7 Misconceptions About Church Marketing
Mistaken Beliefs About Church Marketing
One of the core qualifications for an elder in the church is the ability to teach (1 Tim 3:2; Ti 1:9). Why? Because life and doctrine go hand-in-hand. Right teaching leads to right believing, which makes for right living. Bad teaching makes for bad faith, and the church that sits under it will struggle to grow in godliness (1 Tim 6:2-5; Rev 2:12-17).
When it comes to marketing, church leaders often labor under a set of wrong beliefs that either keep them from advertising or hold them back when they finally do. In this post, we list 7 of the most common misconceptions about church marketing, along with the truth that will set us free to spread the word about what Jesus is doing in our churches.
“Church Marketing is Sinful.”
For some churches, “marketing” is a dirty word. The reasoning behind this belief usually goes something like this:
- The church is not a business; - marketing is something that businesses do; - therefore, marketing is off-limits.Wrapped up in this line of thinking are worries about cheesy postcards, deceptive ads, and church marketing practices that bring more glory to the church than to Christ.
There may be sinful ways to market a church, but that doesn’t mean marketing itself is wrong. Marketing is really just another form of testimony. Whether it’s on your website, Twitter feed, YouTube channel, or a billboard, truthful marketing can bear witness to Jesus’ love in a way that invites people to come to experience it for themselves (John 4).
2. “Felt Needs Don’t Matter.”
The Church is the light of the world, a city set on a hill (Matt 5:14). The substance of its invitation is Jesus Christ. Everybody needs Him, whether they know it or not.
Some churches are leary of marketing because it appears to mask people’s real need (Jesus) behind their felt needs (help with parenting, hope for addiction, etc.). This either keeps churches from marketing or leads them to create ads that tell the truth about Jesus but don’t try very hard to connect with those who have no church background.
It’s ok to know your audience’s struggles and to invite them to find help and hope in Jesus. That’s what most preachers do in their sermons, isn’t it? Like Jesus, use your marketing to meet people where they are (blind, lame, lonely, hungry, imprisoned by addiction, etc.). When they respond and visit your church, you can speak to those issues while showing visitors how to find their deepest needs satisfied in and by Christ.
3. “We’re Not Marketers.”
Plenty of churches aren’t opposed to marketing; they just don’t know how to do it. And because they don’t know how to do it (and don’t have the cash to hire a consultant), they don’t bother with much beyond a simple SquareSpace page and an ad in the paper.
This is misguided on two fronts.
First, if you’re a witness, then you are a marketer. This matters because the foundation for an effective church marketing strategy is ultimately cultural. If your people are committed to the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20), then your marketing can and will operate as a natural extension of your word-of-mouth witnessing.
Second, the internet has everything you need to learn to market your church. Just a few hours online will be more than enough to get your church marketing strategy up and running. Beyond that, if you can preach a sermon and run a counseling session, then you’ve got all the interpersonal and communication skills you need to spread the word.
4. “Marketing Will Grow Our Church.”
Marketing is just one piece of the puzzle that is church growth. You can have the most dazzlingly effective marketing campaign in the city, but the church won’t grow if all that campaign does is invite people into an unhealthy and unwelcoming environment.
Church marketing is no cure-all. You can’t try to outgrow your problems through a slick marketing campaign. It just won’t work.
If there are fundamental issues of poor spiritual health, unreconciled relationships, and abuse that have led a church to diminish, then those issues need to be dealt with. Otherwise, all your marketing will do is invite the entire town or city to come to have a look at your dysfunctional church.
5. “What Works for Them Will Work for Us.”
It can be incredibly tempting for a church leader to pick up the postcard he just received from the slick church down the street or to look at their slick marketing campaign and think to himself, “Let’s just do that!”
As they say, if you’re going to pick a key to play in, the best key is “be natural.” If marketing is supposed to be an extension of who you are, then mimicking others’ practices runs the risk of giving folks a false impression about your church.
That may work out for a little while, but visitors will notice the dissonance and bolt once they realize they’re in the wrong place. Worse, they’ll think you’ve hit them with a “bait and switch.” Not exactly the impression that makes our churches or Jesus look good.
6. “Church Marketing is Expensive.”
In the business world, conventional wisdom says you should allocate 5% of your bottom line to marketing in order to maintain and 10% in order to grow. For some churches, though, the idea of spending even 5% of their budget on marketing is a non-starter. After salaries, facilities, missions giving, etc., the money just isn’t there.
Thankfully, marketing doesn’t have to put such a big dent in a church’s budget.
An inexpensive website, a free Facebook and/or Twitter account, Google Ad Grants, a blog, and a YouTube channel—these basic building blocks can give you everything you need to start getting the word out about your church.
7. “Digital Marketing is All Our Church Needs.”
Free and inexpensive digital tools are a great way to get started with church marketing. But don’t stop there. They may seem like the internet has displaced them, but the following options are still useful—especially in reaching the still-significant number of people in your community who don’t spend all (or even most) of their time online:
- Newspaper ads and editorials
- Bus benches
- Grocery store carts
- Direct mail campaigns (postcards and letters)
- Youth sports sponsorships (uniforms, field banners, etc.)
- Event booths and displays
Conclusion
Don’t let mistaken beliefs and misconceptions about church marketing keep you from getting the word out as effectively as possible. Your church has a story to tell about Jesus and what He’s been up to in your midst. Let your creative, truthful, and excellent marketing become one more way for you to make much of Him in your community.
