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Marketing Churches

by rwsorensen
24 replies
I have a church as a client. Don't have much experience in this area. Does anyone have any experience and/or suggestions ideas? This is a church of 500 in a city of about 170,000 looking to bring awareness and growth from within. They are looking to increase their offline presence as well as their online. Wanting to bring 30% growth over the next 6 months.

They do a decent job branding themselves, they have a sharp website and social media presence. We've spoke on retention and what they could improve on but need some more suggestions.
#churches #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    Follow the news, when some policeman, firefighter or some similar person does something worthy, give them some kind of award. With a press release, facebook announcements. Youtube and twitter too.

    Or don't wait for news, look at past news and pick someone who's already done something... If you pick someone who's some kind of local celebrity, you get easier traction.

    If the preaching and the singing are good, why not make podcasts, cd/s, videos and use them to attract people?
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    • Profile picture of the author JessUBotNinja
      Originally Posted by DABK View Post

      If the preaching and the singing are good, why not make podcasts, cd/s, videos and use them to attract people?
      This is a great idea. I know a lot of the larger churches are doing that these days.

      Do they offer refreshments prior to their services? Maybe they can ask some of the members in food service if they would like to promote their businesses prior to services -- I know some churches that offer this up for free or a small donations.

      Check out other churches to see what they are doing right:
      flatirons community church - lafayette, co << this church for example has 6 services each weekend between 2 locations and completely packed with seating to accommodate a few thousand people at each service.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Marketing is marketing is marketing. The primary thing that needs to be determined are what services ( and im not talking about the 2 on Sunday and 1 on Wednesday ) does the church offer? What target audience are they currently reaching ( demographic of the congregation )? Focusing on what demographic outside of the primary is going to get you the best results?

        How long has the Pastor / Minister been in place? Is the congregation in a hold steady pattern, growing slightly, or on the decline? What type of message does the Minister / Pastor deliver. Are the folks happy and giddy when they walk out of the surmon, or are the groggy and tired from a 2 hour ordeal?

        Is there a youth minister? is there a single adults program? what type of outreach is going on?

        And I am kind of just chipping at the tip of the iceberg here. There are many questions to answer and a direction that needs to be determined.

        This is going to sound a little rough but here is the reality of a "Church" as a business. every tailend that is seated in that pew every Sunday is a "Customer" and every customer has a value. Every seat that is filled is worth $X a week. ( And if the Minister half way knows whats going on he /she could tell you what that number is ) This is the "Budget" that sustains the church and helps move the church forward. THIS IS the Bottom Line.

        Forget everything else... The Bottom line is what needs to be increase. and the ONLY way to do that is to bring in new tailend to sit. So you will need to determine the above factors and find that match in message to reach the folks you want to target to get them to sit in your church and not on the couch!

        Hope that Helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author bob ross
    EDDM for sure, churches can grow their membership substantially with postcards sent out to the local area. I can't think of a better way to draw in more people quickly.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
      Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

      EDDM for sure, churches can grow their membership substantially with postcards sent out to the local area. I can't think of a better way to draw in more people quickly.
      I'd take this advice and then visit The Way of the Master for proven materials that can help bring new people in. As far as retention goes, you need to focus on the real reason why people should go to church in the first place - God.

      If you approach people from a "what's in it for me" standpoint the retention rate will be low. That's because once the newness wears off they'll leave.

