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Is Church Marketing Dead?
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Posted On :
Mar-18-2009
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Article Word Count :
498
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There are those who think that church marketing has run its course. Churches have done so many catchy and shocking ad campaigns that they have started to loose effect. At the same time, some churches are spending thousands of dollars a month on church marketing. Is all the money going to waste? Is church marketing dead?
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James Dalman at Church Communications Pro posted an interesting blog article asking Is Church Marketing Dead? He concludes that it is:
“Church marketing is dying. Throwing a slick advertising piece or website at the public isn’t going to cut it much longer. The church of tomorrow will require more than a campaign. It will require investing personally and hanging out in people’s jacked up lives.”
My thoughts…
I just happened to spend some time a while back at the Exponential Conference (AKA 2008 National New Church Conference) in Orlando. And I can tell you that there were dozens of companies with exhibits there offering services to help brand and market new churches. So, if church marketing is dying there are a lot of people who don’t know it yet.
I agree with James that generally speaking that over-the-top, hype marketing is not as effective as it used to be. I’m not talking specifically about church marketing but marketing in general. All of us have been subjected to so much marketing in our lifetimes that we are skeptical, even cynical of everything. In response, people are looking for authenticity. We want things that are real not just phony packaging.
There is still a need for churches to reach out to people in their community and so I don’t think church marketing is dying, but I do think church marketing is evolving…
First, I think each church has to have an identity of its own and know what it is. Every church is different. Every church has different priorities and a different culture. There are a lot of churches today that are simply trying to copy other churches or trying to copy parts of a lot of different churches and they really don’t know who they are. It kind of reminds me of American Idol - some of the singers seem to change week to week mimicking the original artist of the song they’re singing while others know who they are and “make each song their own.”
Second, I think that now more than ever it’s important that the way a church portrays itself on brochures, postcards, its website, etc lines up with reality. You can’t say you’re a church that accepts people as they are if gossip and judgementalism are a part of your church culture. You can’t call yourself a church that is relevant to people’s lives if there are taboo subjects your church won’t address. If you are a church that traditional and primarily has activities for the older generation, you can’t market yourself as a young, hip church.
I would also add that church marketing, whether online or offline, can never replace personal evangelism. Church marketing simply allows a church to cast a wider net - to connect with people who are outside of the relational circles of its members and attendees.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Is Church Marketing Dead?_179.aspx
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Author Resource :
Kurt Steinbrueck is the author of the Church Marketing Online blog. He has been Director of Marketing Services with Ourchurch.Com for over 5 years providing Christian search engine optimization services including services specific for church marketing solutions and private school marketing. Kurt is also a Deacon at his church.
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Keywords :
church marketing, online church marketing, church growth, churches ,
Category :
Internet Business
:
SEO
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