Church Marketing Plan by Bryan Foster

The Church Marketing Plan is absolutely essential for a successful church in this digital age!

For this to occur you first need a good appreciation of:

• what a plan is
• what strategy options there are
• how to develop and implement strategies
• how to evaluate and learn from your experiences and expenses. 

It is necessary to have guidelines to show:

• what you need to know and what is available
• why it is suggested you do something - whether it is building essential relationships, using the traditional and contemporary media, or using various other marketing resources
• how to do all this, often takes the stress and anxiety out of developing a successful marketing plan.

Sample Church Marketing Plan

Each Church Marketing Plan should be based on 7 Key Strategies:

1. Define what you have to offer
2. Define your target group
3. Budget
4. Personnel and Talents
5. Develop Marketing Aims and Objectives
6. Marketing Strategies
7. Evaluation

Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), 2010 - Unique Resource

The over 329 A4 pages are easily downloaded from this site. The 80+ pages on Internet Applications for those marketing the church, along with over 60 internet screenshots + over 130 weblinks, help make this not only easily readable but also a pleasure to view in colour, enjoyable and motivating.

The 10+ 'Contents' pages are detailed down to the smallest subsection of each section within each chapter. There are nearly 5 pages of 'Index' words in 9 point font. See above for downloads of each of these.

Topics cover the essential areas from both the contemporary and traditional forms of marketing as these apply to churches and parishes. From the time honoured 'word of mouth' through to the internet and the vast array of its offerings, all add up to lessening the angst and the challenge which is church marketing in the digital age.

A successful instruction manual will include step-by-step instructions throughout. It will explain in detail the what, why and most importantly the how. It will be divided into simple to read, simple to follow and simple to implement strategies.

The e-book contains no waffling here. Get straight down to what you will need to know straight away from an author with considerable experience marketing within the Church.

This e-book is a further development of the first edition Church Parish Marketing: Easy to Use Guide to Market the Church Parish Deanery (2009) by Bryan Foster.

This manual is based on 20 years of marketing within the Church by the author Bryan Foster. This experience includes senior school and church roles, such as: school principal and marketing manager, deanery and parish pastoral council chair and parents and friends association chair. Further details may be found at the CPM website.

The 'Church Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) and School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed) 2011, with copyright being retained by SMAPL.

Responding to a Difficult Media Question During an Interview

The difficult, challenging question posed by an interviewer will often occur at a media interview - it needs to be responded to during the interview or shortly afterwards.

The last resort is the, "No comment," response. If time is needed to gain an accurate response, then advise the interviewer that you will find the answer and get back in as reasonable time as possible.

In the church setting this can be quite a challenge, particularly when church personnel are not experienced to receive such requests or skilled with the necessary response techniques. There is also the inherent fear of damaging the school's hard earned reputation if the response is incorrect or not given in a credible way.

Below is a suggested response for the church marketing personnel. This includes:

• Being prepared for the interview and anticipating negative questions
• Interview techniques to assist.

Be Prepared - A Response Method

• Anticipate the sort of negative questions which might arise and prepare good responses.
• Have your key 3-4 positive points you would like to make.

It may also be necessary to make arrangements with the interviewee prior to the interview, and before the journalist arrives, that the Church Marketing Manager would interject respectfully if the interviewee was getting particularly stressed or confused during the interview. This is particularly necessary if the person being interviewed is a child / student. There is always a duty of care to assist the child firstly and respond to the interviewer only secondly.

Key techniques during the interview when asked a difficult question requiring a response are usually:

1. Acknowledge the weakness (apologize if needed)

2. Agree that plans are afoot to improve the situation

3. Continually revert back to the 3-4 key positive points you want to make

It is often best to do this in a light-hearted manner and preferably in a fun way.

The Serious or Controversial Issue - Interview

Dealing with a serious or controversial issue involves having staff well trained with important interview techniques. These techniques are usually coordinated by the church's authorities who have qualified staff to train urch personnel.

The techniques above would often form the basis for such difficult interviews. These interviews often result from alleged controversial or illegal incidents, involving staff or parishioners.

These days the difficult media question is a stock question of the journalist's profession. There is nothing better for a church's reputation when these questions are responded to well and those being informed through the interview see a professional approach being shown and implemented. Be informed, prepared and skilled with the various interview techniques.

The 'Responding to a Difficult Media Question During an Interview' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) 2010, with copyright being retained by SMAPL.

Churches and Social Networking Websites

Church use of Social Networking Websites can be creatively enhanced for the benefit of the parish and church. This contemporary communication method is becoming more obvious for parishes. 'Facebook' is the most popular social networking site in the world today and becoming much more popular with churches and parishes.

The Challenge

We are challenged to meet our parishioners where they are at, or might be, in the near future. The social networking tentacles are reaching further into the various demographics affecting our parish communities, often way beyond the awareness of church leaders. It is now common for people in their 50s and 60s to have one or more social networking accounts.

Assumptions Underlying Social Networking Websites?

There are a number of interesting assumptions an ever expanding group of people, with representatives in most age groups, of the 21st century make:

• People like to build trusting relationships with others before doing 'business' (Churches need to be open to appreciating this belief and then adapting the way they communicate with such people.)
• The busyness of life often limits face-to-face opportunities
• The relationship does not need to be a face-to-face encounter, even though this is often preferred
• 'anonymity' allows for a less inhibited sharing of ideas and thoughts. (Easier for some people to make a comment when the contact person isn't actually in front of them. Similar for some people when using telephones or email.)
• The internet often provides the answers people are seeking (How often do you hear more and more, "Google it!")
• Digital communication is the easiest and quickest means of communication
• Digital communication allows for multiple conversations simultaneously
• People using these forms of communication eventually trust in the results due to their experiences.

Why Consider Social Networking Websites?

To reach this ever growing group of people in our communities we must meet them where they are at!

In many circumstances, this may not be your 'cup of tea'. But you do have control over who sees and comments on your church social networking pages if you follow the security directions. You may limit membership to only parishioners and hence only these people will see what you say and show.

It is, however, a successful method of informing an ever growing group of your community of whatever it is you would like to inform them about.

Below are the details contained on the Facebook page of the St Mary's Parish, Coomera and shows some ways this social networking site is used by a church parish:

• Parish and Contact Details
• News from the Parish Priest and Responses from Parishioners
• News about Youth and Children's Activities and Responses
• Upcoming Parish Events
• Parish Photos
• Parish Priest Recommended Websites for Parishioners

Social networking sites can be used effectively by churches and parishes. Once a number of challenges, misconceptions and assumptions underlying social networking sites are initially explored, each parish will be able to make the decision whether to proceed with a social networking webpage.

The 'Churches and Social Networking Websites' blog post was written by Bryan Foster author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed) 2010 and Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) 2010