Ministry Marketing CoachMinistry Branding and Marketing that Works

Recently, I was in a church that is really connected to their community. The church has a positive reputation (brand). Their neighbors say about them, “There’s always something good going on at this church!” It’s a good ministry and many people are coming to Christ because of their outreach!

I’d love to show you their website. But they don’t have one. I would show you their logo—but, frankly, I hate it! They don’t have plasma screens, a coffee shop, or comfy chairs to sit in during the service either. All this aside, they have great church marketing!

The reason they have good ministry marketing is because they are not in love with their brand, they are in love with the Lord. Their outreach is working, not because they have branded sermons and use direct mail. (I am not even sure they use mail at all.) Their outreach works because they are focused on people, not their programs or their marketing image.

Here’s their recipe for success: Lame Logo + No Website + People Focus = Fantastic Outreach!

If you want to really reach people, all you have to do is know who you are trying to reach, learn what their needs are, and begin to serve people with solutions to their needs. The relationships you begin with this service becomes a “bridge of understanding” where you can link the gospel to the people you want to reach at the point of their needs. That’s the essence of great outreach and good marketing.

Real Cutting Edge Ministry

The church is in an inner city and if you could see the neighborhood, you’d notice, some of the properties around the church are not very well kept up. The pastor who serves the community actually lives in the neighborhood and is a part of the solution to the blight he and his community experiences.

The people who live around the church are open to the pastor and trust the church. Many of the community leaders are wide open to him helping out any way he wants to help. The pastor is as worried about his church’s outreach agenda as he is about the community’s health.

That is a contrast to many ministers I have meet who don’t even know what is going on in their own church parking lots, let alone their community. I have met too many ministry leaders who think their marketing problems can be solved with design and media buying. I wish they would change their perspectives and be a little more like the pastor in this church.

The pastor has little time for planning slick promotions. He spends his time solving problems. And people love him and the church for it. One “Cutting Edge” ministry of his church is to actually trim the edges of the grass on the curbs of the streets in the community.

People come out and say, “Why are you cutting the edges?” To which the pastor and members reply, “Well, it needs to be done and we love to help people because God loves people!” that leads to a conversation that, well, you know.

Here are a few ways to get started improving your church’s marketing:

• Clarify your church’s mission and vision for reaching people.
• Become an expert on your community’s needs!
• Stop trying to get people to come to your church and take the church to the people in your community.
• Think of ways you can help people succeed in your community.
• Don’t wait until you have some slick graphics or a cool name for your outreach program, just start solving people’s problems and building bridges with people.
• Talk to the people you meet in the neighborhood of your church about Christ right where you meet them. (Don’t put off evangelism for when they come to church!)

Of course you can get a great logo and website. You can have plasma screens, a coffee shop, and comfy chairs, etc. But unless you know people and position your church to meet needs you won’t have great church marketing!