I've spoken to many church "communicators" or "marketing" staff and, over and over, I hear the same thing.... "I love what I do in marketing but one day I'd like to be over a ministry." While, I certainly wouldn't try to persuade anyone not to become a Children's Pastor, Youth Pastor, etc... if that's what God's called them to do - it does make me wonder why it's hard for some to view church communications/marketing as a ministry. To me, what my team and I do everyday is just as much a ministry as others - not more or less.
The very definition of our roles - "to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to our church and community through web, print, and other forms of media" - is ministry centered. There are a couple of critical things that we do as church communicators that are ministry focused and driven:
Pastoring Pastors
In our roles as church communicators, it is our jobs - our mandate from the Lord - to provide expertise, advice and guidance to staff Pastors, department heads and others within the church on the best ways to communicate the message of Jesus to the people they are responsible for reaching. In this way, we become a Pastor to the Pastors - helping to guide them, encourage them and provide them with the tools necessary to succeed in what God has called them to do. For me, this part of my role is very, very important - not only does it give me a sense of purpose, it keeps me accountable to making sure that I'm prayed up and living in deep relationship with God so that I can be in tune with what He is trying to do through each of our Pastors. When you begin to see your job in this light - it changes how you work.
Bringing Understanding to The Word of God
In much the same way as a Pastor brings understanding to the Word of God through a sermon or discipleship, as church communicators, we do the same thing everyday in newsletters, blogs, website updates, promotional material and many other ways. We are continually communicating the Word of God through media and imagery - seeking to find ways to connect the heart of man to the compassionate, grace-filled heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is important to remember because it keeps me centered in Christ because I must be able to hear His voice about how to communicate His love and bring true understanding. Everything that we touch should connect with people and bring understanding of Christ's love into their lives. In this way, we fulfill our part in the Great Commission.
There's no more important mandate from our Lord than the Great Commission, To go into all the world and make disciples. In our jobs to get the message out there - we are playing a big role in the Great Commission. So, be encouraged - no matter what your title may be, if you're serving as a church communicator - you are a minister of the gospel and God is using you in mighty ways.
Marketing is a Ministry - and, I personally, am extremely honored that God has called me to play this role in His agenda to reach this world for His glory.
Words, Words, Words...
I ran across a quote today that I thought was rather poignant, I don't know the year it was said, but I like what it says...
A recent government publication on the marketing of cabbage contains, according to one report, 26,941 words. It is noteworthy in this regard that the Gettysburg Address contains a mere 279 words while the Lord's Prayer comprises but 67.
- Norman R. Augustine
There's not much more that I can say except that maybe sometimes, especially as communicators and marketers, we use way too many words. In saying that, I'm not necessarily talking about using images rather than words, or using media, or simplifying or any other thing you can think of...
Rather, it actually brings to mind the Crave Factor session that I recently heard. We were all challenged to focus on creating a "craving" in people rather than simply communicating the "need"... for more detail see my Simply Worth It blog.
But, really, how can you create a craving... well, it starts with knowing what the need is. This is hard work, because what people generally need is not always what we think they need. This is hard work because we have to get to know our community, the people who visit our church, people as individual and we have to get outside our church walls (boxes) and get into the hearts and minds of people.
To use fewer words, you must have greater understanding... we have to learn to ask and answer the hard questions:
A recent government publication on the marketing of cabbage contains, according to one report, 26,941 words. It is noteworthy in this regard that the Gettysburg Address contains a mere 279 words while the Lord's Prayer comprises but 67.
- Norman R. Augustine
There's not much more that I can say except that maybe sometimes, especially as communicators and marketers, we use way too many words. In saying that, I'm not necessarily talking about using images rather than words, or using media, or simplifying or any other thing you can think of...
Rather, it actually brings to mind the Crave Factor session that I recently heard. We were all challenged to focus on creating a "craving" in people rather than simply communicating the "need"... for more detail see my Simply Worth It blog.
