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The Case For Church Marketing
First in a series By John F. Bagwell - President ChurchMax -------------------------------
The is an archive of a previously published Church marketing Newsletter.
You can receive current issues by subscribing
to this newsletter. Other back issues of this newsletter are available on
the church marketing newsletter archive page.
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-------------------------------- Mention "church marketing"
to pastors and church leaders and you are sure to get a variety of responses.
For many, the thought of having to "market" the church is something
that just doesn't seem right. "We've never marketed our church," said
one pastor "and I don't see any reason to start now." If you
think of marketing in the traditional sense and compare marketing a local church
to marketing a consumer product, such as an automobile, then it may appear that
we are "commercializing" the church. However, most churches take
part in some form of marketing every week - often without knowing it. What
is marketing?
In the broadest sense marketing is offering a product
or service that people want or need with a result that a "change in ownership"
takes place. Designing and offering an automobile that few people actually purchase
is not really marketing. The actual sale must be closed for the marketing function
to be complete. The same thing is true for churches. Depending upon your goal
you need people to either visit your church, join the church, give to the ministry
or in someway become involved. Someone needs to respond. Marketing is simply the
vehicle that gets people to your church. Of course, a good marketing plan also
keeps people involved in the church. We'll talk more about that in upcoming issues
of this newsletter. The 4 P's of Marketing There are actually four
areas of marketing. Like a chain, if any of the links is bad the whole chain does
not function. These include the Price, Product, Placement (distribution) and Promotion.
In upcoming issues of this newsletter I will focus on these 4 P's to show you
just how to get the most from your marketing efforts for your church or ministry.
The Marketing Concept
Through the years our country has evolved
more to a marketing concept for goods and services than the traditional sales
concept. When Henry Ford developed his Model T in the early 1900's, he
once said, "You can get it in any color you want, as long as it is black."
At the turn of the 20th Century Ford didn't have to worry about what the consumer
wanted because the American consumer would "buy" almost anything. As
automobile makers discovered that people wanted a choice and would actually pay
for that choice the marketing concept began to take over. Soon, just because a
company built a particular product didn't mean that someone would purchase it
immediately. The product had to offer some kind of value. Many churches
are still operating under the old sales concept. Like Henry Ford, they offer church
one way. You either take it or leave it. That type of attitude usually results
in declining church attendance and often extinction. The idea that "if you
build it, they will come" doesn't often work these days. There has to be
a compelling reason for people to go to church today. Marketing communicates that
reason to the consumer.
Does Marketing mean you have to change the
focus of the church?
I will admit that church marketing sometimes
gets out of control. Just look at the television evangelist of the last decade
that got so caught up in the marketing effort that they lost their sense of direction.
When you have to raise more money to buy more television commercials or programs,
to raise more money to buy still more commercials in order keep the operation
going, something is not right! Many of these evangelist or pastors changed
their message to focus on what the consumer wanted to hear. The so called "prosperity
ministry" bought in lots of money, but then crumbled as people felt like
it was just a scam. The fact is, you do not have to change your message
to effectively market your church. I saw a sign in front of a church recently
-"We don't change our message - The message changes you." In short,
it is not changing the message - it is presenting the message in a way that people
understand. Today, Churches have to provide something of value while letting
the community know they exist. Jesus Was a Marketer
I'm convinced
that Jesus, if he had his ministry on earth today, might well work in advertising
instead of being a carpenter. Jesus knew how to relate to people and to bring
the message to everyone. And Jesus practiced the basis of target marketing. He
used a completely different approach in talking to Jewish leaders than to the
woman at the well. He realized that different people react differently to the
same message. And while his message was always the same, it was presented very
differently depending upon his target audience. Now that is true marketing. Target
Marketing Is ImportantI have spent almost 30 years in marketing. I am
still amazed how many companies don't have a clue about their target market. I
once talked with a car dealer. When I asked him who he was trying to reach he
responded, "everybody." Well, that simply was not true. First,
he needed to reach people over 18 who had a driver's license and had the money
to buy a car. He also sold the Buick line, which traditionally reaches an older
audience. Equate that back to your church. Who do you want to reach? If
you answer "everybody" your target audience is way too large. Even McDonalds
and Wal Mart don't try to reach everybody. There simply isn't enough money to
accomplish that goal. And while the effort to reach everyone in your community
is certainly noble, one church simply can not reach every individual. Now
that doesn't mean you exclude any one group or that you turn people away from
your church if they don't fit your target market. I think it does mean that you
should direct your resources (time, money and energy) in specific areas.
How do you decide on a target market?
For starters, a target
market needs to be large enough to reach effectively. I once knew a pastor
who wanted to target runners. While there were a fairly large number of athletic
individuals in the area, it was difficult to reach them because many races were
held on Sunday. You certainly could build a ministry for this group, but it would
be difficult to build a church based upon this one narrow segment of the population. Look
around your church and your community. Can you effectively reach singles, young
people, seniors, young married couples, Hispanics or middle income families? Pick
one or two groups and then look at how you can reach these people. You will find
that the way you present your message may be different for each group. Target
marketing is so important that I will prepare a special issue of this newsletter
on that topic. I hope this introduction to church marketing has been helpful.
I welcome your comments. Now, Find All Your
Church Marketing, Church Advertising, Church Promotion and Church Growth
Needs
In One Place.
Everything you need for your ministry or church growth
program is here, at ChurchMax. We have Church and ministry
marketing programs that include promotional products, advertising and marketing
support and lots of resources for your church or ministry. ChurchMax also offers
Internet hosting and Web site design and Internet Marketing support to help position
your Church or ministry favorably in a competitive marketplace. Details at www.churchmax.com
Additional Church Marketing
Resources If you know of other sources, we'd love to hear from you.
Send your suggestions via e-mail by following the link under the contact
us page and we'll try to include them on this page. | 
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