Recently in the unSeminary Premium private Facebook group, a conversation started about whether email is a predictable driver of attendance at churches. We decided to do a small study on this question last weekend. Eighty-one churches sent emails on Saturday and then measured to see if doing so made any difference in attendance. Below is an infographic that outlines what we learned. Here are a few highlights:
- 57 percent of the churches that sent emails saw a week-over-week increase in attendance.
- The average attendance increase in those churches was 13 percent.
- Saturday is typically the “lowest volume” day for incoming emails … but it also has the highest “open rates” as well. Seems like a great opportunity for churches!
- Sending the occasional Saturday email on a well-timed weekend can indeed boost Sunday attendance.
- The increase in attendance amongst all the churches was over 1,000 people … imagine that … over 1,000 more people went to church because (at least in part) they were emailed and asked to attend.
Email marketing continues to be an incredible tool for churches. How are you leveraging this channel to connect more people to your community?
Here are just a few of the emails that churches sent:
- Connexus Church … celebrating the launch of a community-service program
- Calvary Church … a Canadian church speaking about peace in the midst of the Parliament shootings last week
- Liquid Morristown … I love Tom’s passion for his community bubbling through in this email!
- SugarHill Church … fun to see links to the songs they did on Sunday in this email
