MKT DS LCEF Project Plan

MARKETING PLANS BOOK 1

Marketing Plans Book

Elisabeth Desiron, Jasmin Drake, Ellen Moussou, Hannah Rummel, and Jodi Ulm

Faculty Advisor: Daniel Stiller


Table of Contents

Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………… 3

Objective ………………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Project Plan ……………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Marketing Groundwork ………………………………………………………………………... 4

Marketing Survey ……………………………………………………………………… 6

Survey Tool …………………………………………………………………………….. 6

Not Just a Service Provider, a Partnership ………………………………………………………. 7

“Look at the Big Picture” Conference …………………………………………………………... 8

LCEF Campaign Proposal ………………………………………………………………. 8

Promotion ……………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Conference Itinerary/Agenda ……………………………………………………………. 9

Budget ………………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………... 11

References ………………………………………………………………………………………..


Executive Summary


Objective

The objectives of the marketing plan were to both create new loan opportunities and to increase knowledge of the depth of services that LCEF offers. Both of these are going to be accomplished through igniting the imaginations of ministry leaders. This plan aims to choose the right group of leaders and distribute the right message to them. Instead of being merely a “service-provider,” LCEF will be viewed as a valuable partner to individuals and ministries alike. This process will allow a group of the most influential leaders to take place in a “Look at the Big Picture” Conference in which they will be able to share their personal stories and learn more about LCEF. Overall, the plan will inform these leaders about importance of loans and of LCEF’s other services all while igniting their imaginations with the Light of Christ.

Project Plan

One of the most important components of marketing is knowing who to market to. If the wrong group of people is chosen, a marketing campaign can quickly fail. However, when the right marketing message is given to the right group of people, it can excel in attracting new business. In order to ignite leaders’ imaginations, LCEF first needs to know the right group of leaders to choose from. Some leaders may have more influence, and therefore more potential to expand LCEF’s customer base than other leaders. How will LCEF choose these influential leaders? By implementing a detailed system of segmentation and targeting. After implementing this system and choosing the right group of leaders, LCEF then needs to make sure it is transmitting the right message. LCEF is a partner to ministries, not merely a service provider. A “Look at the Big Picture” Conference can then be hosted in which these leaders will both be able to learn more about LCEF’s services and ignite their imaginations with the Light of Christ.

Marketing Groundwork

A BCG Matrix was used to preliminarily determine potential target markets:

Influence

Question Marks Stars

Dogs Cash Cows

Market Share

The BCG Matrix can help determine which groups of congregations would provide the highest “return on ignition,” or return on investment, during the “Look at the Big Picture” Conference. Influence is the amount of sway a congregational leader would have over his own congregation and nearby congregations. Market share concentrates on how much a particular leader’s congregation uses LCEF’s services. The congregations in the star category have high influence


and they also use a large amount of LCEF’s services. It doesn’t make sense to market to them because they already know about LCEF and its wide variety of services. Cash cows do use a lot of LCEF’s services but do not have wide spheres of influence. It is important to sustain this group but not to invest in it. The dogs do not use LCEF and do not have large spheres of influences. This group does not have the ability to influence other congregations so it would be difficult to try and market to them.

The question mark group is the key segment for LCEF to focus on. These are the congregations that have growing spheres of influence who don’t use LCEF a lot. These congregations have a high probability to provide a high amount of “return on ignition.” Once LCEF is able to ignite these congregations’ imaginations, they will be able to spread the word about LCEF’s services and create more business opportunities for LCEF.

From this question mark category, LCEF can go into even deeper forms of segmentation that will maximize “return on ignition”:

Variety

Tire Kickers Knowledgeable

Uninitiated Focused

Frequency

These deeper categories can further segment important groups of leaders and their congregations. Variety consists of the diversity of services that a congregation uses. For example, a congregation may be using different types of loans, the Laborers for Christ Program, and Pastor Coaching. Another congregation may only be using a few types of loans. Frequency addresses how often a congregation utilizes LCEF’s services. These factors are important in determining who to market to. The uninitiated group does not use a variety of services and doesn’t use them very frequently. Similar to the dog group, it would be very difficult to market to the uninitiated because it is unaware of LCEF. The knowledgeable group uses a variety of services frequently. Like the stars, this group knows about LCEF.

