Everything A Church Does Is Marketing
Sadly, there are still many churches where mixing the words “church” and “marketing” in the same sentence causes conflict.
I think this is because many people equate marketing with advertising. Advertising is merely one function of marketing. Sometimes this struggle lies with people perceiving that “the church” should not be using the methodologies of the corporate sector. I should remind you, that the church is still an organization. I realize it is highly unique…but from my perspective that uniqueness needs to be clearly communicated all the more.
Everything A Church Does Is Marketing
Yes, that statement may cause the fur to fly but it is true. Marketing is communicating. Marketing is representation. What is a church doing? It is representing Jesus and communicating his message (or story) to a world in need.
Last year I crafted this definition of church marketing:
“Building a trust relationship with someone who needs the hope, love, and life-purpose that Jesus offers so you can share with them the power of his life-changing story.”
Now, lets think of merely a few examples that reflect church action and marketing:
- The church sign – what it says and how it looks tells a piece of your story.
- The church building – its style, its upkeep describes your church community.
- The church parking – creates ease or distress for visitors and hence creates a feeling before even entering the building.
- Greeters at the door – how people are greeted encourages or sets a tone for welcoming people into your community.
- The sanctuary or auditorium – creates a setting and an environment within which the story will be told.
- The church bulletin – is the table of contents the story will follow. The “program” or additional ads or announcements within it reflect a lot about the culture of the organization.
- The music – sets the mood and provides a “score” which will accompany the storytelling.
- The preacher – the main storyteller…his or her style will be the narration of the story and will determine its style and the telling of the tale.
- The creative elements – video, drama, testimonies, art, dance or other will relate the key message in different forms which may resonate with people on levels that go beyond the spoken word.
OK, I could go on and on. These are just a few examples. Do you see where I am coming from? All the elements market, communicate, or tell the story of Jesus and your church community. Every element reveals your organizational culture and makes an impression in some way or another. Good or bad, it is all marketing. It all works together in symphony.
Think about your church. Think about the marketing messages your church is sending every Sunday. To visitors and regulars alike. Is it good? Does it inspire action? Does it represent Jesus well? What do you need to fix or refresh to represent Jesus more effectively or with greater excellence?
Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below…
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Comments
Hey David,
great post, I think that creatin excellence in how we manage our brand is so important – and it is the whole of the Sunday experience, not just the marketing collateral.
I would go further and put forward the idea that everything Christians also do and say outside of Sunday is marketing the church too.
I blogged about it here
Would love to know what you think.
http://bit.ly/cILDZ4
Thanks for sharing your post Steve. I decided to write a corresponding post
http://bit.ly/dfAEhz
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