5 best church marketing strategies for all churches

It is no secret that every single business, organization, and nonprofit has taken a hit during this pandemic. Even churches have seen a sharp decline in the number of congregations. It is hard to attract new members or even retain old ones. However, we live in the internet age and it is now possible to attract people from anywhere and everywhere. A lot of churches cannot devote a majority of their budget towards church marketing and hence have to try innovative methods.

Smaller budgets are not necessarily bad as churches can still utilize very powerful tools such as online marketing. There are countless ways to strategize and gather followers for your church. However, today we are only going on five ways that can accrue the maximum number of followers. The key area of focus is engagement and there are no better resources than the internet that does this.

5 great church marketing strategies

These strategies are perhaps some of the smartest ways to attract followers and increase the size of your congregation. They are also relatively inexpensive and will not cost you a lot of money like traditional forms of marketing.

Using social media to reach out

One of the key age groups for any church is the elderly. Today a lot of young people are living their lives and expressing themselves on social media, however, the elderly are not far behind. A lot of old people have become familiar with the usage of social media sites such as Facebook.

One of the best ways to approach people to start attending the church is on Facebook. Facebook is also a great way to connect to existing church members. By regularly posting messages, updates, and relevant information about the community, churches can provide great value. The community on Facebook is perfect for churches that are looking to establish themselves. You can create events, direct traffic from Facebook to your website, and engage in group chats. You can also reshare blogs from your website onto Facebook. Every church marketing strategy should contain an element that uses the power of Facebook.

Build a website

A website is a focal point for any and every business and organization. It is the place from where a brand’s online presence gets established. This is true for all forms of organizations, including churches. A website is a place where prospective members can see what the church represents and the value it provides to the community. They carefully review a website and then decide whether the church is a good fit for them or not.

If you do not know what your church website should contain, here are some pointers:

A homepage that welcomes visitors
A page that tells the visitor what the church does for the community
An easy-to-read calendar so that visitors will be aware of any events happening in the church
A team page to showcase the members of the church and those who work behind the scenes to increase the social standing of the church.
A dedicated section for blogs
A page that displays the necessary contacts, addresses, and information.

Use SEO to boost rankings

Now that you know your church needs a website and a social media presence, the next facet is to optimize it for search engines. This process called SEO is a way to include keywords in text and content on your website and social media for better reach. Incorporate these keywords that are related to your church such as missions, mass, services, youth groups, etc. By using SEO for your website you will be able to boost the ranking of your church’s website and social media. This will help drive new visitors to your website.

The best part about SEO is that you do not have to invest in a lot of resources. Google itself has a keyword planning tool that helps you gather the right keywords and helps you decide on which ones make the most sense for your church. Once you put them in your articles and website, just sit back and relax.

Newsletters

Marketing efforts are a continuous process. You should not stop marketing your church.

You do not know how long your members will continue to be a part of your congregation. One of the best ways to retain churchgoers is by distributing newsletters. A newsletter contains information about the church’s latest efforts, missions, events, and undertakings.

A newsletter is a good way to keep the people engaged, publish stories, and keep the congregation engaged. While you can keep it mostly about the church and its work, you can also lighten it up by adding quizzes, trivia, and crosswords. This form of marketing is also great at retaining the older members of your church that are used to newspapers and magazines.

Market beyond Sunday service

While Sunday services form the crux of any church, you need to broaden your horizons if you wish to attract new members, keep old ones, and grow the stature of your church. So as a church it is important to host events that are outside the realm of just Sunday service. By hosting small community events throughout the year you are doing a great service of bringing people together.

You can also run bigger events around days of celebration, but the key here is to host events that give the church an approachable image. You want everyone in the community to feel welcome, irrespective of whether they go to the church or not. Hosting events and marketing the church’s efforts beyond Sunday service will attract new members over time.

Conclusion

We believe that these five strategies are the best ways to acquire new followers and even retain old ones. Each church has its method of doing things and can add its touch to these strategies. The key here is that these strategies can harness the power of the internet and use it to gather new followers, especially in a time when people need faith.

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