What is Marketing Marketing is all about branding – Think about your church

as a business. What is the “business” of your church Greater Allen Cathedral mission… “Expanding the Kingdom

by Transforming Lives” How do we tell that story through marketing

What is your brand?

What members and others see about your ministry

Marketing is all about “how” - How to tell your story effectively

Marketing is a process that takes time It can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be

effective

Your church is marketing/communicating daily

Marketing refers to the process

of by which your ministry is

introduced to people

Marketing is Not Advertising

People often confuse marketing with advertising

Advertising is the description or presentation of your ministry

Advertising is a single component of the marketing process Advertising is responsible for getting the word

out about your ministry Ad placement

Radio, TV, Newspaper, Direct Mail, Internet

Intentional Marketing

“Make sure you market for ministry and not just a specific element of your ministry.

When the church doors are closed you are still marketing your ministry Website, social media pages, signage, etc., Stay relevant and consistent with your

message

Promote a ministry event, bible study, etc., maintain focus on the overall brand (Church/Pastor)

Why Strategic Planning

Dr. John Zietlow, professor of strategic management at Mount Vernon Nazarene College and author of the book Financial Planning for the Nonprofit Organizations, stated that the planning processes are what drive the focus and implementation of a ministry.

It is necessary to have specific goals for any activity to measure ministry effectiveness in addition to thinking strategically for long-term success.

“The strategy is the glue that holds it all together, strategy gives clarity in direction and is helpful for organizations to operate effectively” (Zietlow 2001).

Marketing Strategy

Every church should have a marketing strategy

A marketing strategy allows ministries to market effectively

Marketing strategy helps you develop a promotional strategy

Help you understand how to connect with your members

Strategic Imperatives:

List ministry goals for the year Special events, Conferences, Concerts, Outreach

projects

Identify target audience for each goal. Where does your audience spend most of its time online Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Foursquare

Develop strategic plan How will your ministry go about achieving its goals Have a plan in place for both the expected and

unexpected. Example: If you know membership giving decreases in

the summer months, a strategic plan will outline how you will increase revenue or decrease expenses to meet the financial needs during a season of decrease

Strategic Tactics

Once you’ve done the following: Identify goals How to achieve goals Know target audience

Develop & Implement marketing tactics Campaigns put in place to achieve goals and

reach your audience

Promoting Your Ministry

Word of mouth

Online Website Social Media E-Marketing

Mass Media Print Radio TV

Social Media Growth According to Nielsen’s 2012 State of the Media: The Social

Media Report Since the emergence of the first social media network two

decades ago, Social media has continued to evolve and offers consumers around the world, new and meaningful ways to connect. Social networking is a global phenomenon

Social TV is on the rise: As of June 2012, 33% of Twitter users had actively tweeted about TV-related content. Some 44 percent of U.S. Tablet owners and 38 percent of U.S. smartphone owners use their devices daily to access social media while watching television Example: Consider live streaming of worship service --

Incorporate interactive technology that allows viewers to participate in the worship experience online via Twitter and Facebook. Connect with your viewers and make them truly feel part of the worship experience. Others will join the “conversation” and actually help share your message with their network.

This strategy allows churches to bring awareness to their ministry and enable “online disciples” to help you spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Social Media Facebook: 1.15 billion users

YouTube: 1 billion users, 4 million views per day

Twitter: 500 million users (200 million active)

Skype: 300 million users

Gmail: 425 million users

Instagram: 130 million users

LinkedIn: 238 million users

Pinterest: 70 million users

Foursquare: 33 million users

Stats by Digital Marketing Ramblings/Digital Marketing Stats

Social Media Marketing Social Media should be included in your marketing

strategy. One of the key elements of social media is building relationships with people. Engage your followers daily!

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are great places to start

Identify and implement creative ways to interact with your members and increase awareness to your ministry

Engage in conversation – Avoid “spam” posts Example: The only time your followers hear from you is

when you have an event to promote

Social Media Marketing

It is definitely a distraction when people “tweet” or “post” during a worship experience. However, the truth is – people will do it anyway. Set the tone – create a #hashtag or theme for a

particular worship service, conference or event and encourage the “tweeters” to use the #hashtag when tweeting about your event.

Make it part of the worship experience and give your audience an opportunity to be messengers for your message – It’s network building and it will bring awareness to your ministry and your message

Mobile Marketing More people are using mobile devices to access

social media

According to a recent United Nations Telecom report; there are approximately 6 billion cell phone subscribers…Including those in 3rd world countries. The world’s population is just over 7 billion.

People are spending more time on their mobile devices and less time on their desktops

Text message marketing solutions is another element to include in your overall marketing strategy: Group messaging and Text Alerts

Mobile Marketing Trends –According to

Socialnomics 46% of mobile users will not return to a website

that does not work on their mobile device (make sure you website is optimized for mobile phones). If a website took more than 5 seconds to open on

your mobile device would you continue to wait?

41% of email is now opened on smartphone or tablet

Average prices spent on mobile phones $97.39 – tablets $96.11 – desktop $91.86 Mobile pay

Google+ Inexpensive ways to bring awareness to

your ministry Host a Google+ hangout. Members love to

connect with their Pastors, ministry leaders. Identify up to 12 faithful members, biggest financial contributors and ask them to participate in a hangout. Promote the hangout/event online and invite your membership to join in. Host a Google+ hangout monthly around a specific topic, event or conference. It’s free and allows churches to engage their members and connect with the pastors.

YouTube

YouTube recently expanded its Live Streaming to channels with just 100 subscribers. This allows more video producers to use You Tube for live streaming. This also comes with the ability to link externally to online stores and user websites – allowing users to monetize their shows on YouTube

Email Marketing One of the most reliable ways for churches to

communicate with its congregation. The average open rate is approximately 20% across all industries

Great way to reinforce relationships through special offers (conference registration, sermon products, books, music CDs, etc.) and keep your “product” top-of-mind. Offer discounts

Effective Email Marketing Eye-catching design Consistent scheduling Keep layout design consistent – use the same template Measure success through analytic software Keep content concise. Avoid information overload

• Email Marketing Services•Constant Contact•Mail Chimp

Email Marketing

Include links within marketing email to “brand” your presence on social media Allow recipients to easily share your

information Drive traffic to your social media sites to build

your audience Emphasize other ways people can receive

information from you Website Blog Phone Address

Ministry Website 10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Have

a Website1. Connect with membership

2. Relevant use of communication

3. Brings awareness to your church

4. Broadcasts your message globally

5. Curates church content/events

6. Can increase revenue through online giving, pledge programs

7. Inexpensive advertising platform

8. Portal to link to other online networks

9. Control your content and your message

10.A way for people to find out how to get involved

Relationship Building A key component to marketing is building

relationships with people, companies and others that will help you reach your marketing goals.

Establish relationships with the media. The media are an important conduit for delivering your message Local radio stations Newspapers TV executives Bloggers Social media influencers can all help you with your

marketing goals.

Final Thoughts

Don’t rely on only one or two ways to market your ministry

Your marketing should achieve more than a short-term goal or instant ticket sale or conference registration.

Always consider long-term goal when creating your marketing plan

Marketing is 24/7 -