Introduction
What is Church marketing? Churches have a responsibility to God to reach their community for Christ. This includes spreading the word about their Church services, classes, and events. In the past, traditional marketing methods were used by churches. Today, there are many digital ways that churches can reach their community. More and more people are online, and Churches should reach people where they are. Churches should utilize these new strategies to provide the best outreach they can.
Churches need to be aware of the impact a marketing strategy can have on their congregationās attendance and use marketing tactics like social media, reviews, ads, and other advertising methods to reach the people who matter most. With that in mind, I would like to present 5 reasons why churches should come up with a marketing strategy and how it can help your church.
1) It will help you grow your church.
Marketing is a two way street, and itās not just for those who want to promote their church. In fact, the most important part of your marketing plan is to grow your church.
2) It can help you evangelize the world.
With a click of the button, your fingers can be missionaries by promoting Christian material from your website to the rest of the world.
3) It will help you reach out to the unbelievers in your own community.
One of the biggest reasons to do Marketing for your Church is to reach the lost in your own community. Churches that are actively marketing their services and events are able to reach a larger number of unbelievers.
4) It will help you reach new people who are not the “average” church attendee.
If your church is reaching new people, it means that you are reaching the “not-so-typical” church attendees. These are people who have been burned by the Church in the past and aren’t attending Church regularly. You can create courses online (using the Church Management software that we provide our Church clients) to reach them, and they will likely respond better than being directly invited to your Church right away.
5) It will help you reach people who are new to your community.
There are special features of advertising tools that can help you target people who just recently moved to your area. Welcoming them to the area and making them feel known is a great way to get people engaged. Make sure to have engaging content on your social media and website (as well as reviews on the Internet, as people who are new to your area will look for churches that have a good reputation in the local area).
What marketing can do for churches
1) Allow churches to reach out to people who are new to the area.
2) Provide churches with a method of reaching their own Church members.
3) Get churches out of the rut of sending out large amounts of fliers and brochures.
4) Provide churches with a way to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
Other ways churches can market themselves
1) Churches should provide a way for people to easily communicate with them.
2) Churches should be listed in all the right places on the Internet.
3) Churches should provide a church website that is easy to navigate and has info that website visitors need.
4) Churches should have reviews that are easy to find.
5) Churches should promote themselves on social media advertising and search engines, as that’s where people are likely to find them.
Why marketing is the best investment for Churches
1) Marketing can be inexpensive and have good returns on investment in the Kingdom of God, over time.
2) Marketing builds credibility. Churches that market themselves well are more credible than those who don’t.
3) Marketing creates awareness, and awareness brings in visitors.
Marketing tools for churches
1) Email – One of the most effective ways to communicate with your congregation and market your church is through an email newsletter list. Mailchimp is the most known, and Mailerlite is a great (and inexpensive) alternative, though both have free versions as well.
2) Social Media – Marketing through social media is effective, as long as you’re authentic and you focus on growing your congregation. Tools like Buffer have free versions of social media scheduling platforms, and Canva offers its pro plan free for nonprofits.
3) Using Canva (as mentioned above), you can also create Facebook ads for your Church and reach your local community with ads (or drive traffic from around the world to a free online course about Christianity that you create and host on the Church Management System we provide for you as part of our packages).
4) Google Ads are a great way to drive people to your Church website, and you can create ads about specific Church events, services, or ministries. Best thing about Google Ads is that Google offers $10,000 per month to nonprofits that qualify (you have to apply), and Churches can get this $10,000 per month as well in free advertising (no extra ad spend on Google necessary). Just let us know you’d like to claim that, and we can help you as part of some of our packages. Note: we aren’t associated with Google, we are a Marketing agency that can help you.
Conclusion
Marketing is a long-term commitment. Just like a relationship, marketing requires a lot of patience and commitment.Ā It will also take a long time for results to be seen. If you’re ready to grow your Church through Marketing, please contact us at [email protected] or book your free consultation here.Ā Getting started today on your Marketing will be beneficial for the future of your Church, and we’d love to get you started.