Truth Advertising Newsletter

The 2 Step Approach To Marketing Over The Holidays

by John Squiric, Truth Advertising

Christmas and Easter are the most widely celebrated religious holidays in the U.S.. Church attendance on those days often doubles. In some places it may even quadruple.

The Barna Group estimates that 45% of Americans attend church on a "normal" Sunday. If these numbers double on Christmas and Easter, and you know they do, you are seeing people in your pews that you don't regularly see. By default, this means that people who normally won't attend church at any other time during the year are more receptive to attending on those 2 days. Not rocket science but a very important trend.

Why do so many more Americans attend church on Christmas and Easter? The reasons will vary widely from family tradition to guilt. But instead of wondering why they come, perhaps we would be better off to consider...why they don’t come back!

Why does Church attendance swell on Christmas and Easter only to fall off the cliff the weekafter? To put it bluntly, Church to this group of people is a big waste of time.

Consider the following quote from the Barna Group:
“Unchurched people are not just lazy or uniformed,” the researcher insists. “They are wholly disinterested in church life – often passionately so. Stirring worship music won’t attract them because worship isn’t even on their radar screen. More comfortable pews cannot compete with the easy chair or the bed that already serve the unchurched person well. Church events cannot effectively compete with what the world has to offer.

The only thing the Church can provide that no one else has is a lifechanging, 
practical encounter – and ongoing relationship with the living God and with people transformed by similar encounters.

Until such a connection is made, focusing on features, programs and benefits other than such a lifeshaping encounter is more likely to lose ground than to gain it.”)

What can we do about it?

Step #1 Fish when the fish are easiest to catch
If you advertise or are interested in reaching the lost, you need to "fish" when the fish are the hungriest and the easiest to "catch". Failing to use marketing at Christmas and Easter to attract the unchurched could be considered Marketing Malpractice.

Especially considering this is the time your church has the most to say and will have its' easiest time putting its' best face forward. Imagine a fireworks store not marketing their fireworks for the 4 th of July holiday. Even nonbelievers know better. Use the draw, appeal, and yes, even the guilt of the season to get the unchurched in your doors. It's a starting place and you can build from there.

Step #2 Once you get them in the boat, keep them by figuring out how to meet their needs. It may be your inspiring message which does the trick and causes someone to want to comeback another Sunday. Or. it may be one of your members who befriendsthem and is able to "reach them" where they are at. One great strategy will center around your Church's ability to paint a picture for a new beginning which will appeal to some felt need these unchurched people have.

You can do this by launching a dynamic, new message series which will resonate with some felt need the unchurched may have. Hang with me here while I explain...
January is the month for New Year’s resolutions, right? People want a fresh start for a new year. They typically strive to make commitments that will make their lives better. They may resolve to lose that 15 pounds, quit smoking, get out of debt, or make their marriages better. This is likely going to be one of your best shots at getting them to come back a second time.

Don't neglect to set the hook! Your church can and should use this time to introduce a powerful lifechangingsermon series that will show people how they can make their lives better and more fulfilling this New Year. We recommend using a 2 step marketing approach which will help you attract, and keep, new visitors this fishing season.
Here's how this works... Take the budget your church would normally spend for one Holiday mailer but divide the quantity you normally would mail in half. Have TA design and print 2 mailers (one promoting your Holiday service and a 2nd card featuring your next "felt need" series).

TA will do this extra design and corresponding letter shop work on our nickel and for the price of one 20,000 mailer (for example purposes), you'll get two custom designed 10,000 mailers. TA will then send your Holiday mailer and your next series mailer at the appropriate time and your church can benefit from the extra bounce this will produce. It's not a pure 2 for 1 offer but at the not-for- profit prices we feature, it is a tremendous deal.

If you prefer and don't want to reduce your holiday mailer, you can double the number of mailers you normally would do and because we would design and print 2 cards at one time we could treat the 2 mailings as one, price your deal at the higher quantity rates, and save you money in the process.

We’d like to help you maximize your advertising dollars
and reach more people for Christ! Call us today!!