The 5 Basics of Church Marketing

Your church, no doubt, has many strengths. It may have a strong outreach program, a dynamic speaker and music ministry, exciting children and teen programs, or many other elements that comprise a church. Sadly though, many churches fail to successfully market their church and its various activities and opportunities.

Marketing is an integral part of sacred organizations, just as it is to secular businesses. Each time there is a church event or activity, it is vital that it be properly marketed, else there will be little to no involvement.

Church marketing is more than just posting an announcement in the bulletin or listing it on the church calendar. Both of these are important, but additional action is needed to truly make an impression. It is up to you to see that you are using marketing techniques to get and keep people’s attention. The methods may vary based on your church’s demographic, but there are some basic components to any church marketing approach.

Whether your church has 100 members or 10,000, you still need to keep these basics of church marketing in mind, as you plan a church event or goal.

• Church marketing begins with the outside appearance of your location. Is it neat, clean and inviting? Do you greet guests at the door and make them feel welcomed and wanted?
• You should also ensure that people know who you are and what you have to offer. Having custom printed materials that let people know what to expect is part of marketing your church to guests as well as members. Do you have booklets, brochures or contact cards that help them understand who your church is? After all, the people are the church.
• Church marketing also means understanding who you wish to reach.Are you trying to attract the under 30 crowd or the over 50? Perhaps you are in an area where there are a lot of professionals. You will want to gear printed materials, Web announcements, etc. to reflect the demographic you wish to reach.
• What do you want guests, in particular, but members too, to do? If your goals are to get people involved in ministry, outreach, organization, etc. having easy-to-read custom signage is a great way to market your church’s focus. People like to know what to expect. Make it easy for them to find out.
• Be flexible and creative. Church marketing requires you to try new things. What works for the church up the road may not work for you. Take time to reassess your church marketing on a regular basis and be willing to tweak or even quit doing something if it doesn’t work. The “we have always done it this way” mindset is a death knell to marketing your church. It is possible to change the method without changing your message!

Church marketing is a must. Consider using custom signage, bulletins or booklets, being sure that your location sends the message you want, and most importantly, some old-fashioned creativity. Today’s society is a busy one and if you want to grow your congregation, then you have to rethink your approach. Get started today.

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