Church Relevance - Issue 16
February 2007
by Kent Shaffer

In church marketing, the right choices can be a catalyst for growing your church and creating bigger impacts with the people you want to reach. Although the best choice is not always clear, you can be prepared by learning fundamental principles such as the following three rules:

Rule #1 :: Don’t begin with marketing.

Instead of rushing off to purchase advertisements and print postcards, pause and consider your church’s marketability. Ask yourself, “Is my church worth marketing?” Is there anything about your church that would dissuade guests from returning? Are your facilities clean and well-maintained? Are your volunteers and staff friendly and well-trained? Are the sermons boring and lacking meat? The quickest way to kill a bad product is with good marketing. In contrast, quality products thrive even without marketing. Word of mouth will often carry them to success, and the same is true for your church. Marketing may get people through the door, but marketability is the key to guest retention. As with anything, practice it in moderation. Don’t nitpick and focus too much on excellence. Simply put, be sure you always offer guests a positive church experience and keep challenging yourself to improve that experience.

Rule #2 :: Map it out.

Any useful map has three important parts - a starting point, a destination, and a route. Your church’s marketing should also have these parts. As your starting point, you must have a solid understanding of what your church is. Know your mission, your vision, and the fundamental values and ideas that drive your church. In other words, know your church’s brand. Your destination is the people that God has called you to reach. They are your target audience. But getting from Point A to Point B needs a route that connects the two. This route is how your church communicates its message, and it is your job to determine the most efficient route. Just as a map might offer ten or more different routes to reach a destination, your church has hundreds of communication routes to choose from. How you communicate must reflect your church’s brand, or your message will not be trusted. And your communication must be relevant, otherwise it will be ignored.

Rule #3 :: Cost does not always equal quality.

Just because a newspaper ad costs $600 does not mean it is worth it. In fact, some of the most expensive advertising methods can be useless if everyone is using them. Too many ads create clutter, and clutter makes ads ineffective. Doing a little homework can save your church hundreds of dollars. Explore what cheaper yet equally effective alternatives are available. A good starting point is to think about how your audience spends most of their time and to then determine what opportunities exist or could be created to reach them during these moments. Do not assume that the size of your church budget determines the quality of your marketing.

Some might view it as an unconventional approach to marketing to begin with these three principles of excellence, good communication, and stewardship. However, practicing them will help your church more efficiently and effectively reach its community.