Group email lists are used for everything from small family groups to keep everyone up to date with what’s happening to thousands of members spanning multiple time zones and countries. At Gaggle Mail we see all of them and there’s a few things the successful ones all have in common.
Here’s our guide to what makes a successful group email list.
Know What You’re Talking About
The most important thing about running a group email list knowing what should and should not be discussed by the group. If the list is just for a free-for-all chat about anything that’s fine, as along as everyone know that. But if there’s a set topic or topics the group should be discussing you should make that clear.
It can be useful to use your group email list software to add message footer that reminds people what the purpose of the group is.
Take Time to Setup Your List
There can be lots of settings when creating your listserv but it’s worth taking the time to get everything setup correctly from the start. As well as giving your group a suitable name deciding whether replies should go to the group by default or to the original sender is a key decision, this will affect how freely conversation flows but all how much email your members get.
Moderate in Moderation
Ideally all messages will be on topic and appropriate for your group but sometimes you need to step in as the list owner and moderate messages sent to the list. This is great to maintain a high quality of messages on your group but can stifle discussions especially if messages take a while to moderate.
If you do need to enable moderation on your group consider adding a few trusted moderators so that there’s always someone do the needful.
Lead By Example
One of the very best ways to ensure good on-topic discussion on your group is to show people how it’s done. Ask the sort of questions you want other people to ask and reply to others in the way you’d like others reply to you.
Running a group email list can be a rewarding and effective way to encourage high quality discussion amongst any amount of people on a topic. Give Gaggle Mail a try to see if it will work for your group and if you have any suggestions to make running your group easier just let us know.