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January 30, 2006

Two Rivers E-Marketing

(Filed under: Peer Review)

This week we look at the online marketing of a Nashville church.

Samples:

Traditional Service Web Site:

(tworivers.org)

Contemporary Service Web Site:

(eleven01online.com)

E-mail Newsletter:

Continue reading "Two Rivers E-Marketing"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:23 AM
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Favorite Marketing Book

(Filed under: Resources)

I was sitting down to write some new polls today and I had a good one about favorite marketing books. But then I realized a poll listing four books wouldn't be a very good poll. It'd be much more helpful to just ask people about their favorite marketing books. So what are your favorite marketing books? And bonus question: How have they helped you with church marketing?

For my part, I was thinking the poll might include something by Seth Godin, something from the Simply Strategic series, something by Malcolm Gladwell and Church Marketing 101 (which is kind of cheating since it's not out yet). Of course that leaves out Freakonomics, The Cluetrain Manifesto, anything by Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, Jim Collins or George Barna... and now you're beginning to see why this would have made such a bad poll.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:11 AM
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Baby Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we went with a fun poll, asking how to celebrate the coming birth of my first child. The idea was that the kid would be out by now and we could actually be celebrating. But alas, she's late. We're being induced on Wednesday, so the celebrations can begin then. Thanks to all the well-wishers.

A peer review for the kid's name was the favorite idea with 47%, which is kind of funny since we've opted to keep the name a secret. The branded pacifiers were next with 28%, followed by baby-related advertising ideas (13%) and no blogging for a week (12%).

This week we're asking that all-important question about church seating. (And don't ask me why the poll results have that lovely shade of teal--they should be white.)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:45 AM
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January 27, 2006

Church Marketing 101

(Filed under: Reviews)

OK, let's get it out of the way:

Worst. Title. Ever.

But we'll forgive Richard Reising for calling his book Church Marketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth, because despite the name, it is doing foundational work. The book covers the basics of marketing and why churches should care. It's the handbook many of us will want to give as gifts to less-than-eager pastors.

Reising, the founder and president of church marketing firm Artistry Marketing, lays a good foundation. Let's take a look at some of the lessons:

Continue reading "Church Marketing 101"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:31 PM
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The Big Moo

(Filed under: Reviews)

So what's the big fuss with The Big Moo? It's the marketing strategy of being remarkable. Come up with something so great that it does the work for you. The book is edited by marketing guru Seth Godin, so it's in the cast of similar books like Purple Cow, though this one is written by 33 different business experts.

As a cool aside, those experts did something remarkable of their own. All the royalties for the book go to charity, so nobody's getting rich. But more than that, none of the chapters are credited, so nobody's getting a big head. The writing style is consistent chapter to chapter, to the point that you'd never guess a different person wrote each chapter (with a few exceptions: no editor can hide Tom Peters' signature style).

So what's in it for the church? Being remarkable. We have a remarkable message, but that doesn't mean it always comes across as remarkable. This book offers some outside the box methods to present the message of the church in more remarkable terms.

Continue reading "The Big Moo"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:32 PM
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January 26, 2006

The Art of Evangelism

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

Guy Kawasaki, a former evangelist for Apple computers, talks about the art of evangelism. In a nutshell, what used to be a religious term has been borrowed by business.

In a quirky step farther, let's take evangelism back to the church and reapply Kawasaki's art of evangelism on churches. Obviously we're a couple steps removed from the original concept of evangelism so not everything fits, but it's an interesting exercise.

Continue reading "The Art of Evangelism"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:45 PM
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January 25, 2006

EKG Easter Poster

(Filed under: Peer Review)

It's been a while since we've had a peer review, but never fear--they're still here. This week we're taking a look at an Easter poster, which is a good reminder that if you haven't started thinking about Easter, you'd better.

Samples:

Poster:

Continue reading "EKG Easter Poster"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:50 AM
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Non-Christian Marketers Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked the touchy question of whether or not churches should hire non-Christian marketers. It's a debate we've had before, are having now and will probably have again.

More than half said yes, 21% said no, and 18% said it's more complicated than that. So the debate continues.

This week we're asking how to celebrate the impending birth of my baby girl. At this point she's already a few days late and I'd be happy just to have her out. Surprisingly, few are voting for "No blogging for a week," which is the most likely outcome.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:22 AM
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January 20, 2006

You Will Be Judged Mighty Webmaster

(Filed under: Technology)

Pastor Jeff Hamilton of The Cornerstone Foursquare Church points us to a study released about the amount of time someone spends looking at a web site before making a judgment that will influence the rest of their experience on the site.