But, really, how can you create a craving... well, it starts with knowing what the need is. This is hard work, because what people generally need is not always what we think they need. This is hard work because we have to get to know our community, the people who visit our church, people as individual and we have to get outside our church walls (boxes) and get into the hearts and minds of people.
To use fewer words, you must have greater understanding... we have to learn to ask and answer the hard questions:
- What are the people in our local community struggling with?
- What is it that they are looking for?
- What are their primary influences and how can we tap into them?
- When they come through our doors, do we really know what they're looking for? If so, do we know what we need to do to make them comfortable and provide ways to meet their needs?
Proactive Is The New Black
Funny title, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else, it's too early in the morning. But, as I was doing my early morning blog hustle, I ran across an older post over at 1to1 about companies who take proactive steps to help the customer. It's certainly not an earth shattering revelation, but it is one that more often than not, we're tempted to claim "we're doing great" on when, in reality, our customers might say differently.
I love to take concepts and directly apply them to my own life, church experience, team experience, etc. As I contemplated this one, I realized that more than anything it applies to my Marketing Team. Our team is extremely talented and creative. We also care very deeply about the job we do and want our final product to be excellent. Of course, we make mistakes, sometimes big, sometimes small - but we make 'em. But, I'd have to say that if we struggle anywhere - it's definitely in this area - being consistently proactive.
We certainly have the best intentions and many, many times we start out on a proactive note only to have 15 projects come in that are needed within four weeks.....so there we go again into reactivity. I can't tell you how many times this has happened and then we find ourselves behind the eight ball reacting to things we tried to be proactive about a month ago. *sigh*
Honestly, I don't know the answer, but as a service-based organization to all ministries within our church, it's up to me to start looking harder for one. So, today's entry is a personal challenge to myself; but, I'll end with a question for you, Where in your job, ministry, family and life would a more proactive way of thinking have the most impact? Find it and make it happen - I know you can.
I love to take concepts and directly apply them to my own life, church experience, team experience, etc. As I contemplated this one, I realized that more than anything it applies to my Marketing Team. Our team is extremely talented and creative. We also care very deeply about the job we do and want our final product to be excellent. Of course, we make mistakes, sometimes big, sometimes small - but we make 'em. But, I'd have to say that if we struggle anywhere - it's definitely in this area - being consistently proactive.
We certainly have the best intentions and many, many times we start out on a proactive note only to have 15 projects come in that are needed within four weeks.....so there we go again into reactivity. I can't tell you how many times this has happened and then we find ourselves behind the eight ball reacting to things we tried to be proactive about a month ago. *sigh*
Honestly, I don't know the answer, but as a service-based organization to all ministries within our church, it's up to me to start looking harder for one. So, today's entry is a personal challenge to myself; but, I'll end with a question for you, Where in your job, ministry, family and life would a more proactive way of thinking have the most impact? Find it and make it happen - I know you can.
In Another's Shoes
I've been reading David Zimmerman's A Visitor's Perspective series and I totally agree. One of the biggest ways that we fail, both as individuals and churches, is by forgetting to put ourselves in the other person's shoes, namely first-time visitors to our church. With David's posts fresh in my mind, I received my email issue of Customer Think and quickly noticed an article about engaging customers emotionally. It stuck out to me because it lines up exactly with what David has been talking about in regards to the first-time visitor's experience.
In the article, Colin Shaw of Beyond Philosophy, points out that many organizations think their job is to process customers, stating that 67% of organizations are transactional and view their customers as something to be processed. By looking only at the physical or rational aspects of the customer experience, they fail to appreciate that 50% of a customer experience is about how a customer feels. If one-half of a customer's experience in a transactional setting, i.e. grocery store, bank, retail outlet, is based solely on emotion – how much higher is that percentage within the church where the whole experience is based around emotion and spiritual experience? Going to church for the first time or visiting a new church is an intensely emotional and spiritual experience. What strikes me when I consider this is how often we get busy and hurried and fail to consider our visitor's feelings as we focus on getting our "process" right… I know I've been guilty.
