Assessing you Church Marketing: Are You Authentic?
In my proposed framework for assessing church marketing, the AEE Benchmark, the first benchmark is Authenticity.
The point of authenticity may be the most crucial trait of church marketing. The term “church marketing,” as I mentioned in my post about the term “church marketing,” doesn’t fully capture the true depth of the Truth churches communicate using modern communication methods.
If ministers wish to engage in communication that may look like marketing (direct mail campaigns, print ads, outdoor, radio spots, etc), the message and the method both must be authentic.
Questions for reflection:
- Do the images and copy of my design accurately portray my church or event?
- Are there pictures of the church and its people?
- Do the typefaces and design elements fit with the church’s culture?
- Does your language reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the congregation
Things to avoid:
- Edgy graphics if the church is old and traditional
- Stock photos of good looking people in random, cool looking environments
- Making the church look big if it is not
- Failing to remember that you are communicating eternal Truth, and not trying to promote an event or sell a product
When minsters find out I’m in marketing and design, they’ll usually hit me up for church marketing tips or design advice. I think the best church marketing tip you can ever take to heart is this: be authentic!
There are 4 Comments to "Assessing you Church Marketing: Are You Authentic?"
Excellent! I could not agree with you more. Authenticity and transparency are two of the hallmark characteristics of good church marketing.
The whole discussion about the stock photos is an interesting one though. The tension lies between quality and authenticity. Sometimes a smaller church or a church plant can not get good quality pictures without hiring a photographer…so a default can be stock as long as they are not too polished. I would always advocate for real pictures of real people when feasible…problem is it is not always feasible!
David, thanks for your thoughts! I know exactly what you mean regarding stock photos. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve personally used a good looking young couple in lieu of actual photos of the congregation.
Like so much of this marketing business, I think intention carries a lot of freight, so hopefully if stock images are necessary, they’re being used with a sense of intentionality and purpose.
Yes, those are good guidelines. To maintain a level of authenticity it is important to be wise with the stock images. My wife and I were part of a church planting team 5 years ago. When you start with a team of 4…its kinda hard not using stock images on your marketing materials. Most people understood. We just made sure the images represented who we were growing towards being.
Keep up the good work Patrick!
Great post and advice. I have to admit that I sometimes get caught up in a focus on the secondary goals of the marketing effort. My vision gets blurred and don’t always focus on a very important point you made, “remember that you are communicating eternal Truth.” In the end, it is the primary goal, but while designing and developing its not always top of mind. Thanks for the word. I am sure it will help make me better.
I look forward to more on the AEE Benchmark.