How many of you enjoyed our Sept. Newsletter? Survey says 0. That’s because we never sent it out. We wrote it, corrected it, and even planned it. But we never emailed it. So before we even begin to answer the question of response.

1st Rule is: You guessed it. “Doing nothing, usually results in achieving nothing”

The number 1 question we get asked by pastors is “What kind of response will I get from my direct mail campaign?” “Why did church x receive 80-100 visitors from their last direct mail campaign, and our church only 2 or 3?”

First and foremost we must understand and reiterate the marketing formula:

Effective Marketing Should:

• CAPTURE the ATTENTION of your prospect.
• ENGAGE your prospect to learn more about your services.
• EDUCATE the prospect on what you have to offer.
• MAKE them an offer and give them an invitation to visit.

Whether you are selling shoes or offering salvation, the principles are the same, and your ability to use them correctly depends greatly on the response you will receive. Make no mistake about it, if you think people are going to come to your church because it is the right thing to do on Sunday, you are sadly mistaken. The competition for the unchurched is great. Unfortunately, your greatest competition is not the church down the street, but rather all the other activities and things to do on Sunday morning. Even sleeping in, places high on the reasons your potentially unchurched person will not attend your service this Sunday morning.

As pastors you have spent years learning the biblical interpretations of the various bible passages. But all that knowledge is useless unless you have someone to preach it to. You continue to read books on preaching, teaching, illustrations, etc. How many books have you read recently on marketing? Pastors must see themselves as more than teachers. To be effective evangelists in 2006 churches must use the principles of marketing correctly to grow the kingdom. In fact we are called by the great commission to do just that.

When a prospect receives your card, a few people will come to your church just because you’re there. The majority of people will treat your card with skepticism. They are going to want to know, how long you’ve been around, what you're all about, what programs you have for the kids, men, women, teenagers, etc. You as Pastors and church administrators must step back from your pulpit and put yourself in the unchurched person's shoes for a moment, and ask yourself: “Why would someone want to come to our church? What do we have to offer them?”

Once we begin to see things from the unchurched person's point of view, only then can we begin to “get it”, and to begin to understand what drives the unchurched. Most people aren’t opposed to attending church. In a society where 90% of the population call themselves “Christians”, there will be a large number of people in your neighborhood, looking for a reason to come to church on Sunday morning. Your job as a church is to give them that reason.

Below are 6 key ingredients that will determine the response of your next marketing campaign. Take an objective look at these and see for yourself what your response to your last marketing campaign should have been.

R.E.S.P.O.N.S.E

R. - Reputation: 
Your response to a particular direct mail piece will be determined by your church’s reputation: If you are a new church and noone has ever heard of you before, then your response might not be as great, until you’ve created some “buzz” in the community. Just like a new restaurant in your home town. You drive by it, you receive coupons to try it, but until someone you know says it is a great place to eat, you probably won’t try it out. By the same standpoint, if everyone in town is raving about how good the food is, people are going to be more willing to try it out.

The best case scenario is for your church to create a positive “buzz” about yourself that will resonate with people when they see your advertisement. For instance; “I’ve heard of that church, that’s the church that has the rocking band”. The marketing term for this is called “branding” or “USP” –Unique Selling Position”. It is what separates you from the rest. Examples would be: “The church where no perfect people are allowed”. One way to boost your response to any marketing effort is to get yourself a “USP” making your church uniquely different from all the rest. Then use it in all of your marketing efforts. The key in marketing, people to say. “I’ve heard of that church – That’s the church that….”.

E - Environment:
Where you are located will directly affect your response rate. This not only means your physical location (where you meet), but also your geographical location (what area of the country or city you may be in) For instance: if you are a new church starting out, and you are meeting in a day care, hotel, chamber of commerce, etc., that will directly affect your response. Many people, like it or not, will still want to attend a typical church building. If this is the case you will need to hold on until you can move to a more advantageous location. A school is a great place to try to get into as a new church start. It is more appealing than a hotel, store front, etc.. Another aspect might be the area of town you are in. If your location is in a typically older area of town, it may be hard to draw the newer neighborhoods across town. Another important factor in your response rate is the area of the country you are in. Certain areas in the bible belt, are prone to higher rates of return than say typically liberal areas of the county. This just means your church just needs to work harder and smarter at attracting new members.

S - Services 
What you offer a typical family in the way of services has a huge impact on your response. What do you have that might be appealing to the family in your neighborhood? Do you have programs for the kids, teenagers, men’s groups, women's bible studies? What do you offer in the way of classes for the new Christian, the rocky marriage, the financially challenged? I hear it said way too many times: “When we get bigger, we will add these services”. Ask yourself this question: if you’re sick, do you want to go to a doctor that only specializes in one area, or do you want a full service doctor, that can help you, your kids, your wife in all ares of you medical future?

P - Prior Marketing:
This is simply how much marketing, door knocking, phone calling etc. you have done in the past. If you have never educated your market to your church, how can you expect people to want to come try you out? Obviously you need to start somewhere. If you are a new church the rule of thumb is, the more marketing you do; i.e. phone calls, direct mail, door knocking etc, the more response you will get. Each and every mailer you do, should increase your response rate. To put it simply: The sowing and reaping principle.

O - OFFER: 
What sounds more appealing of the 2 headlines: “4 Weeks to a more satisfying sex life with your spouse.” Or – “Reason number 79 why people don’t attend church. They will ask me for money.” We are shocked at some of the direct mail advertising churches spend their money on that creates no real offer or benefit in attending their church.

N – Need:
Have you developed a need for your church? “Why should I go?” “What’s in it for me?” “What do you have to offer that I haven’t heard already or that I don’t already?” You must create a need in your market for your church. Show them how you can make their lives, families, children, or their finances better. Everyone wants a more enjoyable life. Show people how the church can do that. For more on this check out our newsletter devoted to just that: (click to link to “why people will visit your church this Sunday”). Also, need can be the season. According to The Barna Group, an average of 45% more people will attend church on Christmas and Easter. So the need at the Holiday time for marketing is huge.

S - Supporting Media:
Do you have a website, and is it any good? Your website is very important when you do a direct mail campaign. A huge majority of people will look at your website first, before they make a decision to attend your church.

E - Evaluation: 
You must track and identify not only what forms of advertising work for you, but also what types of sermon series have worked well in the past. If you have done a series on money and it has produced little or no response – don’t market a financial series. By the same token, if every time you run a marriage series in your community the seats are full, then concentrate your marketing efforts on marriage.

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