Has anyone experienced participating in an event whether it be a concert, a party or church-related activity only to find that the promotional material you received prior didn't quite match the experience?
Within the communications world there's sort of a creed I've been learning about. It's not really an official creed...but it's one that I believe is an important creed any marketing/communications expert might agree with. It goes something like this...
"No logo, no graphic, no website, no commercial can ever replace the marketing of a positive experience."
I think this rule can apply not only to the business world, but within the world of church promotions. We Christians need to embrace some of what the experienced marketers in the world can teach us. After all, our message is bigger and more important than any laundry detergent, any concert or any television show provides.
Here's an example of what we've done at Grace over the past four years. Specific decisions to spend attention, time and yes even money on our weekend experience became a priority. The weekend service time is the one main connecting point to the church body and the main place where the message of Christ is delivered on a weekly basis. Careful attention to crafting the messages (where our Sr. Pastor spends most of his time), crafting a musical worship experience that is done with excellence (where our band spends time), crafting an audio and visual worship experience that is also done with excellence (where our AVL techs spend time) became a priority for us. When these balls started rolling, then came the attention to detail in our branding and marketing. A brand that truly represented the experience people would have at Grace Church became our desire...and I believe it's worked. We've not spent a single dime on mass mailers in our community over the past two years and have seen our attendance double. While having a building is probably the biggest "billboard", our main promotional resource has been each individual attender of Grace. The people who have met with Jesus Christ personally at Grace and have a burning desire to see the same experience happen in the lives of their friends, neighbors and family. There's no mailer, flyer or graphic that can beat that.
To ministry leaders out there, don't get caught up in the promotion, get caught up in the experience you are providing people. Deliver on the promises you've made in whatever promotion you've done and invest heavily in the experience before anything else. There's no greater marketing than the buzz of people inviting others to your events. No flyer, no logo, no graphic, no website, nothing will provide you greater success at being able to share your message than winning the hearts of those attending your events.
Just a little lesson I'm learning in the communications world.
- Visit Seth Godin's blog. Should be a regular stop for anyone involved with communications.
- Check out "Unleashing the Ideavirus" by Seth Godin.
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