“Marketing” can often be an uncomfortable topic within faith-based
organizations. However, the sole purpose of marketing is to change human
behavior, which is the common purpose within ministry. So, it only makes sense
for those in ministry to practice basic marketing principles to spread the Good
News.
Writing the Plan
Plan the work and then work the plan. Never skip the important step of
mapping out your marketing plan. It is critical for you not only staying on
track and on strategy, but for measurement of your activity as well. If nothing else, start simple and just focus
on one part of your ministry that you’re trying to grow.
·
WHO are you trying to reach? Know your city or
your target audience. Some of your tactics will differ depending on the
demographics of your city. Useful sites to understand your demographics are:
·
WHAT are you trying to do? Beyond just winning
souls . . .
o
Increase participation in outreach programs?
o
Increase attendance in youth programs?
·
HOW will the activity you’re going to do reach
your objective?
·
WHY?
o
Are there no other churches taking this
approach?
o
Are you offering something nobody else can?
o
Has the market been saturated yet?
·
MESSAGE: What’s the one thing you want them to
remember?
o
A good common practice in crafting your message
is to imagine that you only get 30 seconds with your target audience, so what
will you say that will change their behavior? What is the one thing you want
them to remember about your conversation?
Once you’ve mapped out your plan, ensure that you adhere to these basic principles.
- Be SURE: Simple, Unexpected, Relevant,
Engaging
- Everything counts because everything
communicates. This not only includes what you say and do, but what you
don’t say and do. EVERYTHING counts.
- Perception is reality. Regardless of what
you thought you communicated, what THEY thought you communicated IS what
you communicated.
- Do Something! Don’t let lack of knowledge
(or lack of faith) keep you from launching your plan. You can learn how to
do anything. There are tons of DIY sites out there. ehow is your friend.
Look it up.
- Have a clear call-to-action for your
target audience. In other words, be very clear on what you are asking them
to do.
- Measure results. It’s important that your
call-to-action is something that you can measure, so you know if your plan
worked or not.
Two types of communication
Direct: The one-on-one
communication. This is always done either in-person, on the phone, mail, email,
text, etc.
Mass: One-to-many. This entails reaching people through PR or advertising,
hosting events or being a part of events through affiliations, website or
socially.
Direct Communication
•
You don’t need permission for direct mail. Email,
you do. There are lists online you can
purchase.
•
Assess how your audience consumes information.
Make a guess if you have to. Just do something.
•
Collect the right information from people and
maintain a quality database. For example, if you have a young target audience,
be sure to ask for email addresses on your visitor cards.
Mass Communication
If your budget is tight, PSAs are free.
Public radio and television stations are required to donate a certain
amount of time to running Public Service Announcements (PSAs). PSAs are
advertisements that announce community events, charity events, or support non-profit
organizations. They are similar to press releases, but they are not as
detailed.
EVENTS ARE A MUST. Choose
the right one and get media involved if you can. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
This goes back to understanding your city and demographic, as well as
establishing your objective. For example, in an impoverished community, you
could give away free breakfast. Do it at
a local McDonald’s or other fast food places. Choose a local radio station that
reaches the demographic you’re looking for and provide them with PSAs as well
as an opportunity to cover the event via live remote. Radio stations dedicate
so many hours each year on community events. It helps to build their brand. Offer
them:
•
Radio exclusivity on site
•
An opportunity to display signage on site
•
Their logos/links will be on your website and
mentioned in your social media
•
Give them your graphics for their e-newsletters
and website
•
Offer them someone (like the pastor) to do an
on-air interview
In return, they’ll want to know how many people you are expecting and
the demographics, as well as how else you are communicating the event. They
don’t want to show up at an event that isn’t well attended.
Consider collaborating with for-profit Christian organizations to build
awareness about your church, like Christian Bookstores, for example.
Integrate Your Communications
It’s important for there to be consistency in messaging between the
site and the vehicle (a specific channel or publication for carrying the
advertising message to a target audience) you’re communicating with. People
will be confused if they see an ad or a direct mail and go to your site and
they don’t marry up with one another. Also, you need consistency in messaging
in all of your vehicles at once so you get more “bang for your buck”.
Close the Loop
•
Measurement is important
•
Maintain a quality database
•
Have a clear call-to-action
•
Measure results
•
Refine your plan
•
Communicate again
•
For example, if you send out a direct mail piece
as just a general introduction to your women’s ministry that you’ve started up,
ask them to bring it in for a free t-shirt or free cup of coffee so you know 1) that the communication vehicle is effective
and 2) that your message (even the offer
of free stuff) is compelling enough for them to act.
Tips for your Website
·
Do NOT program your site using Adobe Flash. It
prohibits users from visiting your site via iPad or smart phone.
