Knowing how to grow a church is essential to provide longevity for your congregation because it can assure needed revenue for rent, expansion, staff, utilities and more.
If you know how to grow your church it will aid with sharing your overall beliefs and callings. Statistics show that over 80 percent of churches have less than 200 members in attendance each weekend service. Many leaders are still looking at traditional means to grow their congregation because it worked in the past. However, social media and churches can work as one to help increase church membership. Here are 7 tips on how to grow a church:
7 Tips On How To Grow a Church with Digital Marketing
1. Have a 2015 Strategy: Many leaders are clear on vision and mission, but lack a widely agreed-upon strategy. Your mission answers the question of why and your strategy answers the question of how. It is important to create goals, delegate tasks and measure results so that you can see how your strategy is working. Take time to evaluate rising technology in 2015 and beyond for opportunities to drive traffic/awareness for your church.
2. Build a Website: If you haven’t built a website yet, this is your first priority to growing your church. There are billions of people who are using the internet. People in your own neighborhood could be searching for your church online and you could be missing opportunities for engagement. However, its not enough to just have a website. Ensure that it is captivating and entices the visitor to take action.
3. Get on Social Media: Once your website is built, then you need to figure out how you are going to drive people to it. Social media is a place where billions of people interact with one another and have conversations about literally everything. So you can bet there are people looking for a church home right now. Being on social media allows you to join the conversation with people visiting churches and invite them into yours. Check out one of our church client’s Twitter campaign that is actively driving visitation:
– Ray Of Hope Christian Church Twitter
– Ray Of Hope Christian Church Website
– Ray Of Hope Christian Church Case Study
4. Open Events to Public: Have events where people who are in the area are welcome to come. This allows your church an opportunity to meet the people who have visited your website or talked to you own social media. Also, make it an appoint to tell your current members to invite all their friends and family members to increase attendance. Remember, this is your opportunity to make a great impression so be friendly and aggressive.
5. Make Visitors Welcomed: When someone actually decides to visit your church, you are halfway to making them a member. Visitors should feel welcomed and comfortable when visiting your church. Go out your way to introduce and offer a small token of appreciation for their visit. No matter how strong your message, if visitors are uncomfortable visiting your church the first time, it will be nearly impossible to have them come for a second visit. This is crucial while you are figuring out how to grow a church.
6. Follow Up: After someone visits make sure there is a set strategy for follow up. Depending on the size of your church, there are several ways to follow up. You can call them, send an email, meet directly, or follow up on social media.
7. Advertise Online: There are many free advertising platforms on the net like Google Maps, Yelp, YP directories, social media and more. Take advantage and sign up to increase traffic to your website. Also, you can pay for advertising with search engine marketing (SEM) which can include google, youtube and display network advertising. Digital advertisements have proven to be very effective and measurable for many churches. With digital you are able to configure a formula to how to grow your church and what type of growth you can expect by maximizing your ROI.
These 7 tips can help you get started. I have consulted for many leaders on how to grow a church using digital media. If you want to talk to me for more information on any of these tips or perhaps starting a social media campaign for your church, please email me at info@lyfemarketing.com or call 404-596-7925.
Good luck!
