Marketing Your Church = Building New Relationships

If we really want our churches to grow, it's only logical that we need to be actively building relationships with new people, those who don't already know us. But how do you do this on a mass scale, with the thousands of people in your community? First of all, understand that communicating about your church is very different than marketing a soft drink or a candy bar. People don't need to know much before trying a new brand of ice cream, but a deep level of trust is required when it comes to choosing where their family will be taught and cared for, and where they will invest their time, talent and resources.

The process of attracting new people to your church—and keeping them—can be broken down into four steps:

Like us » Know us » Trust us » Join us

 
Step #1: Like Us
When you meet someone for the first time, you make a judgment on whether you like them. You pay attention to their personality, their sense of humor and how they interact with you. Whether we admit it or not, first impressions really are huge. We make instant decisions, often subconsciously, about whether we want to get to know that person better.       

In business, a "brand" is a mental image that comes to mind when someone thinks about an organization or a product. What is the mental image that comes to mind when people think of your church? Do you make a great first impression? Does it compel them to want to get to know you better? If you could paint the perfect mental picture about your church for the people in your city, what would it look like?

"Church branding" goes way beyond creating a logo. It's about identifying what's truly unique and special about your church, and then understanding how it connects with the real needs of the people in your city. It's about expressing and articulating that special something in an authentic way every time someone touches your church.

Comments

[David (Marketing Integrity)]

Rod, I like where you are going with this post. A challenge that churches face sometimes goes even deeper than what people think of "your church". Often, people have been hurt by a church so they lump all churches into their perception of what they experienced in the past. Sometimes people connect "the church" with how their experiences with "Christians" have been in the past.

So, for any given church that trust factor may have a lot further to go to overcome people's past experiences. Great thing is Jesus can break through any of those barriers! Church jsut have to be sensitive to know they have a lot of trust rebuilding to do.