The two main segments that LCEF can focus on are the tire kickers and the focused users. The tire kickers use a variety of services but not as frequently as possible. The focused users utilize LCEF’s services frequently but fail to use a variety of services. So, how can LCEF market to these two groups? For the focused group, LCEF can educate them about different services that it provides. For the tire kickers, LCEF can promote their services and encourage more regular usage.

Overall, it is crucial to research these segments to determine the right people to invite. If LCEF doesn’t have the right people, any subsequent marketing campaigns will not be successful.


Marketing Survey – “How do we determine which congregations we should market to?”

In order to accomplish this process of segmentation, a survey was created and sent to LCEF Regional contacts. The survey comprised the following questions:

1. What are the 10 biggest churches in your region?

2. How many LCEF services does each congregation use?

3. How often do these congregations use LCEF’s services?

4. How often do these congregations repeatedly use services? Is there a strong turnaround of repeat users?

5. How does the presence of Thrivent affect the LCEF?

6. Are churches able to both utilize Thrivent and LCEF?

A sample size of the 10 largest congregations was used because they have high abilities to influence other congregations. These questions address both variety and frequency aspects of LCEF usage and they also take competition factors into account. When the congregations that do not use LCEF very frequently or don’t use a variety of services are found, then they can be targeted with a marketing campaign, in this case, the “Look at the Big Picture” Conference.

After sending out these questions, it was found that there were legal restrictions on questions 2, 3, and 4. They were sent out again to Diane Heagley. However, several of the responses that were received stated that it would take way too long to gain the information listed. To remedy this problem, surveys like the one listed below can be sent out to the district VP’s. In this way, they will have vital information about each congregation in his or her geographic area and will know which congregations to market to. The data can be compiled ahead of time so that every congregation is accounted for.

Survey Tool

Usage can be measured in different geographic areas with user status (light, heavy, former, and non-user) and user behavior (how a customer uses LCEF and what services they use).

Geographic District:

1. How many congregations are located in the geographic district?

2. Which congregations use LCEF? Which congregations use it frequently/ not frequently?

3. Which congregations are the biggest? How many members are there in these larger congregations?


After the geographic district and the possible marketing target congregations are identified, LCEF can begin to gather data about these target congregations.

Congregation Name:

User Status: Non-user Light user (1-2 services) Heavy user (3-4 services) Former

user (5 or more services)

User Behavior (Frequency): Doesn’t use 1-2 times per year 3-4 times per year

5 or more times per year

Sphere of Influence (How big is the congregation?): Large Medium Small

This data can be compiled so that LCEF draw from it when looking to gain more loan opportunities and increase general knowledge about LCEF’s wide variety of services. The congregations that need more marketing attention can be identified so that LCEF can receive the most “return on ignition” through its marketing campaigns.

Let Us Partner With You

After the right people are selected, the right message needs to be delivered to them. The right people will not respond if the right message is not portrayed. LCEF offers a variety of different services with the purpose of partnering with its congregations and supporting their missions to spread the Word of Jesus Christ. The LCEF mission statement captures this sentiment clearly:

“LCEF’s mission is to support the Church in fulfilling its mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by being a Christ-centered servant partner of the LCMS, ensuring that funds and services are available now and in the future.”

