« August 2005 | Main | November 2005 »

October 16, 2005

Austin American Statesman on Church Marketing

The Austin American Statesman covers church marketing in an article titled "To fill pews, churches marketing faith". The story includes some great church marketing quotes, though none of them come from us.

Here's what they said about us:

Enter a couple of Christian twenty-somethings who felt compelled last year to launch the Web site http://church marketingsucks.com, a commentary on both the inadequacy of many church ads and the queasy feeling some pastors have about self-promotion.

Brad Abare, who runs a marketing company in Los Angeles, and St. Paul, Minn, freelance writer Kevin Hendricks post examples of effective strategies, resources and reviews.

They give advice: Don't overwhelm a church logo with symbolism. (Abare said some try to squeeze "the cross, the dove, the hill, the sunrise, the grave, walking on water" into one graphic.) Do the research on the church's surrounding community and needs before investing money in direct mailings, billboards and radio spots.

And above all, when creating an effective — not too slick, not too hokey — promotion, they said, churches remain "authentic" and theologically sound.

That way, people who market their church won't feel like sleazy salespeople, Hendricks said.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:58 AM
| Comments (0) | TrackBack