      Visit that site. It will help a lot.
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      • Profile picture of the author rwsorensen
        I was speaking of retention because they get a steady flow of people coming into the church for the first time but aren't growing. It seems like they are going out the back door just as fast as the front. They said they need to get better at getting people to come back a second time and then getting those people connected into serving environments or small groups. After consulting and taking an audit of their environments we are working on internal things such as:

        1. Retention
        2. Advocacy
        3. Assimilation
        4. Serving/Small groups/Volunteers
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          Originally Posted by rwsorensen View Post

          I was speaking of retention because they get a steady flow of people coming into the church for the first time but aren't growing. It seems like they are going out the back door just as fast as the front. They said they need to get better at getting people to come back a second time and then getting those people connected into serving environments or small groups. After consulting and taking an audit of their environments we are working on internal things such as:

          1. Retention
          2. Advocacy
          3. Assimilation
          4. Serving/Small groups/Volunteers
          Ok this cements my comments that there is something wrong. If you have flow and they are "Going out the back door as fast as they are coming in" YOU NEED TO FIND OUT WHY.

          all of the planning in the world on what you think you should do is not going to do you diddly if do not have a grasp of what the issue is.

          What would a normal business do? they would hit the streets get on the phone do whatever and start ASKING "Have you been to Church X? what did you think? Would you go back? why not? can you be more specific?"

          Forget all the meetings and the internal BS and get out amongst the flock and get the TRUTH!

          The TRUTH will set you FREE!

          Then and ONLY then will the ideas such as:
          "How did Christ get his disciples? Why did multitudes follow Christ? He touched peoples lives first, then they came to Him." Work.

          Right now it sounds like they are coming.... but the "Touching" aint right!
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  • Profile picture of the author rwsorensen
    CDs and podcasts are great ideas will look into that. I have done EDDM with them on multiple occasions over the last year and have had very minimal response. Churches are a tough market.
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    • Profile picture of the author NicoleMarFer
      I once had a friend show me her priest's website. It was packed with video sermons, blog posts and more interactive content. The priest was under 30 and he had a modern twist to him. However, she was obsessed with his website.

      Suggestions:
      - writing press releases about upcoming events to local news sources
      - building up interactive activities on website
      - maintaining a regular blog
      - having an announcement at the mass to invite people's friends and families
      - Facebook ad to attract local fans

      When I was in university I was in the church choir, I only went because my friends all went. The student mass was really entertaining, the priest would make jokes every couple of minutes. It felt more like a comedy show than a religious activity.

      The quality of the priest will make a difference in attendance of the church.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    How did Christ get his disciples?
    Why did multitudes follow Christ?

    He touched peoples lives first, then
    they came to Him.

    Go out and start touching the community
    instead of creating some campaign that
    is trying to get people to come to the church
    it's almost like commercialization and I think
    many people will probably see right through that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Lafuddy
    Russ is on the mark. Word of mouth is your answer.

    Specifically, get the members active in recruiting.
    "Birds of a feather" definitely applies. Use it to
    your advantage. You could double or triple the size
    of your congregation very quickly, at no additional
    cost.
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  • Profile picture of the author kcom
    I agree with Rus that is priority number 1. That being said people are still searching online looking for a church to attend, so SEO could be helpful. A church could really benefit from SMS services to help with keeping the congregation informed on what events are going on
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      I will tell you from experience that Rus is correct. HOWEVER... In most situations growth happens naturally. Somewhere within the organization there is a disconnect. Be it the lack of reaching programs OR it is simply the Minister / Pastor themselves, and more importantly the message that they deliver week in week out that is not striking a cord with new members.

      If you have been at this for a year and have gotten little to no results then there is a problem. you need to find the issue, and correct it to move forward.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lizfish
    Video sermons, audio sermons, free kindle books. Genuine outreach programmes that help the community, such as foodbanks, courses on marriage, family, etc. I think the key is being loving, and showing genuine concern for people - the numbers will grow organically if those things are in place, and it is done from the right heart / spirit. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author TrumpiaTim
    Direct mail and combination of mobile marketing could work well
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Lots of good ideas in this thread so far. Going by the details in your post, here’s my initial thoughts I didn't see covered yet you can add to the excellent ideas.

