comprised of two married adults with children. Whether you mean to or not, when you write about family, you re not speaking to as many as 80% of your audience. REASON #3: YOU ARE WRITING TO INFORM WHEN YOU SHOULD BE WRITING TO CONVINCE. The third reason your mass s aren t connecting with your church is that you re writing to inform them, when you should be writing to convince them. People already have more information than they can process your is just adding to the amount of information they read. So if their bucket is already full, your goes unread. 4

5 Let s say you re ing a group of parents about summer camp for teenagers. Instead of informing them of the details and giving them all sorts of information, you should write to convince them to sign up their kids. They are debating between a host of summer activities, and they have limited dollars, so instead of dropping information on them, give them REASONS they should spend money on summer camp. Why would someone want to go away on a churchsponsored marriage retreat when they could plan their own weekend getaway just as easily? Why would a person alter their already busy schedule to fit in something new? In our experience, church update s that have five or six different sections are rarely read. Instead of communicating all the information that s out there, focus on one action-oriented thing. Convince people to take action, and once they have taken action, they will seek out all the information they need. Don t just give information in your s; give reasons. And give them in the form of benefits. REASON #4: YOU ARE NOT INCLUDING A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION Internet marketers understand this principle, but the church misses it. Before you start writing, you ve got to ask yourself one question: What do you want people to do? Whether it s your website or your , you MUST include a simple, clear call to action. Businesses understand this, which is the reason that they offer money back guarantees, offer discounts, or make a limited number of something available. They are trying to get people to take a quick action. I m not suggesting that you gimmick people into taking a step, but I am encouraging you to be clear. And chances are you are not as clear as you think you are. REASON #5: YOUR SUBJECT LINE IS TERRIBLE The fifth reason people aren t reading your is probably the most important. The subject line of your is the decision point for people. Nearly everybody reads the subject, and in that moment, they decide if they want to keep reading. Learning how to write a good subject is more difficult than you think. Write an engaging, inviting subject and more people will open the and begin reading. 5

6 Write a boring, lame subject, and it goes straight in the trash. It s the reason that newspapers (do those still exist?) spend a great deal of time on the headline. In fact, writing an subject is very similar to writing a headline. The following list is adapted from a series of posts from CopyBlogger. It will get you thinking about how to write a good subject: Who Else Wants [blank]? Who Else Wants a Great Marriage? Who Else Wants More Friends? Who Else Wants Less Stress with their Kids? The Secret of [blank] The Secret of Trusting God When Times are Tough The Secret of Protecting Your Assets in Litigation Little Known Ways to [blank] Little Known Ways to Get Your Kids to Talk Little Known Ways to Pray Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All Get Rid of Destructive Habits Once and For All Get Rid of That Lame Mullet Hairdo Once and For All Here s a Quick Way to [solve a problem] Here s a Quick Way to Serve Others Here s a Quick Way to Backup Your Hard Drive [Do something] like [world-class example] Love like Jesus Party Like Paris Hilton Have a [or] Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of Build a Friendship You Can Be Proud Of Have a Smile You Can Be Proud Of What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank] What Everybody Ought to Know About Forgiveness What Everybody Ought to Know About Adjustable Rate Mortgages Say it simply and directly. This Friday is the Deadline to Register for Camp New Small Groups Begin Next Week Appeal to the how-to instinct. How to stop smoking in 30 days or your money back. How to become a better small group leader Pose a provocative question. Do You Make These Six Common Mistakes On Your Taxes? Gotten a speeding ticket lately? Read this. How do I know which Bible Study is for me? 6

7 Bark a command. Become a famous blogger in 60 days. Call anyone, anywhere, without a phone line for FREE! Stop wasting money on Web design. Use Insta- Site to create your own Web site in minutes. Offer useful information. THE 20 MOST IMPORTANT STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO LIVE LONGER. FREE. The best kept secrets in America. Free brochure shows you how to end your money worries for good. Relay an honest, enthusiastic testimonial. Quite simply, the finest design software ever released. This diet program worked for me. It can work for you, too! It s the first book on personal finance that really made sense to me. If You Don t [blank] Now, You ll Hate Yourself Later. If You re Out of the Market Now, You ll Hate Yourself Later. If You re Not at SXSW 2007, You ll Hate Yourself Later. If You Don t Edit Your.htaccess Now, Google Will Hate You Later. Do You Recognize the [number] Early Warning Signs of [blank]? Do You Recognize the 7 Early Warning Signs of High Blood Pressure? Do You Recognize the 7 Early Warning Signs of an Employee Meltdown? Do You Recognize the 7 Early Warning Signs of Facebook Addiction? You Don t Have to Be [something challenging] to be [desired result]. You Don t Have to Be Rich to Retire on a Guaranteed Income for Life. You Don t Have to Be a Geek to Make Money Online. Do You Make These Mistakes? Do You Make These Mistakes in Parenting? Do You Make These Ajax Coding Mistakes? The subject line is the most important part of your , so take time to craft it carefully. In fact, you might want to get 2-3 other people involved in writing the subject. I bet a few of you could come up with something better than Cross Church Update. And for what it s worth, I really recommend you subscribe to Copy Blogger. 7

