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July 27, 2005

The Christian Imitation

(Filed under: Graphic Design)

Have you ever seen a "got pepsi?" T-shirt?

No.

Do you know why? Because Pepsi—and any other company and organization worth their salt—is smart enough to come up with something original. They don't "borrow" ideas from other campaigns and insert their own name. They don't make look-alike logos.

Once in a great while they may spoof another company's commercial or tag line, but usually only the very clever can pull it off.

So why does the church constantly imitate what's already been done?

Continue reading "The Christian Imitation"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:00 PM
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Mega Churches: Act of God or Marketing?

(Filed under: Philosophy)

A recent article looks at mega churches and asks why they're growing. Is it God, as most of the churches would say, or is it marketing, like the academics say? While the article never gives much of an answer, it does spend most of the time looking at mega church marketing efforts.

Too bad the article never suggests that marketing could be one of any number of tools God could use to grow the church.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:23 PM
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July 26, 2005

Marketing without Marketing

(Filed under: Philosophy)

I came across this interview with David A. Anderson, Senior Pastor of Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Md., in Church Executive magazine in an article focusing on racial unity. This line about church marketing jumped out at me:

How did you market yourself to your community and surrounding area to let people know that you were there? Actually, we didn't do much marketing. We didn't have the dollars for marketing when we first planted. We didn't start from another church. I started with a diverse team of people that I met in the community. The rest were people that I had built relationships with. So when we began we had a multicultural core and then we created an environment where everyone felt it was home and that they could go here and invite their friends, neighbors, family and associates. It was more about making the soil to receive the seed than it was about getting the seed.

What strikes me is Anderson's insistence that they couldn't afford to do marketing, and thus didn't. It's a sentiment shared by most pastors, yet it's wrong.

Continue reading "Marketing without Marketing"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:03 PM
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The Case of the Missing Church Members

(Filed under: Demographics/Research)

Remember Encyclopedia Brown? He was cool. Solving all those complicated cases with quick thinking. Maybe the Southern Baptist Convention should call Encyclopedia. You see, they're missing 10 million members.

Of the SBC's 16,287,494 members, only 6,024,289 show up on the average Sunday for their church's primary service. That means only 37% of church members actually go to church. So if your church has 200 people on Sunday morning, you likely have 500 to 600 people on the membership roll. Yikes.

So where'd everybody go? Some are probably sick or out of town. Or perhaps they're in the military or are elderly shut-ins. But that hardly accounts for 63% of a church's membership not showing up. Where'd all the churchgoers go?

Continue reading "The Case of the Missing Church Members"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:52 AM
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July 25, 2005

The Importance of Punctuation

(Filed under: Writing & Editing)

Signs at bus stops in North Miami Beach declared:

Say 'NO' to Drugs from the NMB Police D.A.R.E Officers.

See what happens when you don't pay attention to grammar? A simple lack of punctuation can turn D.A.R.E. officers into drug dealers. Oops. (link via Think Personality)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 3:09 PM
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Telling Stories

(Filed under: Philosophy)

It's no secret that Jesus' use of parables in the New Testament continues to draw parallels to present day story telling. Using the arts—theater, photography, movies, books, and more—generation after generation have continued to take the lead from the Master Storyteller who walked the earth over two thousand years ago. It frustrates me greatly how only recently (within the last one hundred years) Christians—"little christs"—have lost the lead in the use of communication mediums. While I do believe this will only be a short blip on the historical timeline of "Christianity screw-ups," I do think its implications are calamitous.

Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." If only Yogi's instruction would have been on billboards in the first half of the 1900s. Christians not only came to a fork in the road, they came right up to it and turned around! They were only one letter away from getting “holywood” and missed it on their drive back to church planting in the suburbs (did urban life have too much culture already?) and catching flights overseas for missionary work as the dawn of aviation became the answer to "go into all the world."

Man did we miss it.

Continue reading "Telling Stories"

Posted by Brad Abare at 9:43 AM
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July 22, 2005

Church Marketing Sucks Celebrates One Year Online

(Filed under: News & Updates)

Happy Birthday! Today is the one-year anniversary of Church Marketing Sucks. You may have noticed a redesign as part of the festivities. We also sent out a press release chronicling our accomplishments in the past year.

It's been a crazy year and we're amazed at the response. Thank you for checking out the site, joining the conversation and spreading the word. We hope you enjoy the new look and the added features. And most of all, we hope God continues to work through churches as they tell the greatest story ever told.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Sucks Celebrates One Year Online"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:06 AM
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Extreme Faith Bulletin

(Filed under: Peer Review)

You may have noticed that we launched a new section, Peer Review. In the past we've done some marketing reviews, but they were often scattered, not officially submitted, and not geared for an open critique. This time around we're trying to be organized and get peer input so the reviews can actually help churches. Check out the details and submit your own church's marketing efforts, finished or not.

