Unity Church Marketing

Do you want your church to grow? Are you reaching the people looking for a church just like yours? Some of those folks are looking in your area for the first time and yet others for a variety of reasons are looking for a new church home.

If your church is like many organizations, you don’t have a large marketing budget to spend on marketing.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things your church can do to promote itself.  All it takes is being creative by thinking a little bit out of the box to get some fantastic returns on your marketing budget.  Here are 7 ideas that should help build your membership if you do them consistently.  More importantly, do them in excellence!  Are these the only ways to market your church?  Absolutely not!

1. Send Out Press Releases REGULARLY! – Press releases are one of the biggest sources of free publicity for your church.  One of the most effective (and cheapest) ways to get your message out about your organizations special event or activity is to regularly provide press releases to the local paper and radio stations. These organizations are hungry for content.  You just need to provide it to them. Complile a list of all of the outlets in your area.  Don’t forget to try and find out who handles your section of the paper and sent it to that person directly. Learn how to write a good press release.
2. Email Signatures - How many emails do you send out each day/week/month or year?  Many of those emails go to non church congregants.  Each of those provides an opportunity for a little promotional “commercial” if you will about your church. An e-mail signature consists of text and/or pictures that are automatically added to the end of an outgoing e-mail message. Email signatures are automatic and once set up require no effort or thought on your side. They provide a powerful opportunity for you to provide your organizations web address and a tag line that promotes what your church is all about.  
3. Plan a Special Event! A special event held at your church can either let people know about your church and what it stands for or even reinvigorate awareness of your church.  How does that work you ask? Special events give your current members a reason to reach out to friends/co-workers to experience your church. The thing you need to remember is to make special events special.  Provide spacing in terms of time between events. 
4. Promote a different ministry each month. Your church can be viewed as one large group that is composed of several smaller groups or ministries. Sometimes called Love In Action Ministries, you may have groups within your church that get together regularly that are focused on niches within your church.  Some of these groups are or can be Youth/Teens/ Men’s Group, Women’s Bible Study. Book Study Groups, etc. Each one of the ministries in your church contributes in some way to the growth and outreach of your church. Don’t think that just because these groups are ongoing in your church that everyone knows about them. Promote one group each month weekly.
5. Using the internet as an outreach ministry.  Now more than ever, individuals are looking to attend churches that share their values. The Internet can be one of the most valuable and cost effective ways to get your church’s name in front of others who share your passions.  Those others may include the media, civic or community leaders. Don’t back away from helping publicize other noteworthy activities in the area either. Your church’s interest/participation/promotion of those events will register with like minded individuals who will be attracted to and visit your church.  Don’t have a website yet?  Think Craigslist to promote your church.
6. Signage - Whether it is your church sign or roadside signs placed strategically around the area, this is one of the best returns on investments to get your church exposure and thus visitors.  Using your church sign to serve your community is a unique and powerful means of reaching out. Think about announcing community events beyond those that are happening at your church, such as a neighborhood association meeting or charitable events. Let the community know about the organized activities offered by your church beyond weekly services too, such as day care and youth group events. You can also promote your church by putting posters on bulletin boards and other places to let people know what events/services are available at your church. Posters that are the size of a standard sheet of paper (8 ½” X 11″) can usually be posted in a variety of places such as grocery stores, laundry mats, at other places where people gather. Get permission before you put up your posters. Be a good neighbor!
7. Postcards/flyers – In the age of the internet, many wonder if this medium works. Yet for shear cost effectiveness, in your immediate area, either hand delivering or mailing a postcard in a 1 mile area around your church is hard to beat.  What is amazing about dropping a postcard off at a home is the lingering effect as well as the immediate response.  You will see results almost immediately in visits to both your church and your website.  There will be a diminishing return as interest from that postcard will erode over time.  But you will see folks coming to church months after from that initial campaign. That is actually a great thing.  So, by systematic in rotating the areas/neighborhoods you are covering. And just because you dropped off a postcard in a neighborhood previously, don’t feel you can’t do it again.  You should always see visitors/interest from a postcard campaign.  So instead of doing 1 large campaign of say 10,000 postcards/flyers all at once. Better to do them in 500 increments a week.  

Don’t feel like you have to incorporate all of these at once.  Learn how to do each one of these and do them well.  On the other hand, you don’t have to have perfected an item to begin on another.  Just don’t try to do too many at once.  Tweak each item and split test results to see which approach works better.

