The Power of Personalized Connection: How Redbox Inspired My Email Campaign as an Online Church Pastor

Years ago, I rented a movie from Redbox. Redbox is a company that uses kiosks featured in the company's signature red color and are located at convenience stores, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and other mass retailers. To rent a movie, you need to give them your name and email address along with some form of payment. When I rented a movie this one particular evening, I received an email from Redbox congratulating me on my 2 year anniversary with them. That’s when things changed.

Why do I mention this story about Redbox?

In my role as an Online Church Pastor, I found myself unable to connect with my community in the same ways I could as a physical location Pastor. The absence of handshakes in the lobby and the inability to check in on people left me yearning for the chance to listen to my community's concerns. Additionally, I missed being able to follow up with individuals as they progressed in their spiritual journey with Jesus.

I was on camera during our weekly services so they did hear from me once a week, but I was feeling the tension of not being able to connect with them throughout the week. But that’s when the email from Redbox got me thinking. And I realized they knew how to keep in touch with their customers. When I rented a DVD from them, they made a note, in their system, to send me an email a year later, congratulating me on my Redbox anniversary. Genius, right? 

Why couldn’t we do something similar at church?

This got me thinking about how we could do something similar for our church community. Because who wouldn't appreciate a little personalized love and attention throughout the year, am I right?

Here’s where I started:

At the end of every service at Life.Church, we give people an opportunity to respond to Jesus by surrendering their life to Christ. Once they make this decision, they are led by a Pastor in prayer and we ask them to let us know that they made this decision. They do this by filling out a form. So the plan was simple - Schedule an email to go out in a year, congratulating them on their 1 year anniversary of making the decision to follow Jesus. I then ask a simple question - How has the last year been for you?

It was simple. We got everything in place and then just had to sit tight and wait. And boy, did we wait. A whole year! But finally, the emails started rolling in. Some people were over the moon, sharing how their lives had been transformed and how pumped they were to be a part of the church. But then there were others who hadn't been to church in ages and felt like this email was a divine nudge from God, reminding them how much He cared for them. It was a mixed bag of responses, but we were just thrilled to hear from people and see how this little gesture had impacted them. Sure, some folks had fallen away, but at least they knew that we were still thinking of them and had an open door for when they were ready to come back.

The question that changed things.

So there I was, sharing my email campaign idea with Kevin Penry, who was part of our Directional Leadership team at the time. He listened patiently but then hit me with a question that made me stop and think. He asked, "Alan, if you were leading someone to Christ personally, would you wait a year to talk to them?" And man, he had a point. If I was leading someone to Jesus face-to-face, I wouldn't wait a whole year to check in on them. I'd be sending them Bible verses, sharing my favorite devotionals, and inviting them back to church for a follow-up chat. And if they had any questions or needed some encouragement, I'd be there for them, no question.

So why would I do anything different online? That was the big question that Kevin left me with. And honestly, it was a game-changer. I realized that if we really wanted to connect with our online community and help them grow in their faith, we needed to be more intentional about it. We couldn't just send them one email a year and call it a day. We had to be reaching out to them on a regular basis, checking in, and providing them with resources to help them grow.

And that's exactly what we did. We started sending out weekly emails with Bible verses, devotional thoughts, and links to helpful resources like the YouVersion Bible app. We invited people to virtual events and online small groups where they could connect with others and ask questions. We made it clear that we were here for them and wanted to help them grow in their faith. And you know what? It made a huge difference.

We started seeing more engagement from our online community, and people were sharing how much they appreciated the personal touch. They felt like they were part of a real community, even though they were connecting with us virtually. It was a powerful reminder that when it comes to building relationships, whether online or in person, it's the little things that count.

This is just one example of how you can use email to connect with your community. Think through all the other ways that you could leverage this tool to connect with your people, build relationships, encourage next steps, and more. (Check out this blog post for more on this where I write about the importance of next steps in the church - Don't Let Your Efforts Go to Waste: Why Every Church Needs a Follow-Up Plan.) Don’t use email as a digital bulletin board - you’ll lose your people that way. But rather, think of ways that you can communicate relevant information in a way that provides value and keeps them coming back.

Connecting with your community is crucial in building a thriving church, and email can be a powerful tool to help you achieve this goal. As we've seen, a simple gesture like sending a personalized email to commemorate a significant milestone can go a long way in showing your community that you care. However, as we've also learned, it's not enough to stop there. If you want to build meaningful relationships with your community, you need to be intentional about staying in touch with them on a regular basis.

So take some time to think through how you can leverage email to connect with your community. What kind of content would be most valuable to them? How can you make your emails personal and engaging? What kind of next steps can you offer to help people grow in their faith? Remember, the key is to provide value and keep your community coming back for more. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to talk through ideas on how you could leverage email for your ministry. You can schedule a time to connect with me here. 

And finally, don't forget that email is just one tool in your arsenal. There are many other ways to connect with your community, both online and in person. So be creative, be intentional, and most importantly, be there for your people. Because at the end of the day, it's the little things that count, and it's the relationships that we build that make all the difference.