It may seem like a strange concept at first glance: Church marketing and advertising. Isn’t that something only businesses need to worry about?
Actually, many organizations could benefit from this common business activity. One definition of marketing is the activity and process for creating, communicating, and delivering offerings that have value for customers and society. Sending your church’s message to potential new parishioners through marketing and advertising could be seen as another powerful way to spread the good word.
With millions of people tuning in to Christian music every month, digital audio marketing can reach countless new listeners. Many churches already have taken advantage of streaming channels for church advertising campaigns. And it’s never been easier to get started with audio advertising, thanks to AudioGO’s self-serve advertising platform. You can create, manage, and run audio ads on popular podcasts and streaming services like Pandora, iHeartRadio, and SiriusXM. Let’s take a look at some topics and tips to get you started.
Your “brand” — your church’s vision and identity — should be the basis of any church advertising. Not only does your brand inspire more people to flock to your pews, it helps ensure the right audience hears your message. After all, the folks that understand your brand best are the ones most likely to return to your church every week.
That’s important, because Gallup recently reported that U.S. church weekly attendance has declined to a new low. Only about 30% of those polled said they attended church once a week or almost every week. And that’s down from 42% just 20 years ago.
That decline highlights the reason to reach out to new potential parishioners and let them know about your church, your values, and your message. Church marketing and advertising are high on the list of ways to grow your church.
Using AudioGO, you can easily create ad campaigns that help deliver your message to whomever you want. You also can reach them wherever they are, whatever they're listening to, and whenever you want. All by way of our platform's targeting features including age, gender, location, time, and genre. We'll guide you every step of the way as you develop an effective audio advertising campaign.
As a religious leader, you understand the power of words and messages. When creating church advertising strategies, make every word count. For example, the messages you craft to promote church and community events can have a profound effect on turnout. Let’s say you want to advertise a “neighborhood street cleanup” event. That might bring in a few civic-minded folks — but there’s a better way.
Try advertising the event as a block party or neighborhood meet-and-greet instead, with cleanup as a secondary focus. For a fundraising event, attract the interest of more families by focusing on how the proceeds might be used — like for building a new local playground.
Church and worship are intimate experiences. Make sure your message focuses on the listener. Tie in ideas and foundations that concentrate the emphasis on positive, more attractive elements to directly appeal to listeners. If you need some help crafting your message, use our guidelines on writing the best audio ad script and our wide range of creative services.
There’s an old saying: “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” But since the pandemic, you also could say: “When God Closes a Church Door, He Opens a Browser Window.” Though in-person attendance has dropped, more and more people use the internet to listen to church sermons, Christian music, talk shows and podcasts. Streaming services bring all this content right into the home and to people who are “on the go” — in the car, the gym, at work and in countless other places. Take advantage of that by including digital advertising in your church marketing strategies, and get the good word out to the online masses.
Here’s some tips for creating a campaign to spread your message.
By creating a church marketing team with a solid marketing plan, you'll give yourself a chance to buck current trends and grow. And not just for now, but far into the future.
Whether you’re trying to raise funds, build membership, increase attendance, or just spread the good word, church advertising helps get it done. Give your local community a message of hope by creating ad campaigns that spread the word. With the incredible growth of audio streaming services, there’s no better time than now to get started.
AudioGO’s network of audio publishers lets your church be heard by over 150 million unique listeners in the US and Canada, in English and Spanish. At the same time, you can focus your messaging down to the ZIP Code. Begin your marketing campaign with as little as $250.
Join the community of successful organizations using AudioGO. It's simple, impactful, and affordable.