Marketing
Church marketing needs to keep pace with marketing methods used by other ventures. The days of carefully honed mission statements, trifold brochures and notices pinned on bulletin boards are over. (See Communications Strategy for a complete presentation.)
Use e-mail, if possible
People simply don't pay significant attention to postal mailing, especially to brochures and circulars. A short, visually interesting e-mail will be read.
Information, not salesmanship
In membership recruitment, helpful information matters more than salesmanship. Information should avoid in-house assumptions ("meeting at Barbara's house," with no further details), and avoid code words and acronyms. Information to prospects and new member should go light on church politics. Prospects and new members aren't likely to value a church's institutional trials.
Be clear about what is being offered and why (that is, benefit to be received).
Pay attention to image
Goal: establish a positive image. A congregation doesn't want to appear slick, but it does want to appear professional. Branding, copy and editing should meet normal business standards. Remember: the competition for attention isn't between your marketing and another church's, but between your efforts and the many marketing appeals that prospects and new members receive from commerce.
Your intended image needs to be about people and their ministries, not about the building, denomination, or parish history.
Learn to harvest e-mail addresses
All e-mails should provide an opportunity to gather more e-mail addresses. All events should have a sign-in process that includes both name and e-mail address. Your web site should include a tool that enables member to update their own personal data, especially their e-mail address.
Use a professional e-mail handler (such as www.aweber.com) to make sure you verify permission to send, present a visible Unsubscribe option. Your goal is to keep addresses up to date.