I especially liked Colin's recommendation to map the customer's journey so that you can allow for an emotionally engaging customer experience. He uses an example of how, using this technique, they redesigned a bank branch loan experience by mapping the "as is" experience of customers. Using this strategy, various first-time visitor "as is" experiences can be mapped out and considered. The following list is not meant to be exhaustive, but to simply provoke thought - I'm sure there are many other experiences that can be added to this list.
The Last Line.
These guests are coming to church because their life has reached rock bottom and they, literally, have nowhere to turn. They will experience church with a sense of desperation, looking fervently for the answers from the only place left to turn. What can we do to impact their experience and lead them gently past their fears and to the only answer, Jesus?
The Anxious.
These guests are there because they've been invited, seen your newspaper ad, billboard or heard the radio spot. They've been interested in church for a while, but haven't found the time. Today, finally, they've gotten themselves out of the house and to church. They will experience church with a since of expectation, either from what their friends have told them or what your advertising has told them about the church. You can bet they're anxious about this whole church thing and, really, they just want to get in, get seated and check it out. What can we do to ease their anxiety, help them quickly and easily to their seat and impact their experience so that they will not only open their hearts to the message, but possibly become a vital part of the church?
The Reluctant
These guests are there because someone made them come - a parent, a spouse, a rehab program, etc. They've either never had an interest in church or had a negative experience that turned them off of church for good as far as they were concerned. Regardless, they're there now. They will experience church through a negative lens, looking for the worst and expecting every stereotypical thing to happen... the preacher's gonna beg for money, I'm going to have to stand in front of everyone... you get the point. What can we do to ease their discomfort and create a positive experience that will open their hearts to see the good in Jesus and His church?
I know I get caught up in the trap many, many times of not stopping to consider what our first-time guests are experiencing in their lives before they come through our doors. How differently would we think of our processes when we consider it through the lens of the other person's emotions? I know I have some re-thinking to do.
In the article, Colin Shaw of Beyond Philosophy, points out that many organizations think their job is to process customers, stating that 67% of organizations are transactional and view their customers as something to be processed. By looking only at the physical or rational aspects of the customer experience, they fail to appreciate that 50% of a customer experience is about how a customer feels. If one-half of a customer's experience in a transactional setting, i.e. grocery store, bank, retail outlet, is based solely on emotion – how much higher is that percentage within the church where the whole experience is based around emotion and spiritual experience? Going to church for the first time or visiting a new church is an intensely emotional and spiritual experience. What strikes me when I consider this is how often we get busy and hurried and fail to consider our visitor's feelings as we focus on getting our "process" right… I know I've been guilty.
I especially liked Colin's recommendation to map the customer's journey so that you can allow for an emotionally engaging customer experience. He uses an example of how, using this technique, they redesigned a bank branch loan experience by mapping the "as is" experience of customers. Using this strategy, various first-time visitor "as is" experiences can be mapped out and considered. The following list is not meant to be exhaustive, but to simply provoke thought - I'm sure there are many other experiences that can be added to this list.
The Last Line.
These guests are coming to church because their life has reached rock bottom and they, literally, have nowhere to turn. They will experience church with a sense of desperation, looking fervently for the answers from the only place left to turn. What can we do to impact their experience and lead them gently past their fears and to the only answer, Jesus?
The Anxious.
These guests are there because they've been invited, seen your newspaper ad, billboard or heard the radio spot. They've been interested in church for a while, but haven't found the time. Today, finally, they've gotten themselves out of the house and to church. They will experience church with a since of expectation, either from what their friends have told them or what your advertising has told them about the church. You can bet they're anxious about this whole church thing and, really, they just want to get in, get seated and check it out. What can we do to ease their anxiety, help them quickly and easily to their seat and impact their experience so that they will not only open their hearts to the message, but possibly become a vital part of the church?