Just count to one-twentieth of a second and you'll understand how quick this process is. Yep, 0.05 seconds is all it takes according to the study.

Because design is subjective, it is difficult to reduce behavior down to a prescriptive set of guiding principles when creating your site. However, it may not be a bad idea to test your site out on random group of people (not just those that go to your church) and flash designs in front of them to see which ones engage.

Posted by Brad Abare at 5:43 AM
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January 19, 2006

Secular Marketers Try to Promote Church Attendance

(Filed under: Advertising)

In this week's survey we're asking whether or not non-Christian marketers can successfully market the church. So far just over half say yes. Coincidentally, we were pointed to an article from a UK Christian magazine where they asked two mainstream advertising firms to put together ad campaigns to promote attending church.

The piece started with a five-fold strategy for rebranding the church from Mark Ritson, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the London Business School, who came up with the list after attending a christening he didn't dread as he expected.

1. Only select church leaders who understand God, the public and who are good at strategy.
2. Conduct research to identify the needs of society today.
3. Position the church against the true competition-consumer culture.
4. Replace hard pews and exposed brickwork with a better setting for experiencing God.
5. Revisit the church's approach to marketing communications. Ritson called for an integrated marketing strategy that embraces advertising, marketing and PR.

It was the final point that prompted the magazine to issue their challenge.

Continue reading "Secular Marketers Try to Promote Church Attendance"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:44 AM
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Lessons from a German Movie Theater

(Filed under: Think Ahead)

This past Christmas my wife and I spent nearly two weeks in Germany, traveling the country visiting friends, seeing the sights, and getting up close and personal with events from history that have changed the world (Luther's 95 Thesis, the Berlin Wall and Hitler, to name a few.).

Because the weather was chillier than a politician without a personality, we tried to temper our touring with alternative indoor amusement.

Say hello to the German movie theater.

Continue reading "Lessons from a German Movie Theater"

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:10 AM
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January 18, 2006

Reaching Out to Teen Moms

(Filed under: Examples)

In the January/February issue of Outreach magazine, Koshy Muthalaly draws our attention to two southern California churches, Soulfarers Community and Epic Church. Each month, 15 to 20 volunteers "shower love and concern on moms as young as 14 years old. The volunteers pamper teen mothers with manicures and haircuts; distribute donated baby basics... and chat over breakfast."

If this isn't a simple, clear example of good church marketing, I don't know what is. What a great approach that puts consoling before condemning–something a lot of people (and churches) could learn from. Including me.

Posted by Brad Abare at 10:08 PM
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January 16, 2006

The Emergent Church on Nightline

(Filed under: Mass Media)

ABC's Nightline took a look at the emergent church recently during their "Faith Matters" series, visiting several churches in my own backyard. One of those churches, Bluer, has the entire segment online. I'm never eager to debate the whole emergent thing, but a couple comments in the segment jumped out for their marketing implications:

"I look at us as an R&D department, of people who are trying to innovate and experiment, make a lot of mistakes I'm sure, but hopefully we'll discover some things that can serve the church at large." -Brian McLaren, author and pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church (see our interview with McLaren)

"We originally, as a ministry to young adults, we did that, we did everything except shoot Jesus out of a cannon in order to be hip and cool, but after a while we just decided that you know what, why don't we just be ourselves?" -John Musick, pastor of Bluer

Nightline noted that Bluer was one of the first churches to pioneer podcasting their sermons. Whatever you think of the emergent church, I hope we can at least learn a few things from what they're doing.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:47 PM
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Blogging Pastors Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked whether or not a church should link to its pastor's blog, playing off a post from a few months back over a church that opted not to link to their youth pastor's blog.

49% were all for linking to a pastor's blog and 39% said it depends on what the blog is about. Only 7% said an outright no.

Speaking of blogging pastors and blogging churches, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington has started the Blog of Daniel, a blog to respond to the new NBC show The Book of Daniel which focuses on an Episcopal priest. It's an interesting application of this question.

This week we're asking if non-Christians can do church marketing.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:54 AM
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January 13, 2006

Simply Strategic Podcast

(Filed under: Resources)

I like themes so this week is going to be Simply Strategic week. Or at least Simply Strategic couple of days. Pretty strategic, huh?

Yesterday we reviewed the book Simply Strategic Growth and today I want to tell you about the Simply Strategic Show podcast.

