Use Email Footers
by Chris Forbes
Free tips for getting the word out about your church from the Ministry Marketing Coach
Do you send e-mails to friends, family and co-workers? Then you have a powerful opportunity to send out a little “commercial,” or advertisement, for your ministry with every e-mail you send.
It’s called an “e-mail footer.” E-mail footers are the signature line at the bottom of your e-mail, right under your name. By adding your ministry name and web address, people can click through and visit your website to learn more about your ministry. This way of getting the word out through common communication channels is called “viral marketing.”
Don’t underestimate the power of the e-mail footer. Some businesses on the internet used them to get the word out about their new products by adding them to subscribers’ e-mails automatically. Hotmail became an internet giant by using the lowly e-mail footer.
Most e-mail programs allow you to set up these footers so they automatically appear on all outgoing e-mail. It requires a one-time set-up. Since you send hundreds of e-mails each year, this marketing method reaches many who may not know about your church. Even though many of the people who get your e-mails will not be prospects for your church, chances are great they know someone or will meet someone who will be. If they visit your church’s website, they will know a little more about you and will be able to tell others what you stand for.
Also, ask some of your church members to send e-mail footers at the bottom of their e-mails that say, “Check out my church” with a link to your church’s website. This extends the marketing area. Many friends will check out your web site to learn about your church and see what it’s about.
Action Point!
Begin using signatures and footers at the bottoms of your emails and encouraging your staff and other members of your ministry to start using them as well. Be sure to put the web address of your ministry on there so people can click through and visit your ministry online.
