The importance of online advertising for churches.

The other day I did a podcast on using ChMS for discipleship with my friends at Missional Marketing.  I have loved learning from them and thought you might as well.  So, I asked them to write a guest blog post for me. 

I think you'll find it helpful.

Evangelism in the 21st Century

If there’s one constant in our world today- it’s change. New technologies offer amazing ways to connect with other people and our communities. The Age of the Internet has changed people’s behavior and opened up a new field for evangelism. In fact, the online world represents the largest mission field on earth today.   

Is Your Church Found Online?

While some churches are investing in strategies that will connect with and reach people searching online, other churches are falling behind. Unfortunately, these churches aren’t being found as local people search for local churches to attend. The helpful ministries these churches offer are also not being found by those who need them most. Churches not found online may soon find their impact and attendance shrinking. 

If we want people to attend our churches we have to go out and invite them! And if we want our community to know about our ministries and events- we have to tell them about it. Every church should develop an online strategy to ensure they will be found online. One of the ways we can do this is through church advertising online.

The Benefits of Online Church Advertising

Online ads can target people in a specific geographic area. This means you can reach people near your church. Ads can be shown as people peruse the internet, so a local mom posting to Facebook can be invited to your mom’s ministry. A local dad looking for a new hammer online can be invited to your upcoming fun family event. 

One big benefit of online ads versus other forms of advertising is the ability to respond immediately. When a person receives a postcard, you have to hope that they don’t throw it away before going to their computer and looking up your church online. With an online ad, your church is one click away. 

On top of this, online ads are able to be shown to a much larger audience than postcards and cost less. Less expensive ads mean your church can show more ads throughout the year to reach more people. 

Developing an Advertising Strategy

Church advertising doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is very important in today’s world to let local people know about your church services and upcoming events. Church advertising should be built into a church’s yearly budget, ideally as an investment in evangelism. Below are a few ideas for church advertising campaigns.  

Christmas + Easter Campaigns: These are two seasons when local people are actually searching for a local church to attend. These campaigns are important to build into your budget and invest in. 

Fall Campaigns: As kids head back to school families build their fall routine. This is a  great time to invite people to church. 

General Church Invites: If you want local people to attend your church, make sure you’re inviting them on a regular basis. 

Camp/Conference Campaigns: Make sure you let local people know about your upcoming church camp and conference. 

Ministry Campaigns: Grief or addiction recovery and support ministries are great ways to connect with your local community. Also, almost every parent is looking for encouragement and everyone could use some wisdom on how to manage money. 

Other Advertising Choices

Once your church decides to advertise an upcoming event you’ll have to make a few decisions. First, you’ll have to decide whether you plan on setting up and running the ads yourself or to outsource your campaign. Second, you’ll have to determine how much you’d like to spend. Third, you’ll need to choose the best platforms to use for your campaign. 

Although some churches have the ability to set up and run ads themselves (on some platforms), most churches determine the best route is to connect with an expert who can run ads for them. Missional Marketing is an industry leader in developing church online strategy and running church advertising campaigns.  

Missional Marketing Can Support Your Online Strategy

If you need help thinking through your church’s online strategy or upcoming campaign, consider reaching out to Missional Marketing. They also offer a bunch of free tools that can help your church find out how you’re doing online. Check out this link to explore all the free tools Missional Marketing has to offer:  

https://missionalmarketing.com/church-tools/

If you’d like to chat about your church’s overall online strategy, our team of expert coaches are ready to connect as well.