Part 4 of 4 - How To Create an Effective Church Ministry Marketing Plan
Getting Started Often, especially if you are just getting
started, you will find that pre-packaged promotional materials
are a big time-and-money saver, and you can learn a lot by
starting with them. After all, they were designed by
professionals in the church marketing field. On the other hand,
such materials are often too generic, and do not specifically
address your own church's strengths, ministry message, or
calling. Another option is to employ the services of church
marketing professionals or an agency to create customized and
tailored promotional materials especially for you to use. This
can "quick-start" your efforts, and save you much time, and many
dollars, in "trial-and-error" experimenting, but it usually will
involve substantial front-end cost. In the end however, it is
how well that you actually meet needs and wants that will
attract and retain people, not how "slick" your promotional
materials are. Again, knowing your community and your target
audience will better enable you to identify effective and
appropriate methods of reaching them. Step 4 - Following Up
There are two sides to the following-up stage. One is to
follow-up with and evaluate the effectiveness of your various
marketing and communication efforts, and the other is to follow
up with the people that your efforts actually attract. As we
touched on earlier in this report, your efforts will be a
colossal waste of time (and money) if they are not producing the
results that you want - which is, getting your message out to
the people, and getting them to actively respond. And just what
is your intended message? Ultimately, it may be to fulfill your
role in the Great Commission, and to "make disciples of all
nations", or it may be simply to attract more people to become
worshippers and members of your own local church, and thus to
increase the amount of resources available for your church to
conduct it's ministry mission. Are your media messages primarily
positive "feel-good" inspirational messages? Or are your efforts
intended to get people into the church, attending your worship
services, and actively participating in your ministries and
missions? If they are the latter, just how effective has the
particular channel or media been in inspiring worshippers to
attend? Which method or message has been more effective? Time to
evaluate, assess, and adjust your planning. Find out how people
found out about you. Ask them what specifically inspired them to
begin attending, or participating in your church. What messages
have they seen or heard out there in the various media? Do they
use your website? Do they read your newsletters? Assimilation
The other aspect of evangelism and church ministry marketing
that is most often ignored, is doing something with the people
once we've gotten them in the door. Is your church a warm,
welcoming, and friendly place? Is it really? Most churches think
they are, but from the first-time visitor's perspective, they
are very often a closed, inward-looking group of insiders. What
programs and mechanisms do you have in place for getting the
first-time visitor involved and included in the various
activities of your church? Do they have a reason to return, week
after week? Is your church a place that they are likely to want
to bring their friends or other family members? Before you say
"yes", think about this carefully, and be honest with yourself.
You may need to face some unpleasant truths. In religious
circles, this process of involving new members is known as
"assimilation", now a popular buzzword for turning first-time
visitors into active and continuing participants, and hopefully
members. You need a well-thought-out program and plan of
follow-up and assimilation, just as much as you need one for
marketing and evangelism. The fastest-growing churches, and
those most likely to survive and thrive, are those who know how
to follow-up well with both new attenders, and also with current
members, worshippers, and participants. Recommended Church
Development and Ministry Marketing Resources (all are available
online through Amazon.com): Double Your Church Attendance - Bob
Hinds ABC's of Natural Church Development - Christian Schwartz
Market Research Made Easy - Margaret Doman Focus Group Research
Handbook - Holly Edmund The Purpose-Driven Church - Rick Warren
Permission Evangelism: When to Talk, When to Walk - Michael L.
Simpson The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing
Communications - Don E. Schultz
About the author:
Christopher B. Nelson-Jeffers is CEO of Breckshire
Communications, which offers a free Church Growth Newsletter and
articles to churches interested in church ministry development.
He may be contacted at http://Double-Your-C
hurch-Attendance.com
Written By: Christopher B. Nelson-Jeffers