      You might want to research ...
      • If they have local colleges in the area is their an ongoing outreach to them?
      • Are they reaching out to the Latino community? Probably the fastest growing population in your community too, like most others.
      • Are they reaching out to the African American Community (if they have one) in your area?
      Are they reaching out to what many call the invisible community in most towns and cities?
      • Homeless and Homeless mothers?
      • Recovering drug or alcohol abuse victims?
      • Domestic Violence Victims and their children? Etc.
      A good place to start is with organizations who serve them in your area.

      All these are people hiding in plain sight from many church’s who complain about not having enough members.

      Many would come to church, if asked. In fact, many are seeking what that church may have. They need anything from a little nudge to ... persistent but soft (not high pressure) contacts. Often a measure of trust must be established first, of course.

      Most have tried everything else and they're looking for some kind of life line back to normal - your church may be it.

      Hope this helped to spark some ideas or food for thought.

      Peace and Blessings!
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  • Profile picture of the author TrumpiaTim
    Here's a few use cases for Church's that you can promote and market:

    ENERGIZE MEMBERSHIP
    Get everyone involved! Keep members updated about upcoming events via email, social updates, and mobile text messages. Launch a Mobile Voting campaign to quickly gather feedback on topics or events. Remind people about an event's location and time or any last-minute changes with SMS reminders. Finally, make your services or other large events interactive in real-time via Text-to-Screen by taking prayer requests or scripture questions on a large-screen display..

    ENCOURAGE SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS
    Right from your desktop, help build lasting spiritual relationships between your staff and your members as well as among the congregation. Encourage your members with daily passages or words of inspiration with our unique Shuffle Responder feature. Provide individualized attention by enabling Two-Way Texting so that people can respond to your group messages. Also send personalized Mobile eCards or multimedia emails on special occasions, like birthdays and holidays. Encourage word-of-mouth evangelism on social networks through frequent Facebook and Twitter updates and Social Voting.

    BOOST ATTENDANCE AND OUTREACH
    Our multi-channel messaging platform can also help sustain consistent attendance, expand membership, and even facilitate fundraisers. Members can get a sneak preview of upcoming services by subscribing to your weekly email newsletter. Or post a mobile keyword for anyone to text in to find out about service topics, while adding them to your database of subscribers. Boost turnout for scripture studies and special events like fundraisers by scheduling SMS Appointment Reminders.

    This can really be done through offline marketing in conjunction with mobile sms text marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author hometutor
    Our pastor pretty much agrees with me. The same marketing techniques used in an ethical business will work for a church. I do the video for our church and upload it to Youtube with a link to the church website.

    Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author edvelez502
    Hi Rick. Tell your pastor that traditional marketing is based on the babylonian economic system. The same marketing techniques that you refer to are always based on highlighting problems and promoting fears. If only you were skinnier... If only you were fatter... we leverage these insecurities against our prey.

    Traditional marketing is based on fear, and fear contaminates our faith, which in turn reduces the protection of the blessing over our lives.

    The marketing that Jesus has called us to do is to announce the gospel. That means that we are to announce to the world the good news of the gospel. We are set free from every form of bondage. All of your needs have been met in Jesus. Teaching the truth in the Bible is very dangerous.

    Jesus is Lord,

    your brother in Christ,

    Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
    Just spray... And pray.
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    FILL IN THE BLANKS!
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  • Profile picture of the author rwsorensen
    Thanks for the insight.
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  • Profile picture of the author BDazzler
    We host a ministry site, I have installed and consulted (for free) on a few WordPress sites for some other churches.

    Church growth for its own sake is self-contradicting. Presumably the church exists because God has a mission for it. The mission itself should be unique (every church is not called to be Willow Creek or Saddleback, --sorry guys-- )

    The church will grow as it fulfills the mission God gave it.

    Therefore, the key is that the entire site: graphics, text, audio video etc. should communicate and support that mission. Be careful about trying to mimic the "success" of other churches. Very seldom do two churches have the exact same mission.
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    • Profile picture of the author rwsorensen
      Perhaps the church has maxed out it's reach at it's current location due to size of area and the only way it can grow is by expanding its reach by opening new campuses.
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