Many churches struggle to plan events people want to attend.?Like a scene out of GroundHog Day, every event follows the same pattern with similar results.
You Spend:
- Ministry time
- Resources
- Effort
You Get:
- Small attendance
- Little leadership interest
- No measurable life-change
If you’re tired of repeating the same pattern to get the same results, you need to keep reading.?Historically, all it took was mentioning a church event and people showed up.
Not. Any. More.
This kind of passive marketing is long gone.?Event success requires your event planning and promotion plan to run together.
As you sit to plan your next event, there are three things your event promotions must include if you want to reach more people and change your community.
1) A Story Worth Telling
Your church and community live busy lives and aren’t looking for more things to do.?Instead, they are looking for things that add value and meaning to their life.
Help them see the value in your church event by asking yourself:
- What type of life-change do I hope to encourage with this event?
- What examples of this change can I share with our church?
These answers will help you craft and tell a story about why your event is worthy of attention and attendance.
Remember:
If you want them to attend, you must show them the life-change that is possible, allow them to see themselves in the story and inspire them to be a part.
2) Details Worth Sharing
Once you’ve inspired people with the value your event brings, then you can inform them about the event.?But, be careful not to overwhelm them with the volume of details.
For most events, the date, time, location and desired next step are all you need at this point.?Share enough that they can follow up, while being brief enough they can easily share with others.
A great question to ask yourself is:
- Is this detail needed by everyone, or only the most interested?
The answer will tell you whether to include it in the initial details or the next step information.
Remember:
People don’t remember details, they remember feelings. And, feelings drive action. Your details should support the story, and direct them to take action.
3) A Plan for Promoting
This is where most churches lose momentum and struggle. Spending weeks planning an event, and leaving promotion planning until the very end.
Starting earlier gives you adequate promotion time, to ensure your Story and Details don’t get missed, and the old patterns aren’t repeated.
A good church promotion plan gives you time to…
- Plan Promotions (2-3 weeks)
- Produce Promotions (2 weeks)
- Run Promotions (4-6 weeks)
This plan gives you enough time to promote through various channels and get your message heard many times by each person.
If this feels excessive, it’s not.
Your church only sees part of all the promotions you create.
When you are sick of hearing about an event, they are just starting to notice.
Remember:
Repetition of clear ideas and opportunities cuts through the noise to get heard.
FREE Download
I’ve created a free resource to help you structure and plan your Church Events.
Download the Church Event Promotion Toolkit
