Marketing Your Church

1
Marketing Your Church

• Practical Ways to Reach Your Community With the
  Gospel!

2
What Is Marketing?

• matching a product or service with people who
  have a need for that product or service.
• people need the Lord -- church marketing is a way
  of bringing people along to realize the need and
  find Christ.

3
Biblical Basis

• Jesus presentation to the woman at the well
  John 44-42
• Paul in Athens Acts 1716-34

4
Or, Said Another Way

• church communications
• community outreach
• evangelism

5
First Things First

• no level of public relations, promotion,
  advertising or image building can make up for a
  poor product.
• put your primary focus on excellence in the way
  your church worships, provides education,
  ministers and makes newcomers feel welcome.

6
Getting Started

• assign the task everybodys job becomes
  nobodys job.
• evangelism committee.
• church communications work group.
• staff.
• somebody.

7
Finding Funds

• look for areas in church budget that can be
  tapped for communication activities.
• printed items like stationery, newsletters,
  bulletins, etc.
• special event budgets like VBS or Christmas
  cantata.
• maintenance budgets related to signage for
  buildings or vans.

8
Create a Written Plan

• does not have to be long or fancy.
• look at the calendar be consistent throughout
  the year.
• dont overextend your resources either budget
  or people.
• better to do a few things well than to do a lot
  poorly.

9
Marketing Your Church

• determine your churchs audiences.
• use church rolls to determine who you are
  reaching now.
• look at your communitys demographics.
• U.S. census data
• Outreach Marketing
• KBCs Church Growth Team
• trends in your community
• plant openings/closings
• new subdivisions

10
Ground Zero

• develop a church logo and tag line in keeping
  with your churchs vision and its primary
  audiences.
• establish graphic standards for all your
  marketing materials.
• invest in yourself by using a graphic artist.
• establish a pattern of excellence.

11
Basic Materials

• church stationery/business cards.
• signage for buildings and vans.
• web site.

12
Free (or Almost Free)

• word of mouth is free and is the most effective
  form of marketing.
• news releases for press, broadcast and cable.
• events.
• services your church offers.
• news photos.
• digital cameras make this easy.

13
Free (or Almost Free)

• web site basic sites are free and easy to
  manage through LifeWay and other providers.
• host community service activities.
• blood drives, veterinary services, book clubs,
  aerobics classes, support groups, free yard
  sales, free car washes.
• call the radio stations and/or send news
  releases!
• send letters to newcomers in your community.
• home sales listed in most newspapers.

14
Relatively Inexpensive

• subdivision give-away.
• magnets with important numbers.
• microwave popcorn with Jesus video.
• event sponsorships.
• concerts patriotic, barbershop quartets, etc.
• races fun walks.
• job fairs.

15
Relatively Inexpensive

• mass mailings.
• postcards can be very effective.
• clothing items.
• design a shirt, t-shirt, hat or other clothing
  item for your members to wear.

16
More Expensive

• paid advertising.
• yellow pages.
• newspapers, shoppers, specialty publications.
• radio, TV, cable.
• ads.
• program sponsorships.
• live and/or taped broadcasts.

17
Final Notes

• measure results.
• find out how they found out.
• visitor cards, surveys.
• follow up with people.
• once people visit, it takes personal attention to
  keep them coming back.

18
Thank You!