·
In that same note, make sure you program your
site to be responsive for mobiles
·
Content
o
Keep it very visual
o
Keep it fresh with Blogs
o
Videos are attractive to users
·
User Experience (UX) – ensure it is easy to
navigate. Do analytics on it and ensure that your top visited pages are front
and center. (There’s a Gateway Church example.)
·
Collect information from your target audience every
chance you get to aid in future communication.
·
Make it easy for people to contact you— Live
chat, Email, phone, etc.
Get Found
·
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): spend money on
Pay Per Click and Google Adwords
·
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): the bigger you are, the easier you are to be
found. When someone searches for something in Google, crawlers use those terms
and go out and find sites that are applicable. How are you applicable? By using
those terms on your site.
·
Identify 10–20 key search terms. Think about
what terms people would enter to find you and ensure they exist everywhere in
writing—in the code of your website and in the content.
·
Make sure that everything links together. The
more links you create, the bigger you are. Link to your social media. If you
have an external blog, link to that. Link to the district and national sites or
other like-minded sites. When you write blogs on your site, be sure to include
links to other relevant websites within your blogs.
Social Media
Facebook is a good place to start…
- Be sure that the tone/personality of
your Facebook page reflects your church.
- Content is “King” so don’t
reinvent the wheel by duplicating your church website on your Facebook
page. Don’t just post info about the church, but relate to your audience
on common topics of interest. Draw them into a conversation.
- Comments spur conversation, so
encourage engagement.
- Keep it fresh: never let your Facebook
page get stale; users expect constantly changing content.
- We Have a Winner: utilize
contests, drawings, and etc.
- Leverage any visual
assets you have: pictures, videos, etc. Your logo should be your avatar/profile picture so you’re recognized.
- Let Users Guide Content: be flexible
in execution.
- Set Engagement Goals: thank users
when they help goals be reached; let the fans do marketing for you.
- Start a Conversation: ask
questions, show that your church is always listening.
- Fans Only: Fan totals are the
most transparent metric on Facebook, but not the only. Engagement is
important as well.
- Don’t forget to
implement an Influencer Strategy. Connect with other influential pages and
you’ll get exposure to their followers.
Facebook Frequency:
·
Quality, not quantity, counts when publishing to
your wall. Posting less often results in a 40% higher engagement rate compared
with posting more than 3x/day and 5x/week.
·
Best Times: Work time of 3 PM Wednesday and “off-work” hours of 8 PM-7 AM Wednesdays/Sundays (all ET).
·
Format:
o
Ask
questions: Generate more than double the amount of comments than
non-question posts.
o
Fill in
the blank: 9x more comments.
o
Post
manually: FB algorithm doesn’t look favorably on auto-posting and 3rd
party publisher tools. When publisher tools are used, content had 61% less
visibility than manual posts.
·
Length:
o
Posts
less than 80 characters in length receive 66% higher engagement than
longer posts. More concise posts generate the most engagement. Only 5% of all
retail brand wall posts are less than 40 characters in length, even though
these receive 86% higher fan engagement.
·
Be realistic:
o
Average
engagement : 23% comments, 77%
likes
o
Meaning that out of 100 posts, you will get 23
comments on average and 77 likes on average.
**Research from Buddy Media, social software. Analyzed user
engagement of Facebook Wall Posts from 100 of the world’s largest/most
prestigious retail brands for 6 months in 2011.
Twitter:
·
Again, maintain the personality of the church
·
Content should be more newsworthy than Facebook,
because it’s not an open forum for conversation.
·
Follow influential tweeters and comment on their
posts.
·
Tweet and Retweet.
·
Play the hashtag game. Common topics. Goes
viral. Also, helps you track popular trends.
·
twitter.com/search – this site allows you to see
what conversations are happening about a certain topic—it’s important to listen
to those conversations. Listening helps to craft your message.
Twitter Frequency:
- The five most-engaging brands tweeted 45
to 70 times per month, whereas the five least-engaging brands averaged
95 to 115 tweets per month.
- Best times: Tues/Wed/Thurs, 5-6 AM; 7-8 AM.
- Bit.ly (URL shortening service) suggests
Mon-Thurs, 2 PM (so evidently before they check Facebook, they’re on
twitter!)
- Format:
- Mix up tweets/retweets: Employ
a mix of tweeting your own content and retweeting related content.
- Keep it original. Don’t
duplicate content from FB or another source. Use the mediums differently.
**Source: Research from Yesmail,
a company that makes email-marketing software, tracked and analyzed the
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and email campaigns of leading retail brands during
the first quarter of 2012. The brands studied include Abercrombie & Fitch,
Gap, H&M, J. Crew, and Ann Taylor.
So What if You Asked?
Use free online survey tools to allow you to receive feedback from your
audience: surveymonkey.com.
Ask your congregation what they want communicated to them: when and how
often.
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