Chris Miller, President of Miller Management, is the guest host of this week’s episode. He is joined by his colleague, Dave Gordon, station manager at Life 88.5.
This month we will dive into marketing basics for churches. What it is? Should the church use it? And when and how do you use marketing?
Marketing vs. Advertising
First, let’s define the differences. Marketing is about who you are and what you do with the world around you. Our guest is a big proponent of marketing. He believes that advertising is marketing, but marketing is so much more. From a pleasant person answering the phone to advertising your message to the masses.
Advertising comes down to Reach, Frequency, & Message. Reach: How many people can you get your message to? Frequency: How many times can you expose those people to your message? Message: your specific message.
Top 8 Marketing Tips
Our guest shares his eight tips for good marketing practices.
1. Marketing determines and offers what people want. It identifies real and perceived needs that you can provide. It generally offers a unique experience – something they can’t get to on their own. Then, provides easy access to that thing.
2. Relates to the interest of the target audience. Example: Cowboy Church – offering a specific group a place to be. Or expanding church goers horizons by offering a class in Revelations.
3. Good marketing also has an inside out perspective. It’s not about what the ministry offers, but what the attendee will received. It should also be focused on Jesus, on the gospel.
4. Creates pull – this is a great time to use storytelling. Every time a good story is heard, you will relate to your own experience. The brain loves stories.
5. Good marketing is interactive. When you tell that good story, it makes a connection, which provides an unconscious response to relate to your own experience.
6. Focuses on the long-term.
7. Provide a call to action: a specific action, invite them in. Examples: “join us Tuesday” or “sign up now”.
8. Lastly, Retention. Marketing continues after the decision has been made – or the person comes to the event, etc. – but your job is not done. Continue to foster that relationship.
In Conclusion
To our church friends who seem hesitant to use marketing in ministry, our guest believes that Jesus used marketing to spread his message. How did there come to be 5,000 people on that hillside after all?
An easy way to utilize marketing in your church is to simply say, “Let me tell you about my story with Jesus…” and then invite them to a service. (#4 Storytelling & #7 Call to Action 😉) We would encourage you to find a natural way that you can utilize marketing in your ministry.
Join us next week as we continue in our conversation about Church Marketing through the elements of storytelling.
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Special thanks to our guest, Dave Gordon, and our masters of all things Podcasting, Chris and Lauren Miller, for this first episode in our Marketing in Ministry series.