The Reluctant
These guests are there because someone made them come - a parent, a spouse, a rehab program, etc. They've either never had an interest in church or had a negative experience that turned them off of church for good as far as they were concerned. Regardless, they're there now. They will experience church through a negative lens, looking for the worst and expecting every stereotypical thing to happen... the preacher's gonna beg for money, I'm going to have to stand in front of everyone... you get the point. What can we do to ease their discomfort and create a positive experience that will open their hearts to see the good in Jesus and His church?
I know I get caught up in the trap many, many times of not stopping to consider what our first-time guests are experiencing in their lives before they come through our doors. How differently would we think of our processes when we consider it through the lens of the other person's emotions? I know I have some re-thinking to do.
Simply Worth It
Ok I must admit...I've been procrastinating heavily on getting into the blogging world. I mean, sure, I have a lot to say (just ask my husband), but I just kept putting it off. ENOUGH! It's time.
So, what spurred me on? Well, I've attended many conferences during my career and I've been inspired by some, bored to tears by others - but, very few have ever been all together inspiring, useful and simply worth it. This week, however, I had the privilege to take a few from my team to MinistryCOM in Nashville, TN. It was terrific and certainly blog worthy. Of course, the fact that nearly EVERY speaker had their own blog, was only a small portion of why I'm actually blogging now (I mean, seriously, who wants to be the *only* one without a blog) :-) NOT ME!
So, back to the conference... I learned some pretty terrific stuff and I know the gals from my team learned a lot - I listened to them talk about how much they learned and enjoyed it from Nashville to Atlanta. Now that's money well spent.
Here's just a snippet of what I took away:
Terry Storch of LifeChurch delivered a very powerful first session titled Communication Revolution. He focused on the evolution of communication from the invention of the Printing Press to Web 2.0 and built one of the best cases I've heard for why now, more than ever before in history, we have (literally at our fingertips) the ability to fulfill the Great Commission & make disciples of all people. If you've ever thought MySpace, Facebook, Twitter & Bloggers were the "enemy" of the gospel - this message will definitely challenge you and give you much food for thought.
Michael Buckingham of Holy Cow Creative conducted a great workshop Church Marketing Lab LIVE. As a Church Marketing Lab participant in the Flickr group, I thought it was a great session that put our virtual critiquing skills to work in a live setting. I can say that it was extremely refreshing to watch as communications professionals and designers from different churches worked together to find creative solutions to one another's design challenges. I especially loved a few of the good ideas that other churches presented - loved the napkin idea for college ministry and the idea of letting the community lead the weekend discussion by going directly to them and asking for their questions!
Dawn Nicole Baldwin of AspireOne delivered a great session Branding 101 that really gave some great information on how to brand and how not to brand in a church setting. Dawn made some really great points about aspirational branding (trying to "brand" what you're not in hopes of becoming that) and brand-within-a-brand branding - it's really nice to hear someone teaching this stuff on a church level. Great job Dawn.
Brad Abare of Church Marketing Sucks & CFCC gave a great closing session on Day 1 titled A Matter of Message bringing us all back to our center - it's all about Jesus. If we're not in-tune with Him and making Him a priority in our personal lives nothing else will flow.
Shawn Wood of Seacoast Church gave a fantastic first session on Day Two titled, Brand Schizophrenia - with 11 different locations meeting each week, I can totally see how Seacoast has to have their branding and consistency down. Shawn challenged us to focus less on the "control" aspects of branding and more on the "experience" aspects of it - creating experiences for people that make us and Jesus hard to forget. Not only did Shawn inspire us, he is a great presenter - if you ever get a chance to see him present - do it.
Ginger Sinsabaugh Macdonald of TastyFaith gave a great session titled The Crave Factor - much, much, much needed for Church Communications people! It was really awesome to hear her talk about creating a craving verses explaining a need. Too many times we approach our messaging from the point of everyone "needs" Christ instead of trying to create a craving so that they "want" Christ. I agree, I really DON'T NEED Pringles - but I do REALLY WANT them!!!! (yes, Ginger, I do like to share!!!)
