The 7-Question Church Marketing Checklist

Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Branding

Before we get further, you must think about the priorities of your marketing department. Your church's brand is not the logo, colors, graphics, or videos. Those can influence the brand. Your brand is your reputation. Let's look at Peter Gasca's marketing, advertising, and branding definitions for clarity.

Marketing is how you see yourself.

In other words, this is the message you are trying to promote. You may encourage being friendly, welcoming, dynamic, and growing. All of those are fine, but it's important to remember that the marketing must match a guest's experience when they walk in.

Advertising is how you act in public.

Your actual service and other events are your advertising within the church context. This is how the people you're trying to reach experience you. For example, if you market yourself as "the friendliest church in town," but no one talks to guests when they walk in, your advertising is disconnected from your marketing.

Branding is how others see you.

Your reputation is everything in marketing. Once that starts to suffer, it is arduous to regain the ground you've lost! You may not have been trying to "trick" anyone, but they may perceive it differently if your marketing and advertising don't align. Here's a quick example: All of the pictures on social media are of people smiling, but when the guest arrives, no one is smiling, and everyone seems upset. There may have been bad news, and everyone has good reason to be upset today, but the guest will not do a deep dive to find out the reasons. From their perspective, "everyone is mean."

The things that will impact your brand, more than anything, will be system-related. Consider these questions:

The 7-Question Church Marketing Checklist

1. How do we manage online inquiries about our church?

   1. Do you check the email listed on your church website? Do you check your church's DMs?Are you responding within 24 hours?
      

2. What is the experience like for guests when they get here?

   1. Do the pictures on our website make it easy for guests to recognize the church when they're attending for the first time? Do guests know where to go? Do we have enough signage?
      

3. What is our system for follow-up like?

   1. Have we sent an email, text, or letter to every guest who has come to our church this year? Can we automate this? How long are we following up with our guests?

4. Are we too dependent on one person to manage social media, our website, or our follow-up?

   1. Do we need to get other people involved? Should we hire someone to help us with this? Can we make this easier to manage so our volunteers have more time?
      

5. Do we offer value to guests or non-believers beyond our services or events?

   1. Can we offer a weekly devotional? Can we send a "how to overcome [insert common issue] guide? Can we send inspirational emails or texts?

6. Are we clear about who our church is and what we do?

   1. Do we consistently communicate the pastor's vision for the church? Can most members articulate it? Are we connecting with our members regularly throughout the week to help them gain this vision?

7. Are we actively tracking our community's perception of our church to see if it matches our perception?

   1. Is there something that we're known for, positive or negative? Can we enhance this or change it? Are you checking our reviews? Are we getting enough reviews?