5 Simple Format Shifts to Get More People to Actually Read Your Updates
A free guide for synods who keep sending good information that nobody reads. Five small format changes that make your emails and newsletters far easier to actually open and finish.
You’re not actually competing with other synods for attention. You’re competing with a crowded inbox, a busy life, and a thumb that’s already scrolling. The problem usually isn’t what you’re saying, it’s the shape it arrives in.
The good news: you can keep your content exactly as it is and still get far more people to read it, just by changing the format. Here are five shifts you can make to your very next send.
The five shifts
Make these one at a time, in order. Each one is small on its own, together they completely change whether your updates get read.
- 1Shift 1 of 5
Lead with one thing, not everything
Most synod emails open with five competing priorities, so readers choose none. Pick the single most important item and put it at the very top, above everything else. Everything else can wait further down, or better, wait for next time.
If everything is urgent, nothing is. Choose the one thing you most want people to do this week.
- 2Shift 2 of 5
Write subject lines like a person, not a bulletin
A subject line should answer one question: what's in it for me? The first example below describes the container. The second describes the value, in plain language that changes every time.
Before Synod E-News, JuneAfter 3 ways to support flood relief this week - 3Shift 3 of 5
Make it scannable, not readable
Almost no one reads top to bottom. They scan. A reader should be able to skim only your headers and bold text and still know what you need from them.
- Use short headers so each section announces itself
- Keep paragraphs to two or three sentences
- Bold the few words that carry the meaning
- Use bullets for anything that's a list
- 4Shift 4 of 5
One email, one action
Every update should have a clear primary action, and ideally just one button. If you ask people to register and give and read and volunteer in the same email, you split their attention and lose the click. Decide the single action that matters most, and make that button impossible to miss.
- 5Shift 5 of 5
Trim the words, then send
The long version is almost never the better version. Before you hit send, challenge yourself to cut the word count down. Keep only what your reader needs right now, and move the rest to your website and link to it.
Shorter emails respect your reader's time, and respected readers keep opening.
You don't need a new platform or a bigger team. Apply these five shifts to your next send and watch your open and click rates over the following month. Most synods see the difference quickly, because the people who were always willing to read suddenly can.
Let's put this to work for your synod.
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