People don’t read their email!

I talk to a lot of church leaders about their communication challenges. One of the most common things I hear is, “People don’t read email!”

I understand why it might seem that way sometimes. But the truth is that people are reading more emails today than they ever have before. And they are reading it more quickly and more efficiently than ever before, too. 

So, aside from a few niche demographics (like teens, etc.), your members are most likely reading email. And they are reading lots of it. They just may not be reading your email.

Your email is competing with a lot of other voices in your member’s inbox. And when they don’t have time to read all of their email, they just read the ones that are most important to them.

That’s where what you are saying and the relationship you have with your members really comes into play. Technology is only 10% of it. The rest is up to you.

If your church members aren’t reading your email, it’s not because email is not an effective form of communication. It may just be because you aren’t communicating something your reader feels is important, exciting, or intriguing enough.

Coming soon, we’ll continue to post more ideas on how to get your message read. In the meantime, you might read our other short post on “7 Reasons why your members won’t subscribe to you.” Some of the ideas here will not only help your subscription rate but your email open rate, too!