Is Email the Answer?
As I talk to association professionals during this challenging time most of them tell me that they are communicating with their audiences by email. This seems to hold true across industries, trade and individual member organizations and national and regional organizations.
I get it. Email is easy, right? You type something in, add some links, pick your distribution list and hit send. Easy, peasy! Is easy the answer? Often times it is not and I think this may be one of those times.
I tried to research how many emails an average person gets in a “normal” day. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the answer as most sources conflicted with each other. The one thing the sources had in common was that they all agreed that the number of emails being sent, and therefore received, is increasing every day. This leads to more noise in your audience’s inboxes and a greater chance that your communication is going to get lost in the mix.
If you are like me over the last week or so you have been emailed by every company and organization you have ever done business with. While I appreciate the updates I find that my inbox is always full and I can guarantee you that I may be missing some information that is really important to me as I simply can’t closely read each and every message. This means that the messages are not effective and the senders are not getting any ROI.
It is true that email is instant and it is relatively cost-free. That doesn’t mean it is the best way to communicate with our target audiences. I highly recommend that you consider using direct mail, or phone contact, if your financial, human, and technical resources permit. Now is the time to stand out and get seen, not be buried under a barrage of email.
Association Leader, Strategic Transformation & Change
4 年I started personally calling our association leaders just to say hello, how are you. Being genuine at this unusual time creates invaluable loyalty and friendship - actually being genuine at any time and nows a perfect opportunity. It’s challenging me to pause, settle a bit to think of how and also when to connect with members digitally and other ways like direct mail, perhaps even a personal note.
President & CSO (Chief Swag Officer) at The Swag Diva - Branded Promotional Products Solutions Provider
4 年Spot on Scott! At this time I think everyone is appreciating a genuine call to check in and offer support. Next best thing is direct mail for sure! We’ve been helping our clients pivot their outreach strategies for several weeks now since travel, events and normal day to day business has drastically changed. There are tons of opportunities to stand out with an array of promotional products that are easy to mail to custom kitted and branded boxes sent as a valued gift to customers, employees and prospects!
Executive VP of Marketing & Community Engagement | CEO & Editor-in-Chief of Association Chat | Speaker on Technology, Community, and Trust
4 年I love this! What a great time for gifts in the mail, too! When so many people are desperate for something new and interesting to (safely) bring into the house...who wouldn’t love a surprise? A clever direct mail piece would definitely get attention more right now.