|
|
Dec
8
Written by:
host
12/8/2009 7:00 AM
 When the Christmas pageant is over and the Sunday school classes go on hiatus for a week or two, be sure to set aside a little time to review the past year. Since you've already (hopefully) been reviewing individual activities on an ongoing basis, now is the time to take a broad view and look especially at your publicity. Here are 6 key questions to ask yourself.
Pull together copies of as many publicity pieces as you can from the past year: bulletins, newsletters, flyers, emails, and so on. Look them over, and notice anything that especially leaps out at you. Be sure to consider these questions carefully:
- Was your publicity more "invitational" or "informational" in nature?
- Informational publicity focuses on the basics: what, when, and where. It assumes your readers don't really need a lot more than that, and thus is ill-suited for communicating with those who are newer to your congregation.
- Invitational publicity focuses more on the 'who' and 'why' of the activity. It lets readers clearly know if the event is for them, and if so, that they are absolutely invited. It helps the reader to see that participation in the event will be of direct benefit to him or her.
- How frequently and effectively did you utilize digital media in your publicity?
- If you're not utilizing your church website, email, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, instant messaging, and the like, you're likely not connecting effectively with a large percentage of your congregation.
- Digital publicity should be utilized throughout your church staff, not by just one person. For example, all clergy and program staff could contribute to a church blog or share occasional news on Twitter.
- What methods did you use to tell the community about our activities, and what methods could you have used but didn't?
- Did you send out press releases about anything special your congregation was doing? Local newspapers are hungry for stories, and many newspapers are happy to include short blurbs about your activities for free in their event listings.
- Did you create any publicity pieces that were intended to be handed out by members of your congregation to their friends and neighbors?
- Did you utilize photos of past events frequently in your publications, on your walls, and on the website? Images really can be more powerful than words in communicating what an event will be like.
- Did you use the power of stories to tell people about the ministries of your congregation?
- Stories draw people in to articles that would otherwise just be informational in nature (see question #1).
- Stories can be a particularly effective way to involve people in events that are either ongoing or that happen annually. Ongoing activities (like a small group, for example) can be promoted by telling a story or two, and then saying, "If you'd like to know more about how you can be involved, contact..." Annual activities can be promoted by giving the basic details of the event, followed by a story of someone who was involved in that activity in a previous year.
- Stories are useful for recruitment efforts. People will be far more responsive to an invitation to become a teacher, a youth leader, or a confirmation mentor if they hear a story from someone who has done that previously.
- Does my publicity show evidence of careful and strategic planning, or does it seem like it was almost an afterthought?
- Be honest with yourself here. Did you take the time needed to develop comprehensive methods of promoting Sunday school classes, VBS, special events, and the like? Or, did you just do the basics, little more than you did in previous years?
- Does your promotion seem coherent? Are there annual themes, for example, that tie your promotional materials together? Do various activities have a common "look" that helps people to identify activities as ministries of education and nurture?
- Does our congregation's progressive theology come through in our publicity?
- In what ways have you helped those who see your publicity to know what is unique and different about your congregation?
- Do your images show diversity (when it's natural and possible)?
- Does your language include references to themes that are important to your congregation, such as justice, compassion, inclusion, contemporary biblical scholarship, and the like?
After you have asked yourself these questions about this year's publicity, make a list of your goals for your 2010 publicity. Then, be sure to share those goals with other staff members or persons who will help keep you accountable in the coming year.
~ by Tim Gossett
Copyright ©2009 Different Voice
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Get The Daily Voice in your inbox
Subscribe to The Daily Voice, our free weekly email.
|