Marketing Ministries and Christian Based Events

[Zak Mussig]

Atom (Is that really your first name… that’s pretty awesome,

I have a feeling an honest conversation about this topic could get pretty heated, so I’ll try to tread softy.

When I read your post, I got the impression that you were concerned about churches falling into a trap by following popular marketing techniques du jour rather than just being authentic and using marketing to hone and project the message. I think I misread your post.

It’s hard to judge the value of your content since there effectively isn’t any. There’s just a sales page for a product people have no way gauge the merits of. Try posting bits of your content in the form of blog posts so that people can see what they would be getting, or at least get a little something for free. This might give visitors reason to stay longer the time it takes to realize there’s no way to turn off the music.

My 2 cents,
Zak

[Joe Destefano]

Thanks for the input. I want to make this site successful to reach my market, and was interested in opinions. Many thanks, anyone else feel free to comment or give me advice.

[Walter Biscardi]

Without seeing any samples of your work on the site, there’s no way to trust the quality of what you do. Potential clients will definitely want to see samples, as many as possible.

As noted above, too sparse a page to know anything about you or what you do.

Also, you might want to remove that link to the bluehost.com control panel in the lower right. Really doesn’t need to be there.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Timothy J. allen]

The flash animation on your main site looks very nice, but you’ll want to double check the spelling of some text. (for instance…*Endeavor* to create concepts, *Affect* the lives of the lost, etc.)

Typos on your web page can directly affect your business. (Can you hear someone thinking “If he doesn’t even spell his own material correctly, how can I expect him to spell my graphics correctly?)

Sorry to be harsh on that, but spelling has been shown to be one of the top influencers regarding web credibility.

For more on what makes a web site credible, check out the Stanford Web Credibility Project.

[Don Wood]

Atom,
Good topic. Lots of us in that arena need help. I have a content-driven ministry, rather than a church or event based ministry, and it is growing slowly but steadily. Budget is always a concern, and things need to be as simple as possible. I’m looking for ideas.

[Ron Lindeboom]

Kathlyn, Tim and I have talked from time to time about adding a forum for the discussion of worship and ministry related video production.

If anyone here would be interested in hosting a forum of this nature, please get hold of me at ron@creativecow.net and we will work with you to get a forum live.

Best,

Ron Lindeboom

[Dan Brockett]

Hi Atom:

I too have been looking for input for a church-based video ministry that I am involved with. My problem is that I come from a documentary film making and television background and am trying to figure out how to generate effective content with no budgets, a team of people who have no television experience but are willing to learn.

I agree with the other posters, nobody will pay for your content without seeing what they are getting for their money. Both of your websites, while cosmetically nice, have no content, there is really nothing to see yet.

If you want to be successful, you will need to add actual samples of content, credible testimonials and a taste of what we can expect if we buy your product(s). Potential customers also need to see if you know what you are doing and if your advice is credible.

Good luck,

Dan

Providing value added material to all of your favorite DVDs

[Brant Mills]

As with anything else there are several schools of thought on the matter. I work in communications for a regional “conference” (in the Episcopal office) with almost 700 churches. Not only is there a division of thought among the young and old, but there are variances of opinion among clergy and lay leaders as well as discussions on whether the church/ministry is a business and whether it should be run as such. I did put together some resources at one point for an article I wrote on church marketing that might help you a little.

Here are the resources – mostly links to other church marketing sites.
https://www.txcumc.org/page.asp?PKValue=746

If you care to see the article it is here:
https://www.txcumc.org/news_detail.asp?pkvalue=413

Be careful about using the term “marketing” without qualifying it though. You might be surprised at how negative the perception of that word is to people outside of communications industries. I’ve learned that many view marketing as intentionally misleading people and they tend to view many marketing efforts as disingenuous. Good luck. There are many churches that can use any help they can get.

[Timothy J. allen]

Good point on the potential negative connotations regarding the term “marketing”. At my organization, I work on “Outreach Campaigns” (as opposed to “Marketing”.) 😉

[Mick Haensler]

Oh Boy!!! What a “Can O’ Worms” this one is. I’ve not been posting much as business is booming and I simply don’t have the time to join in the fracus as much as I would like. But on this one I can’t resist. Over the last ten years I have been involved in many aspects of church ministry and production. From producing a double length live worship CD to filming a mission trip in Guatemala for a full length documentary, and all aspects in between. I have seen everything from tasteful and effective use of media to the ridiculous and down right offensive. What I’m about to say is my opinion and my opinion only and should be taken as such. It is not meant to offend but to get people thinking and talking

Christianity or any other religion for that matter, is not a product. To treat it as such I think does a great disservice and usually comes across as disingenuous and self serving. Case in point, Atom’s website. All flash with no substance. Church and ministry however is a different matter. The church as a functioning body is indeed a marketable product and must be marketed to keep the chairs filled and the collection baskets full. Churches have bills to pay and salaries to fulfill just like any other business. The church is not in the business of selling the belief system and faith of Christianity but more so their own take on it. There are so many different angles now that to differentiate yourself from the church down the street, marketing is a must. This used to not be the case. Before this country became a Post Christian society, the choices were few, and you pretty much new what you were getting before you walked in the door. Interesting that more people went to church(ratio wise) when there were fewer choices. Marketing efforts were minimal as they were unnecessary. Not the case today.

If we take a look at the current state of Christian media it’s no wonder people are disillusioned and confused. With the exception of a few, they are wrought with scandal, greed and hypocrisy. Most are nothing more than a money making machine set up very skillfully to line their pockets with offerings from the gullible and uneducated. So what to do?

Without throwing the baby out with the bath water, I think every church and every ministry needs to look at The Source….Jesus. If the message you are marketing is not focused on the words and deeds of Christ and developing a relationship with Him, you might as well hang it up. Content is king. And PLEASE…..stop using the word “relevant”, it is subjective and means nothing. Stop placating to what you think people want in a church. Be who you are, and if people don’t like it, then there are a thousand other doors to walk into on Sunday. I left a church last year that had a very savvy and sophisticated marketing campaign that included billboards, TV, radio and print. Every Sunday a host of new faces would show up, and the next Sunday, more new faces. The marketing campaign was very affective at bringing people in. But they didn’t come back. Why? I don’t know. Maybe the church across the street had better coffee. Maybe the music was better over there. Or maybe the Pastor went out on a limb on talked about Jesus that Sunday. And maybe the congregation was genuine and real. Maybe, just maybe…they were honest and humble and acted out there faith instead of just talking about it. Bottom line, you can market all you want, have great commercials, broadcast your service on Sunday morning, have great graphics and such during the service. All will be for nothing without honesty, transparency and substance.

Atom, you seem like a nice guy. And you certainly look the part with that suit. But I don’t feel like you are an expert any more than I am. Your site comes across as self serving and self centered. Although your home page has very little text, “Atom Mccree” appears 8 times, 5 times on the About Us(me) page, 5 times on the Services page, and 3 times on the Contact page. You also talk about yourself in the third person which really creeps me out. I’m sorry dude, I would definitely rethink your motivation on this one. What you say you want to do and what your site communicates are 2 different things. Kinda like a lot of churches I’ve been to.

Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media