It seems like everybody's jumping on the podcast bandwagon (which is odd since podcasting is just the pairing of audio files and RSS--amazing how the right pairing can make everyone want to be an audio geek) and now the Simply Strategic guys have joined the wagon. They've written three books in the Simply Strategic series (Stuff, Volunteers and Growth) and now they have their own podcast.

The Simply Strategic Show started just before Christmas and they have four episodes up already. They talk about general church issues, including the whole closed on Christmas controversy, how to put together a series, and dealing with growing pains. I think my favorite part about the podcast is that rather than just talk they have several gimmicky segments like "Intimate Moments with the Simply Strategic Guys" or "The Lightning Round," all of which makes it a lot more interesting than two guys talking (and reminds me quite a bit of my college radio DJ days when we did "Randomally Selected Hallway Person" and "Storytime with Andy Fast").

At any rate, check out the Simply Strategic Show podcast.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:04 PM
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January 12, 2006

Simply Strategic Growth

(Filed under: Reviews)

Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan are on staff at Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind. Neither of them are nationally known, top 10 writers or speakers (yet)—they're just two guys who work at a church and have learned what works and what doesn't. It's simple, it's strategic and it will help your church grow.

Simply Strategic Growth: Attracting a Crowd to Your Church is comprised of 99 short chapters (2-3 pages) each focused on one simple idea. That means it's a breeze to read through, is packed with ideas, and is very approachable for the ADD crowd (and with the proliferation of blogs and short content I think we're all joining that club).

Continue reading "Simply Strategic Growth"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:33 AM
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January 10, 2006

Aslan vs. Hobbes: A Marketing Comparison

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Christianity Today has an interesting article comparing the marketing of two cats: Aslan the lion from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Hobbes the tiger from Calvin & Hobbes. While Aslan and the rest of the Narnia characters have been given the full Hollywood merchandising treatment, Calvin & Hobbes stands as the rare example of no merchandising (so yeah, all those peeing Calvin window stickers are unauthorized). Creator Bill Watterson refused to license his characters, arguing that it would diminish the value of the strip. A stuffed animal of Hobbes would certainly take the fun out of the question of his reality.

It's not like the church has the opportunity to create marketing tie-ins like a happy meal, but it does raise questions about how far we take our marketing. I've always thought the no-licensing stance of Watterson was pretty cool (of course I'd still love a Calvin & Hobbes T-shirt). It's also worth pointing out that Watterson's decision not to license his characters is just as much a marketing decision as Disney's to license Narnia to death. Marketing is just a tool--it's what you do with it that matters.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:08 AM
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January 9, 2006

Reimaging the Southern Baptist Convention

(Filed under: Mass Media)

Last week during bowl games the Southern Baptist Convention aired commercials attempting to polish their image. The ads focused on the relief work of the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program, highlighting programs fighting AIDS, helping rehabilitate prisoners and feeding Katrina victims. While Southern Baptists are often better known for what they're against, these ads try to portray what the Southern Baptists are for.

Continue reading "Reimaging the Southern Baptist Convention"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:22 AM
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PixelZion Podcast

(Filed under: News & Updates)

Our very own Kevin Hendricks (hey, that's me!) was interviewed on the PixelZion podcast this weekend. Kevin and PixelZion host Jesse Haynes talk about the history of Church Marketing Sucks, what may be coming in the near future, whether or not marketing is evil, and a fun little story about spelling "Christmas" wrong (hence the need to proofread everyting twice).

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:09 AM
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New Year's Resolutions Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked what your church marketing New Year's resolutions were. A strong 42% committed to proofread everything, following by 29% who are resolving to break their addiction to Comic Sans. It's a hard habit to break, but we're here for you.

OK, so it's not exactly our most scientific or useful poll, but we need to have some fun now and then.

This week we're asking whether or not a church should link to a pastor's blog.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:01 AM
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January 7, 2006

German Youth Group, 2006 Erotic Calendar

(Filed under: Off the Wall)

Although I'm a little behind on posting this, it's quite timely for all of us enjoying our new year's calendars. Whereas most of us are content with the usual furry kittens, turn-of-the-century photography and artistic landscapes, a German youth group attempted to one-up everybody with their 2006 erotic Bible scenes calendar.

As coincidence would have it, I was originally tipped-off to this story shortly before my wife and I left for a two week holiday to Germany (including a trip through Nuremberg where this youth group is located). I had planned to visit this Lutheran church and find out more, but it never worked out.

