10 Ways to Improve Marketing without Spending Any Money
The other day I started thinking about the constraints that we have as churches given today’s current economic conditions. With that in mind, I began to brainstorm ways we can continue to improve how we communicate with the people we are trying to reach without spending any money. These are solutions that any church of any shape and size should be able to engage. Here are…
10 Ways to Improve Marketing without Spending Any Money
- Improve guest services on Sunday mornings. Stress that Sunday mornings are a time for your hospitality team to be focused on visitors. The number one reason people will come back to your church is if they find the church to be friendly.
- Follow through with your promises. If someone volunteers to take a next step in a group, serving or an event, make sure the process is in place to follow up in a timely and personal fashion.
- Make it easy for people ask questions. Create a one-stop location, physical or online, where visitors can receive more information about your church.
- Create ministry environments that compel people to invite their friends. Excellent preaching and worship music is not enough. Every environment in the church needs to create an opportunity for life change. When that happens, you won’t be able to stop folks from inviting their friends.
- Embrace social media. Facebook, Twitter and blogs are an easy way to engage people in conversation and develop relationships. As relationships are developed, you’ll earn the credibility to encourage people to take next steps.
- Be different. Begin an unexpected series, have a unique worship experience or do something (good) that gets people talking.
- Make your church an active part of the community. Open your campus to the community, but also get engaged outside the walls of the church where you can directly impact people’s lives.
- Eliminate the noise. Prioritize what needs to be communicated. Eliminate competing messages. Stop the spam. The fewer the messages we deliver, the more likely the important messages will be heard.
- Encourage word-of-mouth marketing. The number one reason people will show up to your church for the very first time is because someone invites them. If you have stopped growing, your very first question should be this: Why have people stopped inviting their friends and what would have to happen for that to change?
- Lead by example. Although leading a church can become all-encompassing, find a way to cultivate personal relationships with nonbelievers. I know of a student who refused to walk through the doors of the church until her youth pastor, who got to know her at an outreach event, wrote her a two-line note thanking her for being a part of the youth group.
Have you used any of these strategies? What was the outcome? And do you have any other free marketing ideas that you’d like to share?
Tony. This is a great list. I’ve found it’s critical that a strategy be in place to track the success of all the suggestions you mentioned. Tracking the metrics is vital. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you’re going. Blessings!
This is a great list, I know you’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible leaders so this is extremely helpful. I particularly love these.
#5. Embrace social media
#7. Make your church an active part of the community
#8. Eliminate the Noise
Those are the ones that stood out for me. Thanks for the post bro. Great stuff.
M_
Awesome. So many times we get wrapped up in the “bells and whistles” that we forget foundational aspects of ministry: being hospitable.
In a nutshell: do what you say, and do it well.
Good work, Tony.
Marketing is so much more than emails, social, billboards, etc. Marketing is an experience, a belief, or a image.
Remember, referrals are a church’s number one marketing tool, bringing in more than 70% of guests. Therefore, focusing on the experience is your primary marketing tool.
#9 should be #1…
The people that already attend your church have more influence and trust built up in their networks of influence than any marketing campaign could achieve. Leveraging your people, their passion, and using them as trust agents is key.
You are right on the mark with the question: “Why have people stopped inviting their friends and what would have to happen for that to change?”
This is very good. http://www.onthecity.org covers all 10 points in spades. Thanks Tony!
Great stuff as always Tony. Too many churches just give up because they don’t have a budget. But good marketing isn’t necessarily about money. It’s about an attitude toward the people you’re serving.
I cannot endorse #2 “Follow Through With Your Promises” more. From my experience, being a church that under-promises and over-delivers is critical. When you over-promise and under-deliver, people catch on over time that you do not deliver on what you say and a huge credibility gap surfaces. If you promise a “4″ and deliver a “6″, you’re better off than promising a “10″ and delivering a “9″. Once you’re seen as over-promising, it is hard to shake the stigma.