continuation in some of my on going thoughts on technology & church.. last posting on the church website
when i attended barcamp nashville i was introduced to mitch joel. since then, i've followed the insights and thinkings from mitch, which has been beneficial in many ways. this recent posting on social media as a faith based initiative has me saying, "heck yeah!"
the main reasons companies have a hard time Blogging is because they
can't directly equate it back to immediate results. I started jamming
with him on this idea. Corporations tend to look at Social Media and
try to match the model with their traditional communications
strategies. It's definitely not the "comparing apples to apples"
scenario. Avinash then went on to say that the main issues companies
are struggling with - when it comes to Social Media - is that their
business models are always based on what the cost is, instead of
looking at the value.
now lets flesh this out.
caution: i'll be dabbling in marketing, not something i like to talk about, especially when it comes to church & marketing. this is partly because i don't think the gospel message or the Body of Christ should be marketed (it's experienced), however, i do think that some parts of church programming or community voice needs some marketing savey. why? let's face it, people respond to marketing. use it for communications, not for manipulation.
cost in churches almost always seems to be the biggest crutch when trying to do.. just about everything. so you get the naysayers that will turn down every idea (or not even think of it) because the money spent does not give the results on the short term that a "now" culture demands. it reminds me of a scene from shawshank redemption. the warden says to andy (in conversation about putting together money for more books) that the only thing the taxpayers care about are more bars, walls, and guards (or something like that). they don't care about prisoners reading.
it is the same thing. we develop whatever we can to keep contained what we want/need contained.
if we re-sorted some of our priorities (in the movie it is just a meager amount of money) we change the culture and the world we know. it can happen, one just has to imagine it and move with it.
changing some of your communications culture i am coming to see brand as a key. as with my cautionary note, this can be done well for a church. i suggest this list from barbara (a lay leader in the umc & marketing pr guru) on the importance of branding.
You can define your business and personal branding style with values,
messaging and images that match the perception you want to project. In
this article, you’ll take a look at the variety in the ways you can
brand yourself. Being consistent across the board builds your brand
equity and makes it easier for your customers to recruit new prospects
for you. (minus the biz language, isn't this a big part of church life? check her list)
but that kind of stuff is expensive?
ugh! it does not have to be. so keep the imagination.
a few solutions: do some talking on who & what you are and do as a community. get some ideas, names/logo/concepts/etc, then pitch them to someone like logo design guru. they can provide for you an inexpensive solution for coming up with a brand logo. after that, use something like istockphoto to get images to put together for daily/weekly/monthly/yearly graphic needs in support of your brand. costs? it'd be around 200 bucks for the logo (can go cheaper, but i'd want a basic package), then 1 dollar to 5 dollars for each graphic bought from istock. you might be spending around 250 bucks a year on a quality branding for communications & promotions like newspaper announcements & adverts, newsletters, website, postcards, letterhead, t-shirts, mugs.. whatever other swag your church gives away. all it takes is one % of a tithing member to make up that cost. the change in culture in how people can speak of the culture of the church becomes easier and will promote a loyalty to the mission of the church.
communicate better with your church member with organized, better looking, and responsive emails with emma. use your new logo stuff & graphics into an html email that goes to your congregation. eliminate paper waste to save the earth & a budget line item (well, sorta, there will always be some who need paper info). people respond to images, they convey a message, as does your brand. people will remember and respond, i've been told, 64% more than just reading text. depending on your church size & the amount of emails you will be sending out, this could be as little as 500 dollars for the start up year, and 250 dollars for subsequent years. again, just a % of one tither to the church. did i mention too that they give you results of your email, views, actions, deletes, etc. that is invaluable.
so be andy dufrense for your church. bring a new vision for change that does not cost much in comparison to the bars, guards, and walls. help others see the value in breaking from the old forms.
Recent Comments