It turns out the idea raised a lot of money and a lot of attention. From a nude Eve holding an apple, to a nude Delilah cutting Samson's hair, the calendar is certainly outrageous. Given the context of European sexuality, I am not entirely sure the calendar would have been as big of a deal had it not garnered worldwide attention.

In any case, I'd definitely chalk this one up as marketing that sucks.

Posted by Brad Abare at 10:27 AM
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January 6, 2006

Go to Church, Win a House

(Filed under: Examples)

We've seen churches give away Hummers and Harleys before, but a house really takes the cake.

The critics aren't impressed:

• "It's a publicity stunt. It's a gimmick and like most gimmicks, it's ill conceived. The general public is pretty immune to such gimmicks," says J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif. (Maybe somebody should tell Melton about the lottery--another ill-conceived gimmick very few Americans, and politicians, seem to be immune to.)

• "If giving away homes, cars, or other gimmicks is strictly a marketing device, rather than being born out of a spirit of compassion and love for others, then the tactic is morally questionable. I see little evidence of Jesus manipulating people by sales gimmicks." says Donald E. Miller, executive director of the University of Southern California's Center for Religion and Civic Culture. (Ever noticed that Donald Millers don't seem to like church marketing?)

They just don't get it, says church member Richard Murillo, whose company built the giveaway home: "Our whole intention is just to bless somebody."

Whether it's a blessing or a gimmick, free stuff seems to be a church marketing trend.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 3:02 PM
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Free Pyromarketing

(Filed under: Resources)

We'd be remiss if we didn't tell you about this little gift: a free audio download of the book Pyromarketing: The Four-Step Strategy to Ignite Customer Evangelists and Keep Them For Life by Greg Stielstra. As with everything free, there is a price: you need to register on his site and offer up an e-mail address, though you don't have to enter your mailing address.

This is the same book that caused a stir because the book talks about the marketing of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life and Warren supposedly tried to stop Pyromarketing from being published. The book covers marketing phenomena like The Purpose Driven Life and The Passion of the Christ and was written by a former marketing director at Zondervan who oversaw The Purpose Driven Life.

And if that's not specific enough for you, Stielstra himself even talks about how to apply the pyromarketing concept to churches, which should connect all the dots for you. (link via Scott Aughtmon)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 2:20 PM
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Marketing Mistakes Churches Should Avoid

(Filed under: Think Ahead)

We've been sitting on this one for a couple months, but content can age like a fine wine, right? Anyway, check out Marketing Mistakes Churches Should Avoid from Pastors.com:

1. Thinking marketing is worldly. (I love this line: "True, [markteing] is a business discipline--but that doesn’t make it evil.")
2. Not targeting an audience.
3. Not learning needs of the people you want to reach.
4. Not connecting your ministry communication to the people's needs.
5. Not matching media channels to the target audience.
6. Not having a communication plan.
7. Not following up on your communication.

If your church can avoid these common mistakes you're well on your way to some non-sucky marketing.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:36 PM
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January 5, 2006

Podcasting Packs the Pews

(Filed under: Technology)

Who would have thought that broadcasting your sermons so people don't have to actually come to your church would instead make more people come to your church? Steve Evans of Bridge Chapel Christian church in Liverpool says podcasts work:

"Large numbers of new people are coming down to the church and joining our congregation simply because of the internet downloads and podcasts.

"The sermons are playing a huge role in attracting people of all ages, especially youngsters who are searching for their spirituality.

"People talk about church numbers falling, but those who are making efforts to connect with people through things like podcasting are experiencing rapid growth.

Rev. Dr. Shannon Ledbetter of St Mary's Church in Knowsley Village (who appeared in the 1997 James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies, according to the article!?) doesn't think podcasting will encourage people to skip church:

"This will bring church numbers up, because people who tune in will want to experience the full spectrum of worship, the interaction with other parishioners, the singing of hymns and the experience of the building.

"We wouldn't want people to rely solely on an iPod."

(link via Blogging Church)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:13 AM
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January 4, 2006

Christmas Marketing Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked what kind of Christmas marketing your church used. Simply staying open or offering extra services or special programs were the most common responses. More traditional advertising like postcards, fliers, e-mail, bulletins and word of mouth came in next.

While our list of marketing examples was hardly exhaustive, very few people noted that their church tried something else. Which means we either did a good job writing the poll or churches weren't very creative this year--we'll let you decide.

This week we ask about your church marketing New Year's resolution. Mine is to answer all the CMS e-mail and to not let another week go by without a post.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:30 AM
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