Leading up to Holy Week and up to Easter, I have seen a lot of conversation going on about church marketing. Many churches were in the one week blitz up leading up to Easter and sending out a mass volumes of tweets, mailers, postcards, YouTube commercials and maybe even smoke signals to get people to come to the church.
During this massive bombardment of advertising, I wrote the tweet "Church marketing is a journey of a thousand steps and not a one night stand (called an Easter postcard)." Almost immediately, I received a direct message from some I really respect in the marketing field that said, "you wouldn't guess that from my mailbox this week."
During the same timeframe, there has been a spirited conversation about church marketing. Jason Coker who blogs on pastoralia.com and I had a very civil and spirited debate on the topic with titles like "The Prostitution of the Gospel" among others. (For those of you interested, here is the back and forth… Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) Others have also stated their opinion on church marketing and received AMENS! on both sides of the discussion.
I liked Phil Cooke's challenge in his blog post "Pastors Who Are Uncomfortable Marketing the Church" when he stated:
"My challenge to these critical pastors is to publish your next book without a cover design – just a plain black cover with a plain title printed on it. Then don't mention it (that's marketing after all), don't let the publisher take out a magazine ad, and don't allow it promoted online."
Others have said that the best marketing for churches is their members. All the parties have made very good points. Everyone is very passionate about their position.
My question is: Why is marketing the church so polarizing?
A one night stand vs. a long term relationship
I think much of the debate comes from our misperceptions between advertising and marketing. I was listening to Mitch Joel's podcast, Six Pixels of Separation, in his interview with Sally Hogshead about fascination and its role in marketing. Mitch made a side comment that really caught my ear. He said that role of marketing is becoming much more than advertising. The changes in mass media and the growth of social media is requiring the shift from concentrating on highly creative 30 second spots on TV to focusing on how to build a longer-term relationship with consumers.
That set me off to thinking…Is the problem that pastors and church professionals are confusing advertising with marketing? Are they so focused on the advertising event (postcard, TV spot, YouTube ad, etc.) that they never see the marketing discipline (creating a longer-term relationship with the seeker)?
Seth Godin, in Permission Marketing, made the case that people are sick of being bombarded with messages. In 1998, 17,000 new grocery store products were introduced, $1,000 worth of advertising was directed at you, you see over 3,000 marketing messages a day.
In other words, you are bombarded by advertising every day, interrupting your day constantly, and the tactics are getting more desperate every day. (If you have any doubt, watch the latest round of the Super Bowl commercials). This is what people see and so they equate advertising and marketing. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Marketing is a discipline to "an integrated process through which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return." In other words, it is about creating a mutually beneficial relationship between two parties.
Advertising is just a subset of the broader discipline of marketing. There are many. Public relations (managing your message in the press), promotion (using offers to entice behavior), event marketing, social media, e-mail marketing, and many others are all tactics designed to engage you and attempt to influence your behavior.
Many church "marketing" companies are nothing more that "tactics" machines. They offer customized postcards, a kitschy logo, or pretty brochure. Don't get confused. That isn't marketing. It is just a tactic.
Would you ask someone to marry you on a first date?
That is the issue many churches have in their marketing approaches. Some churches are like the "Christmas and Easter lounge lizards" who show up at the crowded night club, try out their "pick-up" line and then try to get the girl home for the night. Others maybe less scary than a lounge lizard, but the approach is still the same…"Hey, nice to meet you. Why don't you come over to my place?"
The major problem is that going to a new place, with its own standards and rituals is a very scary thing to do. One church consultant I heard stated that "every new person that walks in through your door is in crisis." A person coming to a church for the first time is scared, usually in pain (missing something in their life, scared about raising a child for the first time, new to the community, had a problem at their own church, etc.) I think that is one reason mega-churches do well. You can slip in and out without being noticed and they have intentionally tried to make it comfortable for the "non-churched" person.
The marketing discipline is essential for every church. You need to think about how you engage someone not in your faith community and form a relationship with them from an initial introduction to final integration into the church community. It requires stepping out of your own shoes and placing yourself in another's mindset.
Here are a few practical steps:
1. Get clear on who you are trying to reach. What are they like? What are their cares and concerns? What are their fears about coming to church?
2. Walk through your church "in their shoes." What would be their perceptions? Would they be able to find childcare for their kids? Would they feel safe? What would be running through their mind?
3. Determine the steps in the relationship. How are you fostering a relationship with them? How do you get introduced? How do they get to know you? What would it take to make them comfortable enough to visit?
4. Determine the tactics you should use. Now it is time to think about advertising, events, social media, etc. to determine how to facilitate the relationship.
Marketing is all about creating a valuable relationship between an individual, the church and God. It is not about our own self-interest, but about fulfilling both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
We need to love those we are trying to reach, not just lust after them to sit in the pews. Stop going for the one night stand and start looking for the real thing.
Related Posts:
One way to grow your congregation…SKIP CHURCH!
Getting Started in Social Media – Start by Listening.
IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!…Ways to create a connection using social media.
Desperately seeking data…learning more about your community.
Understanding your audience…Using personas to connect with your community.
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