And of course we don't know everything. So it's a peer review. That means you. Let's keep it constructive and try to help churches improve.

So let's get on with our first peer review.

Sample: Bulletin shell created for a message series called "Extreme Faith."

Front and back:

Inside pages:

Continue reading "Extreme Faith Bulletin"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:46 AM
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July 21, 2005

Ministry in Motion Interview

(Filed under: News & Updates)

Seems like we forgot to mention an interview with our very own Kevin D. Hendricks (hey, that's me!) that appeared in the e-zine Ministry in Motion back in May. I cover some of the basics of Church Marketing Sucks, including why we started and tips for churches.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:36 AM
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Church Signs that Suck

(Filed under: Off the Wall)

A couple weeks ago we were pointed to Crummy Church Signs, a site that lists bad church sign slogans. Nothing like a kindred spirit.

Check out a few of the especially cringe-worthy slogans:

• "Don't get depressed, come get blessed!"
• "Jesus should be your steering wheel, not your spare tire."
• "Backsliding is the biblical term for the summer slump."
• "Go to church or the devil will get you."
• "Abortion: Hitler would have loved it."

Please, for the love of all things decent, don't use your church sign to broadcast lame quips.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:36 AM
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July 20, 2005

Church Communications Minister Gene Mason

(Filed under: Interviews)

Gene Mason is the Communications Minister at the 5,000-member The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala. He's been doing communications ministry in local churches for 18 years, and this is the third church where he's started such a ministry. He also runs a web site called Communicorps.org that shares some of what he's learned.

You're the Communications Minister at your church—what do you actually do?

Mason: My department (ministry) is responsible for all media and promotion, including print, the web, video, displays, press relations, writing, editing, filming, photography, etc. We also handle all the technologies for our church (IT, copiers, printers, network), since we use it the most.

Continue reading "Church Communications Minister Gene Mason"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:38 AM
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July 19, 2005

Search Engine Marketing for Churches

(Filed under: Technology)

Last week we talked about a church successfully using keyword advertising. The story was mentioned in an article from the Search Engine Guide and covers churches and search engine marketing. Check it out for an overview of keyword marketing and how more and more churches and ministries are taking advantage of it.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:27 PM
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Bob Lutz: Jump Into Blogging

(Filed under: Technology)

Some days I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but in case you've missed our previous calls for pastors to blog, maybe you'll listen to General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz. For those who don't know, he's one of the most well-known corporate bloggers.

The key is to leave the corporate-speak behind and keep the tone conversational, open, and honest. Anyone who has read our blog sees the real deal, as produced by us and not polished by several layers of trained communications pros. ...

To me, the blog is a way for GM to be culturally relevant. It allows us to be on the leading edge of new technology while getting our strong views out there about our cars and trucks. So far, response has been outstanding, with more than 5,000 visits and 13,000 page views a day.

To any senior executive on the fence about starting a corporate blog, I have a word of advice: Jump.

(link via Jordon Cooper)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:16 AM
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July 18, 2005

Church Marketing Case Study: The Perfect Job

(Filed under: Examples)

Graphic designer Corey Witt recently e-mailed us about a church marketing case study he posted on his site. Richfield Community Church in Yorba Linda, Calif. was the client and they received a total image overhaul, everything including logo, identity, letterhead and a web site (though Witt notes that they've departed a bit from the original web design since the project was finished).

The case study chronicles Witt's experience with the church and why he calls it "the perfect job." It should give church leaders a good perspective from the outside.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 4:15 PM
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July 14, 2005

Learning from Churches that Work

(Filed under: Examples)

Terry Storch (who brought us Church Marketing Sucks, What Works For You?) along with Tony Morgan have put together a list of Top 10 Innovative Churches. Every church's web site is listed so you can check them out and see what makes them innovative (at least what you can gather from the web).

And while we're learning from other churches, Northminster Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces, N.M. analyzes the web sites of the 100 Fastest Growing and Largest Churches in the U.S., as listed by Outreach Magazine. Not everything these megachurches do will apply to smaller churches, but there's still plenty to learn.
(link via Jordon Cooper via Tall Skinny Kiwi)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 3:43 AM
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July 13, 2005

Top 10 Ways to Keep a Web Visitor from Being a Church Visitor

(Filed under: Technology)

Tony Morgan of Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind. shares his list of Top 10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website, including such gems as:

• Avoid telling me what's going to happen at your church this weekend.
• Make it as difficult as possible for me to get directions, services times, or find information about what will happen with my kids.
• Use lots of purple and pink and add pictures of flowers. (reminiscent of our Why Do Men Hate Church? entry)

Some entries in his list are probably open to debate, including his suggestion to avoid pictures of the church building (the church is people, not buildings) or the pastor and spouse on the main page. I can see arguments going either way, though I'd hate to make a definitive statement to never have a picture of your church building or your pastor and spouse.

