How to Meaningfully (Re)Start Your Email Marketing Efforts
Hi friends,
Your nonprofit has a mailing list that’s updated every time you host an event or onboard a new volunteer.
You used to keep them in the loop with regular updates and consistent newsletters — or at least, you intended to — until all of a sudden, your email efforts stopped.
Why?
Maybe you lost the staff member who used to excel at email, or started a new project that required all hands on deck.
Maybe you were just wearing too many hats at the same time, and email marketing fell off the list.
Whatever the reason, know that if this story sounds familiar, you’re not alone!
Many of the nonprofits I’ve worked with face this exact struggle with email marketing and communications time and time again.
No matter how up-to-date your email list is — or how detailed your email marketing plan is — you just can’t seem to find the “perfect” time to kick it all into action.
It can feel like a tough place to be in… but actually, it’s a great place to start.
Think about it this way:
You’ve got an entire email list of people waiting to hear from you!
All you have to do is start reaching out consistently — and here are some tips on how to do that effectively and meaningfully.
Tip #1 — Remind your audience why they’re here
Instead of jumping right into a donation ask or event registration, my first tip is to remind your audience why they signed up for your nonprofit’s mailing list in the first place.
Treat the first few emails like you’re catching up with a friend, sharing updates like:
- What you’ve been up to
- Your newest/best stories
- Program/service updates
- Your newest/best testimonials
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Then, make it clear what they can expect from you going forward, whether that’s weekly emails or a monthly newsletter.
Or, if you want to make things a little more personal, you can ask your audience what kinds of things they’re interested in, and segment them from there.
That way, they’ll only get emails from you that they 100% care about — which makes everyone happy.
Tip #2 — Test out your subject lines and “from” field
Once your nonprofit gets back into the swing of sending emails, my next tip is to do some testing with your subject lines and “from” field.
For subject lines, it never hurts to acknowledge that it’s been a while since your recipient heard from you. Phrases like “Here’s what we’ve been up to” or “Thanks for sticking with us” work great as subject lines.
But, if open rates aren’t where you want them to be, try experimenting with more personal subject lines — something like “we’ve missed you!” for example.
For the “from” field, I typically suggest making your email come from a person. Seeing an email come from “Jane” feels way more personal than from your organization’s name.
However, if your open rates aren’t where you want them to be, try switching things up! Maybe your audience will respond better to an email from your organization’s name, so give it a shot and see what happens.
Tip #3 — Stay on top of reporting and analytics
Here’s the not-so-fun truth about restarting your email marketing efforts:
Your first email (or even your first few emails) might not have great open rates. You will have people unsubscribe because they didn’t remember signing up or are no longer interested.
It might feel rough at the beginning, but all of this is normal, especially when you’re reengaging a list that hasn’t been active in a while.
That’s why my third tip is to stay on top of your reporting and email analytics.
Once you send a few emails, check how they’re performing. Can you experiment to see if something improves? Can you try switching things up? Can you clean your email list at all?
Let your analytics and metrics guide you, and focus on delivering what your metrics show your audience wants.
So, what’s next?
Start actually sending emails to your list!
Figure out a plan for how often you’ll send emails, and to which segments.
Create a system for collecting and creating email content so things are fast and easy.
Send your emails, stay on top of your reports, and keep your lists clean.
And, above all else:
Be patient.
Rebuilding the relationship with your email audience will take time. If you’re not seeing the results you want right away, keep going!
See you in three weeks!
Catrina
P.S. If you need support getting your nonprofit’s email marketing efforts back up and running, I can help! Book your free discovery call to see what that could look like.
