Marketing Ministries and Christian Based Events

[Brant Mills]

Mr. Allen,
I have a couple of quick questions for you and I can’t seem find contact info for you. Would you mind shooting me an e-mail? brantmills@gmail.com
Thanks.

[Timothy J. allen]

Brant, I just sent you an email.

And Mick, I think you are right on target when you say “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.”

But isn’t that also true about other businesses? For example, I can build great spots for a local restaurant that will bring people in, but if the restaurant serves lousy food, or have a dirty kitchen, people won’t come back. They will tell their friends not to go there – and personal stories from trusted personal friends ALWAYS carries more weight than any video ever could.

-Tim

[Mick Haensler]

[Timothy J. Allen] “But isn’t that also true about other businesses? For example, I can build great spots for a local restaurant that will bring people in, but if the restaurant serves lousy food, or have a dirty kitchen, people won’t come back. They will tell their friends not to go there – and personal stories from trusted personal friends ALWAYS carries more weight than any video ever could.”

You got it. And you just hit the most important marketing tool any church has, word of mouth. If people’s lives are being changed, if you feel a sense of genuineness and warmth when you walk in, if the sermon deals with real issues delivered in an honest fashion, if the worship is heartfelt, than word will spread. People will come, and you can use all that money you would have spent on marketing doing good works.

One thing I forgot to mention, I’m not a proponent of churches marketing themselves in the traditional sense. It’s just to much talk. If you have to convince people how spiritual you are through your words(marketing), your probably not all that spiritual. St. Francis said it best…”At all times preach the gospel, and when all else fails, use words”.

I cant’ tell you how many times I have started a post here at The Cow that once I read it, I erased it. It just didn’t need to be said. I stated the biggest marketing tool churches have is word of mouth, the second biggest sits on either side of their heads….ears.

Marketing by it’s very nature is manipulation. I think we’ve seen enough of that in the church already. Once Christians learn how to keep quiet for a moment and listen to people’s needs, the church will go a long way to filling seats on Sunday.

Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media

[Joe Destefano]

I would like to thank everyone for the positive and negative aspects of my sites. I am glad to receive the criticism because I believe it is the only way to really improve. I think that it is a hot topic and I was happy to see the various viewpoints. It is a thin line, because the word of mouth is so valuable, but why not operate competitivly with the traditional forms of media. I think it is great to talk about it, and different people have different opinions. I developed these sites myself with no previous experience in the flash model. I am using them mostly for testing market purposes but it has been great to have your opinions.

Thanks
Atom McCree
atommccree.com

[Alan Smith]

As one who owns a video production business whose target audience is non-profit organizations, I find this thread interesting and valuable. I started Media317 a few years ago to provide churches, schools, and non-profit organizations video production services. The reality is that ministries NEED production services to effectively communicate their message to their audience. Call it Marketing or some other word, the reality is they have a message that needs to be communicated and video is the most effective tool.

The problem is that typical productions cost more than the average ministy or church can afford to pay. When over 80% of churches have active memberships of about 100, production service cost are way over their available budget. The approach that I have taken is to provide these services to these organizations at a rate they can afford. I have purposed to make video production available to any church or ministry. We achieve this by having the ministy do various aspects of the production, such as VO, drafting the scripts, talent from their ministry, etc. There are ways to make if affordable and viable.

We have had alot of success over the past few years operating with this philosophy. I do not define success as many would. We are not “rolling in the dough,” but we have enabled small organizations and large organiztions to effectively communicate their message. I think we need more production houses reaching this market and recognizing the long term value it offers.

Alan Smith
Media317.com