Internet a ‘Roadside Billboard’ With ‘Pull Over’ Benefits, says Forbes
ByMy friend Chris Forbes of MinistryMarketingCoach.com has an excellent quote in our state paper, The Daily Oklahoman, on what the Internet means to advertising and marketing and a big idea for using it effectively in the local church:
“What you have with the Internet is a great roadside billboard on the information highway, but you now have a place where they can pull over.”
The article where this quote appears is about LifeChurch.tv’s MySecret.tv “confessional” Web site (see my recent related post on it). As part of the promotional efforts for the site, the church’s members posted signs in their yards to the MySecret site.
Using Chris’s analogy … those who see those mini billboards and are intrigued by it can rush home and log on, or “pull over.” I first saw the site’s signs as I drove by one of their campuses. It definitely caught my attention and I had to go check it out.
According to Chris, the Web is “response media like direct marketing,” but churches haven’t used it as so until recently (see mylamesexlife.com for another example).
4 quick takeaways for using the Internet for maximum “pull over”:
1. Harness the marketing power of the Internet and your Web site by placing the site address on all your promotional materials (including on your outdoor signage, email signatures and biz cards)
2. Include an “ad response mechanism” in all your ads that point people to free offers on your Web site (i.e. free booklet giveaways)
3. Think about getting a special Web site for an upcoming sermon series (i.e. on the family, parents, money, etc.)
4. Ask your members to spread the word about it (get them to post yard signs like LifeChurch did, put bumper stickers on their cars, and talk about it at the water cooler)
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Read Other Posts Like This One:
- MySecret.tv Goes National: NY Times Story Here’s a story from the New York Times on...
- 8 Lessons Learned from LifeChurch’s MySecret.tv: My CMS Post I took a step out and offered my insights from...
- 5 Questions with Ministry Marketing Coach Chris Forbes I first met Chris Forbes of Ministry Marketing Coach last...
- 8 Free Online Sessions with Ministry Marketing Coach Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach is one of my close friends and...
- Some Enlightening Internet Video Statistics: YouTube One of my favorite blogs to read is Startup-Review, a...
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2 Comments
August 18th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
In the interests of fairness, here’s a post that talks about what you’ve said on your blog about the offensive MySecret.tv website.
http://jmbzine.com/wordpress/?p=448
August 18th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
J.M., thanks for letting me know about the link and post … I’ve read through it and want to process it before reacting too deeply.
Please note however that I did not say “this is good” or “this is bad,” one way or the other re: the site’s content or goal … but rather tried to use their site as an example of using the Internet as a “pull over” type of technology for the church.
I only reported on the content. But as you’ve illustrated … I need to comment on it as well and weigh in. In that light, thanks for holding my feet to the fire on that. I was asked to do so by another site, so let me mull that over …
Also, just to confirm … is my site “innane” to you? If that’s the case, I’ll clarify why this site exists … to help the local church redeem, adapt and apply (appropriately and biblically) marketing, advertising, communications principles FOR accomplishing its mission.
It’s a balancing act though … there is a fine line of going over the edge or not going far enough to reach our “world” for Christ.