For those into what some call Web 2.0 or Social Media, then you have probably heard of Chris Brogan. Chris is someone who I have read with regularity. I also follow him on Twitter and was very intrigued by his tweet “If I Started Today”.

So, that got me to thinking…what if “I” were to start out marketing my church? What would I do considering all of the opportunities such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, linkedin, Flickr, and Blogs on every subject being available?

Just like Chris talks about if he were thinking about joining the Social Media experience today, here are some of the things that I might consider:

Listen (What? Me listen?):

Whether you are looking to expand your Social Media landscape or want to be more effective in reaching your target market, you need to listen. Too many people both in and out of the church seem to have a vision that is unmovable. And to some extend that is applaudable. However if your vision in no way meets the needs of your customers (ie. Prospective congregants), then your vision is irrelevant.

So, if you are going to understand the needs of those who you want to seek you out…listen!

Not just on the first day, or the second day. Listen everyday! I can’t tell you how many people in business that I have met that started out well, but didn’t adapt to the needs of their customers. And there are a lot of churches who fall under this category as well. For example, younger folks with kids moved in and the church continues with traditional hymns and songs that don’t resonate with the prospective audience. Thus, they go somewhere else that they can more readily identify with.

While much can be said about the Catholic Church, you have to give them their props as their views on many things once thought sacrosanct have changed. Why? Because they listened.

Besides listening to your prospective customer, don’t hesitate to do some online research to find out what people are saying/doing. A resource that I use when I want to learn about a subject is alltop.com. Why alltop vs Google? With Google, I am going to get more of a solution that someone wants to sell me. Not that selling me is a bad thing, because we are all selling something. But if I just want to learn, I have found alltop to be a better resource.

Go to other blogs or out in the twitterverse to get plugged in. There are some amazing thinkers out there that both you and your congregation will benefit from.

Website or Blog (Which is best for my situation?)

If I were just going to start with one, I would join the Blogging Brigade. Why? Websites, especially church websites have a tendency to be static (might go back to that listening thingee we were talking about above). Websites also tend to put forth the “Company Line” (ie. What Church Headquarters tell us). Blogs on the other hand are living and very much organic. They play out individuals within the community having a human experience. And isn’t that not just what Social Media/Web 2.0 (or whatever you want to call it) and your church is all about?

We want people to connect with us personally and as an organization. We can show pictures of people/events that we are participating in as well as detailing how we as individuals and as a church are reaching out into the community.

In addition, I don’t really need to depend on a webmaster to get my info uploaded. With all of the free blogospere tools that are out there (WordPress, blogger, drupal, etc), almost anyone can get started and it doesn’t take what I term a “gearhead” (another techie term that describes a geek) to do it.

I can start a blog, choose a theme, add pages to cover the multiple ministries that you are serving and then it is ready for you to start writing. No need to know code. Just write as you would on a document, add a picture or a video here and there and hit the button that says “Publish”. It is that easy.

As an added bonus, search engines seem to have a greater appreciation for blogs vs sites because they love new content.

Already have a website? Fret not! Blogs are a perfect addendum to your current web space. Once again, easy to install. (If I can do it, almost anyone can…trust me on this!)

Communications – Is Email Enough?

Whether you agree with it or not, we live in a fast paced, very mobile world. Walk down the street and see how people are communicating these days. Some are talking constantly on their phones while others may be checking emails. The younger you are, the more likely you are text messaging your friends or loved ones. But is that the only ways that churches are communicating these days? Absolutely not!

What are some other methods that church’s are communication their message?

• Facebook – Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. Many people are raving about it, and I can understand why as you can get caught up with people you haven’t spoken to for many years. Unlike email, there is a instantness of communication with people and no spam. Which means that short conversations can happen quickly, but without the intensity of instant messaging. Also, unlike other social community websites, the privacy settings allow for close control of profile and information.

• Twitter – Described as a service for friends, family, co workers and other like minded individuals to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequents answers to one simple question. Quite simply, tell what you are doing in 140 characters or less.

• Linked In – LinkedIn is a professional network for business and (and nonprofit professionals.) It is often described as an online social network for job seekers. Think of Linked In as a Facebook that appeals to eiher a more mature audience or that has a more professional bent to it and you have Linked In. More and more people are using this space as their personal rolodex. Churches can take the same approach.

Other places such as MySpace and Friendster are potential avenues to use as well. Imagine your church as the head of an octopus with the opportunity to have all of these tentacles out there reaching and connecting to people they know or want to know, while providing a safe outlet for others to get to know them.