-LCEF Mission Statement

“Servant partner” is a key term in this statement. It is crucial for LCEF to be viewed as a partner and not merely a service provider. Yes, LCEF does provide loan services to congregations and individuals but it also strives to create ongoing, successful partnerships. “Service provider” evokes dull, mechanical processes whereas “partner” emphasizes continued work. A partnership will sound much more attractive to a potential loan customer than a service provider because it suggests that LCEF will work alongside and help the customer achieve his or her vision. When marketing to the leaders at the conference, this partner mentality will be discussed not only through loans, but services like Laborers for Christ. These ongoing projects would not be able to be completed if LCEF did not act as a partner. This will further be explained in depth at the conference.

“We, here at the LCEF, would like to partner with you to help you realize the full potential of your dreams. Not only will we help you realize that dream but we would also like to bring it to


fruition. Rather than being a lender we see ourselves as partnered providers who share in the hopes and dreams of our community. If you have a vision and are unsure of how to take your first step we are more than glad to help you. The LCEF not only provides support through financial services but also through the members of our congregation. We want to help Churches, Families, and Individuals spread the love and light of Christ through partnership with the LCEF.”

LCEF Project Plan - “Look at the Big Picture” Conference

After these key congregations and a successful message are identified, the LCEF can then invite their leaders to the “Look at the Big Picture” Conference. In this conference, LCEF members like Jim Britton will speak with the LCMS leaders about the various benefits that LCEF offers. There will be a series of sessions within the conference that will discuss LCEF’s services for both churches and individual members. The importance of investment will be stressed so that LCEF can gain new customers and further God’s mission for congregations. There will also be sessions explaining the purpose of LCEF and its mission. In addition, this conference will be a learning experience for the leaders, allowing them to discuss the best ways to serve their member churches and ultimately, the best ways they can serve God. The slogan for the conference will be “Igniting Imagination with the Light of Christ.”

At the conference, we would like to encourage the district leaders to remind their member churches of the benefits of LCEF. We would like to create promotional booklets and materials to hand out to the leaders. They can then transmit the promotional materials to their member churches. We understand that this is hard to do with paper copies so we will also be providing all of our attendees with electronic copies as well.


Figure 1. Advertisements such as this will be used to promote the conference and will appear on promotional materials and on a social media page for the conference.

Look at the Big Picture- LCEF Campaign Proposal

Kids on a playground, why? How did they get there, what are they being a part of? The idea for our campaign is “Igniting Imagination with the Light of Christ.” People need to get inspired and excited about investing and participating in LCEF programs. Thinking beyond loans and investment, what can be built? What can come from interaction with LCEF? What are the benefits?

Community is built

Faith is built

Service opportunities

Church expansion

People can get inspired through success stories from previous projects and from images like the one above, letting people's minds wander and think about what could be going on with their ministry initiative; we can inspire people to take action.


LCEF offers a resource that can allow for your mind to wander, with the support and integrity of the LCMS we want to empower and Ignite Imagination with the Light of Christ.

Promotion

We would like to promote the conference on a specially designed Facebook page. The page will have information about the conference and links to important information. There will also be a tab for the attendees to RSVP to the conference. The page will serve as a public forum and the attendees will be able to ask any questions they may have. In addition to this, there will also be a special LCEF Experience page on LCEF’s website dedicated to the conference. We will have a discussion board on the page where anyone can post questions to be discussed at the conference. At the conference, there will be a session dedicated to answering questions from the public. In this way, the public can discuss concerns with LCEF and the district leaders, therefore leading to better ways to serving customers and the mission of God.


Figures 2-4. The LCEF “Look at the Big Picture” Conference Facebook page will allow LCEF to connect with congregational leaders and individual customers as well. They can post questions, see what will be discussed at the conference, and even view the agenda.


For the event, we will have a paper copy of the agenda and we will also place it online well before the conference takes place. The agenda will also be placed on the LCEF page as shown above.

We will also create promotional items to hand out to the leaders at the conference. Brochures and flyers about different types of services can be given out to leaders depending on their needs. These informational items can then be distributed to leaders to give to members of their congregations. The items will also be saved onto flash drives for the conference attendees for easier access.

Figure 5. An example of a promotional item that will be given out to the leaders at the conference. They can then share it with their congregations.

