I know I shouldn’t have taken it personally. But when we had planned a program for the community, distributed posters all over town, made weekly announcements in the worship bulletin, mailed personal letters to the prospects, ran an advertisement in the local paper, even devoted extra prayer time to the success of the event, and people still didn’t come, I was more than a little distressed.
The next morning, I stared out my office window, wondering why our message didn’t connect with our prospects. I knew we were addressing genuine and expressed needs. What else could we have done?
Some time later, I took a leave of absence from pastoral ministry and became involved in business marketing and management. What I learned both in the classroom and on the job opened my eyes to what had gone wrong in my previous attempt to attract people to the church. Although I had previously been suspicious of “marketing” the church, I discovered how to ‘sell’ what we have to offer without ‘selling out.’
More than marketing theory
Soon I had an opportunity to put my new knowledge into practice. I accepted a part-time pastorate in a small, conservative-minded congregation. Aware that the previous pastor had left under a cloud of hurt feelings and angry words, I was apprehensive about the future.
Yet, within twelve months this congregation of forty-two had transformed itself into a thriving body with an average worship attendance between eighty-five to ninety-five. New Bible study groups sprung up, a nursery with paid workers was begun, a Boy Scout pack of twenty-two youth was formed, the children’s program grew from three to twenty, a new roof for the church was added, the parsonage refurbished, and a food and clothes pantry begun.
Did this happen because of new leadership? No, the same church members who had run the church for the previous thirty years were still in power.
Was it because of my preaching? Heavens no! I did not put the congregation to sleep, but they weren’t held spellbound either.
Was it all the visiting I did? Definitely not. Visitation was my Achilles’ heel.
So why did this church grow? Besides God’s inscrutable design, one reason, I believe, was because we effectively marketed our services to the community.
I define effective marketing as offering ourselves to the people we want to help in a way that motivates them to take advantage of what we are offering. This has several implications.
Staying people centered
Effective marketing focuses on the prospect rather than the program. It says “you” instead of “me.”
Here is an example of one pastor’s attempt to promote a musical concert by a traveling youth choir:
Youth Choir Concert
Friday, June 17 at 7 P.M.
at Community Church
I am proud to announce that the youth choir from Hyde Park Church will be coming here while they are on tour. I used to be the director of this group (actually different kids, of course) from 1977 through 1981. This will be the group’s first tour in several years, and I am excited to be able to host them. It is my hope that we can have a really big crowd to greet these young people and share in their ministry. So, please plan to come out and hear them!
The announcement is church centered (since the traveling choir will be seen as an extension of the church), more interested in the life of the church than the life of the prospect. It would not motivate you to attend-unless, of course, you wanted to do the pastor a favor or felt it was your duty to the church to show up.
Or take this example, a brochure for a continuing education event, “The Pastor’s Role in Intervention: Chemical Dependencies.” The brochure read:
“This session will deal with issues of alcoholism and other drug dependencies. It is specifically tailored to the pastor’s role as pastor, counselor, referral source, and partner in intervention. Information will be given on signs and symptoms; intervention techniques; and pastoral opportunities for ministry with hurting persons.”
The next four paragraphs dealt with the life history and qualifications of the seminar leader. (Hint: unless the speaker is well-known to the community, a detailed listing of his or her qualifications is usually a waste of words and precious space.)
This brochure also focuses on the program and not the prospect. It’s not likely to excite, motivate, inspire, scare, or push the reader to action. It’s more likely to lull people to sleep.
The people-centered approach, on the other hand, focuses on people, particularly the prospective attender. Instead of saying “me, me, me” it says “you, you, you.”
Instead of “This session will deal with issues of alcoholism and other drug dependencies, signs and symptoms, and intervention,” (boring), the brochure could address directly the pastor’s situation: “Remember that couple you counseled and the husband’s drinking problem? You agonized over how to help. They both had dependencies to deal with. You fear that you failed. Well, don’t let that happen again. Rev. Jack Miller’s session on alcoholism and drug dependencies will make sure you’re able to professionally diagnose and intervene the next time alcoholism walks through your office door.”
Notice how often the second example uses “you” or “your”-six times. The first example? Zero. The first example is detached and cold. The second speaks directly to a person.
