Don’t Sleep on Email : PP093
How often do you think about email strategically?
I hear from some Pastors they’ve given up on email. Folks don’t open them or respond. But friends - email is one of the most strategic forms of communication we have access to. Let’s walk through 3 reasons why in this episode.
First things first. To take advantage of email you need to understand a couple of things.
If you can connect your email to your church database, this will be significantly easier. You can still follow these strategies if it doesn’t, but it will be harder. If anything, this might convince you to rethink your database/Church Management Software to optimize towards modern ministry.
Much of this relies on using a service like Mailchimp to harness the power of automation.
Strategic Communication
The primary reason you want to have your database linked to an email service is to have access to email segments. This is a way you can filter and sort people based on all sorts of data points. I love how Planning Center People and Mailchimp offer a native integration. It makes it much easier.
Once you have people sorted, you can then email them about specific things, and customize the communication to affect change or engagement.
Strategic Development and Encouragement
Email can be used as a way to both thank people and develop them. I like to send a monthly email on the first Monday of the month to anyone who either served or gave to the church in the last month. This was a simple thank you, a chance to share vision, and then I would have 5-7 bullet points about how ministry was positively affected because of them. I would recognize the folks who served for the first time in that email as well.
Note* When using email in this manner, folks can’t see anyone else the email went to, so it keeps things private.
We also built out custom email sequences for folks who signed up for specific things, especially 3rd grade Bible.
Strategic Evangelism
The folks in your church and community have needs. Specific ones. The good thing is, you can work towards understanding those needs.
Imagine what could happen if you understand these needs, create 3-5 emails addressing them specifically, and then build them into an automated sequence.
Sharing that email course/sequence with your church can be powerful.
But what about this…
You find a felt need and can identify some specific help for it. You then plan out a 3-week sermon series focused on it. You then take your email course, and not offer it just to the church, but use Facebook Ads targeted towards everyone in your community. You start sharing the course online a few months out. Then the week before the sermon series starts, you can then email EVERYONE who signed up for the course, and invite them to worship.
Don’t sleep on email. Trust me.
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