In addition to the different promotional items and the Facebook page, promotional photos and practical items will be given. The theme of igniting imagination conjures images of light and fire. Items such as flashlights with LCEF logos and Bible verses will be handed out at the conference along with the handouts and flyers. Follow-up materials will also be sent out with text reading “How will you ignite your fire?” with LCEF contact information and a matchbook to create a visual reminder.

Figure 6. Another example of an “Igniting Imagination with the Light of Christ” promotional photo.


Figure 7. LCEF promotional follow-up materials with matchbook.

Conference Itinerary/Agenda

Friday

6:00-7:00 PM: Check in to hotel

7:30-8:30 PM: Welcome

Saturday

8:00-8:45 AM: Conference Mission: Igniting Imaginations with the Light of Christ (Keynote Speaker)

9:00-10:15 AM: 1st Session (Group is split up into 5 Groups: A, B, C, D, E)

A. Explaining Investment Opportunities to CongregationsB. Loan Opportunities for ChurchesC. Laborers for Christ, VisionPath, Pastor CoachingD. Architectural Advisory Committee, Consecrated Stewards, Young Investors ClubE. Igniting Imagination with the Light of Christ

10:30-11:45 AM: 2nd Session

A. Loan Opportunities for ChurchesB. Laborers for Christ, VisionPath, Pastor CoachingC. Architectural Advisory Committee, Consecrated Stewards, Young Investors ClubD. Igniting Imagination with the Light of ChristE. Explaining Investment Opportunities to Congregations

11:45-12:45 PM: Lunch

1:00-2:15 PM: 3rd Session

A. Laborers for Christ, VisionPath, Pastor Coaching


B. Architectural Advisory Committee, Consecrated Stewards, Young Investors ClubC. Igniting Imagination with the Light of ChristD. Explaining Investment Opportunities to CongregationsE. Loan Opportunities for Churches

2:30-3:45 PM: 4th Session

A. Architectural Advisory Committee, Consecrated Stewards, Young Investors ClubB. Igniting Imagination with the Light of ChristC. Explaining Investment Opportunities to CongregationsD. Loan Opportunities for ChurchesE. Laborers for Christ, VisionPath, Pastor Coaching

4:00-5:15 PM: 5th Session

A. Igniting Imagination with the Light of ChristB. Explaining Investment Opportunities to CongregationsC. Loan Opportunities for ChurchesD. Laborers for Christ, VisionPath, Pastor CoachingE. Architectural Advisory Committee, Consecrated Stewards, Young Investors Club

5:30-6:30 PM: Dinner

7:00-8:30 PM: Testimonials and Q&A with Public

Sunday

9:00-9:30 AM: Short Worship Service (Optional)

10:30 AM: Check out of hotel

Budget

The majority of the budget will be focused on the “Look at the Big Picture” Conference for promotional materials, transportation, and hotel costs. The budget is calculated for approximately 50 attendees near and around the St. Louis area. The remainder of the budget will be allocated for marketing groundwork costs:

Costs Amount of MoneyTransportation and Plane TicketsHotel and LodgingFacilityProviding FoodPromotional MaterialsFlash Drives for Digital Copies of MaterialsFollow-up MaterialsKeynote Speaker Fee


Other Promotion – Facebook pageAgendaMarketing SurveyGathering Marketing Data

-Renting a facility - Using the St. Louis Buildings

-Providing promotional materials for district leaders such as handouts, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc.

Conclusion

Overall, all of the suggestions in this plan will allow for continued success for the LCEF in both gaining new loan opportunities and to increase the knowledge of the depth of the different events, all while igniting leaders’ imaginations with the Light of Christ. The segmentation will allow LCEF to choose the right people and the partnership denotation will allow for the right message to be sent out. Then, both of these components can be integrated into the “Look at the Big Picture” Conference, a repeatable process in any geographic region.

References

Documents

MKT DS LCEF Project Plan