Jeffrey Lant, a leader and innovator in the field of writing effective marketing documents, states that most organizations adopt the “We Think We’re Swell” style of advertising, which says, “Hey! Look at us. Look at what we can do. Look what we have to offer! Look, Look, Look! We’ll show you how great we are, and we just know you’ll want to come and join us!”
Most prospects, however, will come only if they feel our offerings are for them, not for us.
Knowing your prospects
To effectively focus on our prospects, we need to pay enough attention to know what makes them tick.
As a teenager I sold Olan Mills family portraits over the telephone. Each salesperson was given a written script to read to each prospect. As long as I contacted families, the script worked well. However, on one call I reached a man whose wife had recently died. He had no children. His family had just been buried.
It was an unsettling three-minute conversation.
Knowing the prospect makes all the difference. Let’s say my church is promoting a film series for the entire family. I’ll want to keep in mind the two groups I want to come: parents and youth. If I compose a general marketing approach (“A Great Family Film! Don’t Miss It! A Heartwarming Experience!”), I’m likely to hit no one.
If I want youth to attend this film series, I need to focus my advertising around their concerns. I may need to let people familiar with youth take a major hand in designing the promotional material. The youth pastor or youth sponsors, for instance, will more likely be able to see the benefits of a James Dobson film series through the eyes of a teenager: “Hey, come with your friends to watch a film about how to get your parents to understand you better.”
For parents, I would take a different tack, highlighting how the film could help them better handle tough parenting situations. So, if I want both parents and youth to come, I’ll need to know not only each type of prospect, I’ll need to put out more than one type of message, targeting each group I want to reach.
What’s in it for me?
I was raised to believe that it was not the church’s responsibility to specifically state the benefits of its ministry. People should come because it’s their Christian duty, or because the pastor asked them to.
But for this generation, few people show up simply because the church opens its doors. Now the church has to explain the benefits of its programs and services. The average prospect asks, What’s in it for me? How will the quality of my life be improved by attending this program?
Our advertising should answer that question.
Take, for a bad example, a promotional blurb in a worship bulletin I came across recently: “Join our Friday Night Singles Gathering at 7:30 P.M. You’ll be glad you did.”
Not very motivating, is it? What specific benefit can the prospect hope to gain?
With a few extra words, however, this blurb could be transformed: “Is the risk of meeting new people keeping you at home, staring at your four walls? Swallow your fear, take a risk, and join a bunch of singles like yourself this Friday at 7:30 P.M. at the Community Church.”
This promotion speaks to people (uses the pronoun “you” or “your” four times), speaks directly to the prospect’s situation (boredom, risk, fear), clearly states one specific benefit (meeting people like yourself), and suggests a hidden benefit (you won’t have to stare at the four walls on Friday night).
Previously our church’s advertising had merely emphasized the features of our programs: the who, what, when, and where. In essence, they are nothing more than announcements, and announcements motivate only those already planning to attend.
To reach the unmotivated, I have learned to speak specifically to a prospect’s situation and describe at least one benefit he or she can hope to receive by coming to our program.
For example, when recruiting volunteers for youth counselor, we wrote, “Remember that one person who influenced your life when you were 16 years old? You can be that person as a youth counselor.”
The publicity for joining a weekly Bible study went, “What could be better: Learn about God’s truth, make new friends, and eat cake!”
Having something to offer
I used to wonder if in this approach the church was merely mimicking commercial advertising, using unholy means for holy ends.
I’m convinced that, far from mimicking commercial advertising, we are practicing sound outreach: telling people that we are here and what, in fact, they will gain from participating in our church. Good advertising is an act of love, keeping the neighbor first in our minds.
Of course, marketing is not the key to church growth. The church must have something real and vibrant to offer people who come. The Lord must be building his church. No matter how effective and motivating our advertising, if the Lord isn’t at work in our midst, we won’t see prospects become disciples.
A cold church is like cold butter-neither spreads very well. If our church is cold, the hottest advertising will not warm it up.
But if the church’s ministries are alive and well, aimed at meeting people’s deepest needs, a little effective advertising goes a long way.
-Brian Beckett
First United Methodist Church
Lafayette, Ohio
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