(link via eQuip)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:23 AM
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Social Club or Thermostat Church?

(Filed under: The Christian Walk)

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the position of the church:

"There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society... . But the judgment of God is upon the church [today] as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century." ("Letter from a Birmingham Jail")

Are King's words coming to pass? For me, this is the heartbeat of Church Marketing Sucks. I see two primary problems which have made this site necessary: 1) The church has a hard time communicating its message. 2) The message we do communicate often fails because our authenticity is in jeopardy.

All the postcards and Google ads in the world won't fix the second problem.

(quote via Mission Safari)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:09 AM
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July 12, 2005

Keyword Advertising for Churches

(Filed under: Technology)

Search term advertising has been the latest rage. It's cheap, incredibly trackable, easy to do—and often effective. Is your church trying it?

The Rock at Church Ranch in Westminster, Colo. has tried keyword advertising and it's working for them. Ryan Dickinson, the church's Outreach Coordinator and a partner at the Denver area Harper Design, shared that in less than a month they increased visits to their web site from 5 per day to 45 per day. They've had little competition for the keywords, so they pay around 10 cents per click.

Last month they spent a whopping $32.42 on keyword marketing, drawing 291 click thrus. They've averaged 28 visitors per month, or about two new families every week. They haven't had a Sunday yet without at least one visitor who came to the church thanks to their web site. So far this summer their attendance has hit a high of 147, compared to 115 last summer.

Continue reading "Keyword Advertising for Churches"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:13 PM
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July 11, 2005

The United Church of Christ's God is Still Speaking Campaign

(Filed under: Advertising)

You may disagree with their theology, but you've got to love their marketing. The United Church of Christ made headlines late last year when their TV commercial featuring a bouncer at the gates of a church and a voice-over saying, "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." was rejected by NBC and CBS.

Their "God is still speaking" campaign, based on Gracie Allen's quote, "Never put a period where God has placed a comma," is also drawing attention. And as a result, some UCC churches seem to be growing, reversing a longtime downward spiral.

We've looked at the lessons from the UCC before, but it's worth a reminder and a few new thoughts:

Continue reading "The United Church of Christ's God is Still Speaking Campaign"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:22 PM
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The Golden Rule

(Filed under: The Christian Walk)

This has little directly to do with marketing, but I love the story. It's about Rev. Frank Santora, the senior pastor of a Faith Church in New Milford, Conn. Santora was preaching on the golden rule, and shared a story about how he could have sued a roofer who put a leaky roof on Santora's house and then charged Santora for the materials to fix it. Instead he just paid the roofer to finish the job.

"I thought, maybe this man charged me the $1,500 for the materials because he couldn't afford to pay for them himself and was simply too embarrassed to admit it," he said. "And maybe what I have to do is swallow the cost so this guy's thoughts of Christianity and of ministers won't be tainted."

How many churches, how many pastors, how many Christians are willing to take that approach? Yes, you could be taken advantage of, but it seems the greater risk is making someone else feel cheated. It doesn't sound right to my ideas of fairness, but Jesus isn't really interested in that, is he? I wish it was something I could live up to.

And yes, I'd also agree that it's maybe a story better kept to yourself. Then again, if we always took that route there'd be little to challenge and inspire.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:08 PM
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July 8, 2005

Google Church Map

(Filed under: Technology)

Check it out: All the churches in a 500 mile radius of my zip code with a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate as pastor. Well, sort of. It appears to be U.S. only, and I can tell you that most of Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and farther south are definitely more than 500 miles away. But it's still cool.

The DTS Church Search is a potential new feature for the DTS web site that they're currently testing. John Dyer blogged about setting it up and passed it along to us. It uses the Google Maps API, which is technically speaking over my head, but the application is that just about anybody can use a Google map on their web site. DTS came up with a pretty cool use, but I imagine any church could use a slick map.

Imagine the possibilities: You could plot the locations of your church members (OK, creepy) to organize geographic house groups. Or you could plot every church within one mile of yours and team up to reach your community. It seems more like a fun toy than anything, but sometimes a fun and useful toy will make people come back.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:39 AM
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July 6, 2005

Vacation Bible School

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

I think Vacation Bible School has to be one of the more interesting events churches do. In some circles it's a no-brainer, an event that happens every year as if it were part of the church calendar. The idea itself is little more than 100 years old, though recently VBS has become more and more complicated, especially as publishers develop thematic curriculum.

But no matter the curriculum or format or the outlandishness of the theme, how can VBS best be used to bring people to God? After all, that's the goal. It happens when kids come and hear about God, it happens when parents learn more about faith, and it happens when families start coming to church.

Continue reading "Vacation Bible School"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:18 AM
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