8 REASON #6: YOU RE NOT SOLVING A PROBLEM. We re more than halfway home. The sixth reason people aren t connecting with your s is that you re not using them to solve a problem. Great s present a problem or offer a tension, and then offer simple solutions. Using our marriage retreat example, it might look something like this: Do you and your spouse argue? Even though you love your kids, do they sometimes get on your nerves? Do you ever wish your family was more like that other family? For example, a common objection might be cost. Remind people that they manage to find money for what s important. Tackle their objections as you write to convince. REASON #7: YOU RE WRITING BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO You re writing an because it s Tuesday, and you always send an on Tuesday. One of the worst things you can do is send an because you have to. If you don t have anything important to say, then don t send an . Nobody is going to call the office and say, I didn t get my Tuesday update. Nobody is going to get mad and leave the church because you skipped a week. Maybe you need to rethink the we always send a mass update on Tuesday strategy. Believe it or not, those are normal questions that a lot of married couples are asking. And we re going to talk about them on the 3rd Annual Marriage Retreat Remember, it s about them, not about you. Put yourself in their shoes and talk about benefits, not features. In your , you might find it helpful to honestly address their barriers or objections. Think through why someone would NOT sign up for the marriage retreat, and just deal with them openly and honestly. 8 Too many churches send out s that don t say anything, because there is nothing important to say. So they fall back into some of the same old language. Come to church this weekend because it s going to be the best Sunday ever gets old really quick. Even if you honestly believe it to be true, you ve said it a hundred times already and people don t believe you. Don t send an because it s day; send an because there is something important that you need to communicate.

9 REASON #8: YOU RE WRITING TO ANALYTI- CAL PEOPLE OR EMOTIONAL PEOPLE, BUT NOT BOTH. This may not sound like rocket science, but you write like your personality. And your writing connects with people who have that same personality. So if you re an informational junkie, you tend to bullet point out everything a person needs to know about a topic. This works really well in connecting with the other analytical people, but the other half of your audience isn t going to pay attention. Or maybe you re a storyteller, using flowery language with lots of adjectives. That connects really well with the people who love stories, but the analytical people don t have time for that fluff. Some people like stats. Others like stories. And because you re getting into the head of your congregation, your writing has to address both. If this is hard for you, there s a simple solution. Let two different people write your s. Just take turns writing. REASON #9: YOU RE BORING. The ninth reason people aren t reading your s is that you re boring. Snore. Zzzz. Like The Notebook meets Opera. Boring like your high school history book. Boring like a pencil sharpener instruction manual. If you want people to read something, then it needs to be engaging. You need to bring some personality to the keyboard. For what it s worth, this is the number one reason people don t listen to a preacher s sermon. It s not that it s theologically inaccurate it s that it s boring. A while back, Alan Alda (from M.A.S.H, if you re old enough to remember that TV show) was commenting on 60 minutes (another old timer TV show). He was trying to give a reason for the news show s popularity when he said, It was like eating broccoli that tastes like a hot dog. That s a great metaphor for what you re trying to accomplish with informational updates. If you want people to read it (after all, broccoli IS good for you), you need to make it appear more edible. Instead of giving five reasons you should sign up for the marriage retreat, could you send a list of the five shortest celebrity marriages, and let people know 9

10 that the marriage retreat will keep them from this same fate. Instead of telling people you re starting a new series, could you send a list of the five most forwarded s of all time, changing the fifth one to an announcement about your series (and asking people to forward it!) You get the idea, right? Add some personality to your communication, and your open rate will go up. REASON #10: YOU RE TRYING TO SAY EVERYTHING. The last reason people aren t connecting with your is that you re giving them too much information. A church shouldn t be long, and you shouldn t feel the pressure to say everything there is to say. In the process of trying to say everything, you re really saying nothing. If you re thinking about listing 10 benefits, knock that down to three. If you ve got seven bullet points, take off two. Shorter generally means more effective. If it s important enough to your database, it s important to multiple times. Create a theestep sequence rather than trying to rely on one . Not only will you have a better chance of getting through, you can experiment with different styles. For our marriage retreat, that sequence might look like this: 1: Is your marriage boring? It doesn t have to be 2: I Went On Last Year s Marriage Retreat 3: This Sunday is the Deadline to Sign Up for the Marriage Retreat 10

11 Since you re sending three s, you can focus one of them on the benefits, one on stories, and the final one can be short and sweet. Question: How many s should I send? I get this question a lot, and in most cases, it s not the right question. If you re sending useless, ineffective s, the answer is zero. Churches that send out weekly s may be sending out too many s, because those s aren t read and don t add value. But if you send three s on three subsequent days to married adults focused on new married adult small groups, those three s will be more accepted. CONCLUSION There you go. You ve got ten reasons why people aren t reading your s, along with some practical suggestions for improving the situation. Now comes the all important question What are you going to do about this? For most churches, a sequence of three s centered around special events, new ministries and programs will be more effective than the information-filled, church-wide Tuesday update. 11