3 Effective Advertising Tips for Churches to Use Now

The overall goals of businesses and churches are starkly different, but this doesn’t mean there are no similarities between the two. This is most apparent when looking at church promotional needs. If you want your congregation to reach its goals and provide necessary services to the community, you must get the word out. By using these church advertising tips and tools, you can do just that.

1. Use Social Media for Churches

Social media is a double-edged sword when it comes to marketing your church. Platforms like Facebook have been at least partially credited with turning Millennials away from the church. Conversely, these sites also offer one of the most effective methods for reaching current and future congregants.

Around 70 percent of Americans use Facebook, so this means church leaders have a massive audience they can potentially reach via social media. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just set up a page and wait. Consider the following tips for marketing on the internet’s social platforms:

• Get current congregants to go “like” or “follow” the page.
• Post about trending topics that could be linked to religion in some way.
• Consider paid ads that can target users based on their religion, locale and more.
• Review metrics to see which of your posts perform the best.
• Interact with followers when they comment.

Not only will these steps help spread the word about your church, but they can also improve the donor experience in your ministry. This can help you increase donations coming into the church, and when combined with the DonorWerx Strategic Development Process, you’ll be able to maintain and grow current donor levels.

2. Create a Blog to Amplify Your Reach

Many individuals called to do the Lord’s work will balk at the idea of creating a church blog. Unfortunately, this will seriously minimize their reach and hinder their ability to rank high on search engine results. These factors are essential in attracting people who just moved into the area or are suddenly curious about religion.

Nearly 70 percent of companies say most of their new leads come from blogging. While your church isn’t a company, you certainly recognize what this statistic could mean for your church marketing. Consider the following tips:

• Blog from the heart.
• Utilize keywords when possible (e.g. “churches in Austin).
• Use social media to promote blog posts.
• Share personal anecdotes or stories of ministry successes.
• Blog about holidays, current events and relevant themes.

These are just a few of the methods for building a church blog, but they’re also some of the most important. Work hard to consistently add new content to your blog in order to keep congregants engaged. It could prove to be the best church marketing tool you’ve ever used.

3. Stay Involved with the Community

Young adults are particularly concerned with social responsibility, but this upward trend has also been seen in nearly every demographic over recent years. When folks are choosing where to take their business or where to worship, they want to know that they’ll find a place that shares their moral imperatives.

One of the best ways for churches to do this is by staying involved in their community. In addition to building goodwill among area residents, they’ll also increase their local visibility. Each of these benefits can do wonders for bringing in new congregants. Consider the following activities:

• Host a fundraiser for a local non-profit.
• Sponsor a little league baseball team.
• Fund your own homeless ministry through donations.
• Host drives for school supplies, jackets during winter, etc.
• Help families that are having trouble paying their bills.
• Donate to a charity in the area.
• Help during crises (e.g. churches helping during COVID-19).

This is an important reminder that – even in an increasingly digital reality – church advertising still takes place in the real world. In addition to being God’s will, helping your community will help people discover your church. And when more folks start coming in, you can use the DonorWerx Strategic Development Process to turn them into devoted givers.

These Church Advertising Tips Can Save the Ministry

While houses of worship certainly aren’t businesses, many of the same basic rules apply. Without effective church advertising, you won’t be able to maximize your reach. Over time, this will result in reduced revenue which then leads to a decreased ability to do God’s work. The Bible tells us to spread His word, and marketing your ministry is the best way to do this in modern times. Utilize these advertising tips for churches to get the ball rolling.