Be Helpful To Your Audience

The go forward strategy at this point should be to “consistently” articulate your message via your blog (or through your ever changing website) as well as some of the communications/social networks described above.

Then think about your audience. What is one of the reasons people come to church? To be with like minded individuals. Your challenge is then going out to find them. Almost all of these networks provide a search mechanism that makes the task very easy.

Once you have located your audience of like minded folks, be helpful. The way you build a community and an audience is to be helpful. One example would be to write blog posts that others can use (hopefully like this one).

What is that Zig Ziglar saying? “Help people get what they want and you will get what you want”

Simply put, the more content/information/updates that helps others, the more they’ll want to visit or come back.

Besides searching out folks who might be interested/like minded, an important note is to be part of the community. Go out to other people’s blogs and start getting involved. Use a service like BackType to learn what other people are saying and where they’re commenting. The more you make your voice heard in the general space where you want to do business, the better you’ll be.

Note something important: you might want to think about commenting in two places. First, where your peers are writing their stuff makes sense as a place to comment, but that will only bring you into a better relationship with your peers in a space. If you want to generate growth and interest in your church, start learning to comment either on blogs where prospective congregants might read/write, or in other areas where those folks might be spending their online time. The local online version of the newspaper might provide one place you can start. Finally,

Be Willing To Test And Fail

While I would start with the list/approaches above, I wouldn’t limit it to just that finite (although large) space. This is a fast changing world. What is working today may not be relevant tomorrow.

And just because something is working doesn’t mean that it can’t be tweaked to get better. Everything can be improved upon. One word of caution though. Make small tweaks. Measure the results. Try to understand how the change you made impacted the results you desired. So, if you are changing a bunch of things at once, it is going to be a challenge to ascertain what went right…or more importantly what went wrong.

Once you have found something that is working well for you, don’t stop. And don’t be afraid to add. You may have just started out with a blog, but a website that tells more about your organization is still a good thing.

You designed a church website to provide visitors as well as congregants what types of services and ministries you deliver to the area. For the most part, that information on that site is static. If your church website is like most, there are not a lot of changes happening to it on a regular basis. Some visitors may come once and never again because they don’t think they are going to see anything new or relevant to them.

Adding video to your church website can provide element that can keep both new and old visitors returning to see what is going on. So, if you haven’t thought about putting video on your church website, here are some reasons you should:

1. It begins to build a relationship

When someone for whatever reason clicks on your church website, a video intro is a very effective way to begin your relationship with them. People get to see who you are. They get to hear how you act and talk. You are a real person. They begin to relate to you. You are not just some figure head that leads a church or a church ministry. Instead, you are another person just like them having a human experience that is quite possibly similar to their own. Thus a relationship develops.

2. Video can provide credibility, while making you an authority

If your church is known as the “Church of Love In Action”, it is easy to demonstrate that through quick videos that provide evidence of that.

Some churches have begun to tape their Sunday messages on video vs. the audio CD. Just keep in mind that church videos are definitely not just for sermons. They can provide

• Details of upcoming classes
• Show special events that the church has put on.
• Showcase different ministries
• Let the minister provide mid-week messages

3. Video is a differentiatedI know…why did I have to use a big word like that? Well, it got your attention didn’t it? Video does the same thing for you. When done correctly (in short 2-4 minute clips vs. 20-40 minute sermons), it can set you apart from other churches.

4. Video is compelling

You get to prove that not all churches are created alike. If there are misconceptions about your church, what you teach or if you have something exciting to share, video will express that 10 times better than an audio recording.

5. People will watch it!

Visitors to your website may not read every page. They may not even read a whole page. Why? Because we live in an “instant gratification” society! But, if you have something interesting and keep the videos short you can get your message heard. And if it is heard, you have a better opportunity to interest them enough to either read what is on your website or better yet, visit your church.

Keep in mind the above are reasons for the church to use video for people coming to the site. Google loves video and by adding new videos regularly, can help your search engine rankings.

I love Twitter. I come across some pretty amazing people that I have learned quite a bit from. And you also will come across quotes. Lots of quotes. Some of the quotes are of an inspirational nature. You will regularly receive quotes in tweets telling you how to overcome adversity, what great leaders of our time and times past have said and some pretty witty thoughts. Pretty fascinating stuff overall. Still, others not so much.

Looking for the “aha” of a quote

And just like when you attend a seminar or presentation, every now and then you have what I call an “aha” moment. I classify an “aha” moment in that it puts succinctly into words what you haven’t either understood, comprehended, or were previously unable to correctly say.

