Winners: Best Email Contest

We had hundreds of people enter to win and it was tons of fun going through so many great entries. All of you church and ministry leaders are using Flocknote in a lot of impressive ways. It was difficult to narrow it down to just a few winners (one winner and two runners-up for each category) but we did our best to pick a good variety of winners that also demonstrated the many diverse and creative ways our users are using Flocknote.

There were three categories:

Best regular newsletter
Most creative use of Flocknote
Best engagement

So without further ado…the winners (plus why the judges chose them):

BEST REGULAR NEWSLETTER

Winner: St. Anthony of Padua

What the judges liked: Clean and simply branded. Consistent format from week to week that always includes a brief, to-the-point, personal message from the pastor. Included a custom video on a current/relevant topic (and made it fun by using some young fathers from their staff/community). They prioritized and chose only three, distinct, intentional additional things to promote below the main message. And it always includes a consistent footer repeating the branding/mission of their church. Gets a consistent 40+% open rate (which is excellent for such a large list (11k+ people).

Runner-up #1: The Bible Chapel

What the judges liked: Sharp, clean branding and design. Personal message/image. Smart use of imagery and secondary CTAs further down in the email. Linked to last week’s bulletin. Great open rate (45% to 527 people).

Runner-up #2: JPII Campus Ministry

What the judges liked: Nicely organized, clean imagery, distinct sections with clear CTAs (Calls to Action), fun use of memes, fantastic open rate (51% to 558 people).

MOST CREATIVE USE OF FLOCKNOTE

Winner: St. Andrew the Apostle

What the judges liked: The very first lines to this email are amazing. They are personal, unexpected, intriguing and get straight to the point of what this email is all about. The author went on to explain why his own family was attending this event and then went on to make it easy for others to signup/join in. Plus, it also had a compelling, intriguing subject line (which got a 50+% open rate to a large group).

Runner-up #1: St. Anthony of Padua / Life Teen

What the judges liked: What we loved most about this one was the “Parent Talk” section at the bottom! Not only is it an outstanding looking email newsletter to youth ministry parents clueing them in on what their teens were taught at youth night, but it also gives a few really simple and related questions the parent can use to engage their child on the drive home or around the dinner table.

Runner-up #2: Saint Michael Catholic Community

What the judges liked: The title says it all – “7 ideas to make sure your summer vacation isn’t a vacation from God.” Sending email to our members isn’t just a chance to tell them news/updates/things we want them to know. All of that needs to be done within the context of other kinds of communications, too. This is a great example of using Flocknote to 1) give your flock something helpful at a time of year they could really use it and 2) engage and nurture your relationships with your people around meaningful topics.

BEST ENGAGEMENT

Winner: St. John the Baptist

What the judges liked: Wow! What a great email – talk about making the most of an honest mistake. This pastor had accidentally sent out a text message to his entire congregation at midnight! This was his apology email following up with everyone the next day. Perfect subject line. Included a handwritten apology letter, too. Got a 71% open rate to 1271 people. The many comments say it all. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, honest, humble, human, straight-forward. It works!

Runner-up #1: St. Mary’s

What the judges liked: Great use of a quick poll to lots of people to gauge attendance and share info about an event. Liked that it was simple, focused and had a clean design. Received 145 votes and 55 comments.

Runner-up #2: St. Ambrose

What the judges liked: Shows the power of a simple reminder at the right time during the week. Clean, simple, focused design and resulted in a 67% open rate to 244 people.