How to Market Your Ministry Like Fellowship Church
There is no cure-all solution for church marketing. Because each ministry has its own unique set of variables, a custom approach is the only way to maximize the effectiveness of your church marketing. I do believe, however, that there is much to learn from the principles behind what works for other churches.
Case in point, Ed Young shares in the September issue of his Creative Leader Newsletter what Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) has done to market their new Miami campus. Ed offers some valuable ideas and principles to get you thinking about your church’s marketing. Some highlights include:
- And though things are definitely different in a small church, the underlying approach we use for all five of our campuses remains the same. We’re employing creativity and personal interaction to reach out and touch one life at a time.
- We knew that direct mail in Miami would have greater potential impact than in other regions where the church advertising market is more saturated. To coordinate with our Miami campaign of Refuel, Refresh, Redefine, we sent out a direct mail piece that visitors could Redeem at the church for a $5 gas card.
- Banners and signage outside the church are worth every penny. Many visitors have told us that they saw our signs and logged on to our Miami campus website for more information.
- We made sure the front page of [the website] is very easy to navigate with important information prominently displayed, and also included content that would give them a taste of the Fellowship Miami experience.
- Because of a press release we filed two weeks ago with national and local news agencies, the Miami Herald was on site covering our Kickoff Weekend.
- Nothing beats one-on-one dialogue. Whether we are in local stores, restaurants or just waiting in line somewhere, we strike up conversations with the people around us. Building relationships within the community is the most successful form of outreach available.
- Our staff personally calls each first time visitor. And we’re making a special effort to call in the evenings so we can actually talk to the visitors, answer questions and invite them back.
- We’ve used the questions people ask us to guide our marketing. We noticed that many of the people we talked to in Miami asked us, “What kind of church is it?” So in our promotional materials and signage for this campus we’ve added the fact that we are a Christian church.
- We know that our overall vision for this environment will take time to achieve. But we are taking immediate, easy steps (and lots of volunteer elbow grease) to upgrade the campus by planting additional landscaping and applying fresh paint. We’ve brought in some more modern wood tables for hospitality areas. We’re adding music, Cuban coffee and local pastries to create a welcoming atmosphere. And we’re fanatical about keeping the facility sparkling clean!
- A positive attitude and huge smile are tremendous assets in attracting people to any church. We have a team of floaters (greeters) who circulate throughout the entrance and areas outside the worship center, so visitors usually are engaged in several conversations before they sit down. The parking lot entrance is flanked by greeters who wave at passing traffic and incoming cars. In fact, we just talked to some visitors recently who said they turned around and came back because we waved at them!
What has all this done for Fellowship Church Miami? Well, the grand opening had over 600 people in attendance in their two Sunday services. Read back through the highlights and notice the little but important details that show they sought after the best methods to relevantly reach the Miami community without compromising their brand.
For more nuggets of wisdom from Fellowship Church, check out CreativePastors.com. They even have a resource on Launching a Satellite Campus that looks well worth the purchase.