I came upon one of those Twitter quotes the other day that for me, says what many churches just don’t understand:

Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark: you know what you are doing, but nobody notices!

Is your church offering great services? Is your church doing things in excellence or that set it apart from other churches in your area? 

Are you hurting the Church Brand Experience?

Well, then the real question is what are you doing to promote your brand? Because just like the quote implies, if you aren’t promoting what you are doing consistently, then you really aren’t doing anything then are you?

As a result, your church brand suffers. Or worse yet, people never get to have the brand experience that your church could provide if it had done promotion.

Take a hard look within

Take a look at your outreach programs. Are they like a lot of churches out there who “think” they do outreach? When was the last time someone came to your church as a specific result of a campaign or promotion that you ran? If you have to think hard, then it has been too long.

Listen, I know that churches are strapped. Tell me something new. And for that matter, tell me how often most churches are flush with cash? If you are like many of the churches I attend or hear about, it is a struggle.

More promotion might mean less campaigns

But that also doesn’t excuse not promoting what you are doing either. A sign out in front of your church letting people know about your next event is a start. I have seen flyers get hand delivered in the immediate area by the youth of the church to promote a trip they need support on. Give them credit, at least they are trying.

This may come to prioritizing what you do and how often you put on events. But the events, promotions, and/or campaigns that you do end up doing should be done so with a mind of truly not being like the guy winking at the girl in the dark.

As church leaders, we talk about it all the time to anyone who will listen. We make slogans about it. Ministers are apt to talk about the group using such terms. Ministers, church leaders and others are usually telling people that it is something that your church desperately want to become a part of. And there are times when we stretch the limits of the programs and/or events we put on to say they qualify for it.

What is “it” you ask”??

Simply put, it is about getting your church involved in the community. Perhaps the only challenge greater than getting your church involved in your community is getting the community as it were in your church. But you need one to get the other. And without one, you can’t get the other.

Your church being a part of the community.

On a global basis, churches have always been instrumental to such projects as the Peace Movement and other similar causes. Today’s church’s are eager to start reaching out to their world more locally with both good news and works. As such they are searching for appropriate ways to integrate both into their ministry.

There is a growing movement of innovative churches whose leaders are thinking differently about what church could be and/or should be. They have readjusted their focus from inward thinking outwardly and how their influence can manifest in their community. These churches are making great strides as to what and how they are measured or represented and ultimately valued within their communities. In the end, they are changing how people view church in general.

Sounds good, but what could my church do?

Korean churches have been active in the community for years by supporting such efforts as:

• educational and financial support for students, particularly for college students.
• caregiving and activities for the elderly
• marriage and family strengthening programs, parenting education, and children and youth programs
• support and mediation to address intergenerational conflicts among 1st, 1.5, and 2nd generation Korean Americans translation and education to address the language barriers of immigrant families

I am not going to advocate that these are the only cases in point of churches being a part of their community. For the list is as long as your mind can wander. But here are some demonstrations that I think can have your church viewed differently in your neighborhood.

• Church holding community campfires – Check out the article in the Issaquah Press http://tinyurl.com/kvknrk
• Donating to hospitals – Let’s be real here. There are a good number of churches who volunteer at hospitals. But this church really gave it the personal touch when they created the “Caring Hands” program and handmade shawls as reported in the Somerset Reporter http://tinyurl.com/nqqlzr
• Another church committed to helping every third grader read at grade level. They also facilitated breakfast for these kids to insure they were at their best.
• Another church asked those in the church to live on beans and rice for a week and give the savings to feed the hungry.

This doesn’t even take into account the myriad of ministries that churches can offer to fulfill challenges in their area.

Are there activities or events that don’t fit?

In my opinion, yes. There are events and promotions that your church puts on that doesn’t put you into the community as an organization of value. Contrary to popular belief among a lot of churches, a garage sale doesn’t qualify you as part of the community.

The questions you want to ask yourself if you are truly being part of the community?

Does it have redeeming value? You may think the community campfires are a challenge to measure, but you will see the rewards in how you are viewed as a church and also as an attendee.

Listening is the key

In the end, it does comes down to listening. Listening to the needs of the community. Churches are usually better telling what they are offering and hope it fits than to listening hard to the real needs around them. Rather than trying to impose your will through services and ministries that you offer that aren’t a good fit at this time, think of things that are of real value, that represent what your church and its’ values stand for.

In doing so, you build your church brand and will truly become a part of the community.