In our final session of the conference, we had the privilege of hearing Kem Meyer of Granger gave a great multi-media presentation that challenged us all to work in partnership with those in our ministry rather than being so caught up in our own policies, procedures and ideas that we forget that we're all on the same team with the same goals.
All in all, I do have to say that it was a great conference and well worth the time and money to take most of my team. In short - it was simply worth it.
So, what spurred me on? Well, I've attended many conferences during my career and I've been inspired by some, bored to tears by others - but, very few have ever been all together inspiring, useful and simply worth it. This week, however, I had the privilege to take a few from my team to MinistryCOM in Nashville, TN. It was terrific and certainly blog worthy. Of course, the fact that nearly EVERY speaker had their own blog, was only a small portion of why I'm actually blogging now (I mean, seriously, who wants to be the *only* one without a blog) :-) NOT ME!
So, back to the conference... I learned some pretty terrific stuff and I know the gals from my team learned a lot - I listened to them talk about how much they learned and enjoyed it from Nashville to Atlanta. Now that's money well spent.
Here's just a snippet of what I took away:
Terry Storch of LifeChurch delivered a very powerful first session titled Communication Revolution. He focused on the evolution of communication from the invention of the Printing Press to Web 2.0 and built one of the best cases I've heard for why now, more than ever before in history, we have (literally at our fingertips) the ability to fulfill the Great Commission & make disciples of all people. If you've ever thought MySpace, Facebook, Twitter & Bloggers were the "enemy" of the gospel - this message will definitely challenge you and give you much food for thought.
Michael Buckingham of Holy Cow Creative conducted a great workshop Church Marketing Lab LIVE. As a Church Marketing Lab participant in the Flickr group, I thought it was a great session that put our virtual critiquing skills to work in a live setting. I can say that it was extremely refreshing to watch as communications professionals and designers from different churches worked together to find creative solutions to one another's design challenges. I especially loved a few of the good ideas that other churches presented - loved the napkin idea for college ministry and the idea of letting the community lead the weekend discussion by going directly to them and asking for their questions!
Dawn Nicole Baldwin of AspireOne delivered a great session Branding 101 that really gave some great information on how to brand and how not to brand in a church setting. Dawn made some really great points about aspirational branding (trying to "brand" what you're not in hopes of becoming that) and brand-within-a-brand branding - it's really nice to hear someone teaching this stuff on a church level. Great job Dawn.
Brad Abare of Church Marketing Sucks & CFCC gave a great closing session on Day 1 titled A Matter of Message bringing us all back to our center - it's all about Jesus. If we're not in-tune with Him and making Him a priority in our personal lives nothing else will flow.
Shawn Wood of Seacoast Church gave a fantastic first session on Day Two titled, Brand Schizophrenia - with 11 different locations meeting each week, I can totally see how Seacoast has to have their branding and consistency down. Shawn challenged us to focus less on the "control" aspects of branding and more on the "experience" aspects of it - creating experiences for people that make us and Jesus hard to forget. Not only did Shawn inspire us, he is a great presenter - if you ever get a chance to see him present - do it.
Ginger Sinsabaugh Macdonald of TastyFaith gave a great session titled The Crave Factor - much, much, much needed for Church Communications people! It was really awesome to hear her talk about creating a craving verses explaining a need. Too many times we approach our messaging from the point of everyone "needs" Christ instead of trying to create a craving so that they "want" Christ. I agree, I really DON'T NEED Pringles - but I do REALLY WANT them!!!! (yes, Ginger, I do like to share!!!)
In our final session of the conference, we had the privilege of hearing Kem Meyer of Granger gave a great multi-media presentation that challenged us all to work in partnership with those in our ministry rather than being so caught up in our own policies, procedures and ideas that we forget that we're all on the same team with the same goals.
All in all, I do have to say that it was a great conference and well worth the time and money to take most of my team. In short - it was simply worth it.
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