Is Church Marketing Dead?

There is something going on but I quite can’t put my finger on it. It’s a gut feeling that’s right more often than not. I think the church landscape is drastically changing and that church as we know it now is going to evolve (no, I am not supporting Darwin) into something much different. It’s just a hypothesis or idea I’m working on, whatever that’s worth.

One thing I do know in many conversations I’ve had lately with church leaders and church planters is that some of the media tools we have used over the last few years is losing their effectiveness or not working at all anymore. Are people fed up with advertising and marketing? Or could it be the message isn’t clear enough or that possibly the product, service, or dare I say it, the church just stinks?

I think it’s a combination of all of them.

People are tired of getting spammed or hordes of junk mail. I see and get stuff from churches that are atrocious! They say too much, don’t communicate clearly, make unchurched people feel judged, or look like somebody hurled on the paper and attached a logo. Some of the marketing tools observed from churches I have visited over-promises and under-delivers. They try to be something they are not.

Even though I believe that many churches still need to catch up with the 21st century, I think by the time they do, it will be too late. So what do we do, or better yet, what’s my buzz word for the day?

“Realationships”

Yes, it’s misspelled but notice it says real. You know what’s going to build your church and the Kingdom? Forming real relationships! Not those cheesy types of friendships where it’s surface level or fake. You can’t pretend to care or be interested – it has to be true and authentic – or you might as well stay in a cardboard box. And building “realationships” is going to take work… a dirty, four letter word! There’s no magical kool-aid, pill or Three Minute Program to do it for us. We have to go in this messy world and love people. It’s a simple but difficult to follow solution.

Church marketing is dying. Throwing a slick advertising piece or website at the public isn’t going to cut it much longer. The church of tomorrow will require more than a campaign. It will require investing personally and hanging out in people’s jacked up lives.

April 22, 2008 · Filed Under Church Leadership, Church Marketing, Church Media

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19 Responses to “Is Church Marketing Dead?”

  1. AJ on April 22nd, 2008 6:54 pm

    That last paragraph is right on. Thanks for thinking about this and articulating it.

  2. Richard Gaspard on April 23rd, 2008 4:48 am

    I really think you’re on to something. There’s a cheesy little phrase, but the meaning behind it is totally eye-opening: “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” The fact is, we can have the slickest presentation, and the greatest context (building), but if the person hearing the message doesn’t feel connected, it won;t mean anything to them.

    So, how do we make them feel connected? Connect with them. A friend shows himself friendly. Oh, yeah…and be REAL.

    I was a teenager back in the ’80s, and I saw way too many big-haired, pink-jacketed youth pastors. They all looked, talked, and acted the same. There was almost a stiff-armed distance between them and anyone else, and it totally turned me off. Thank God it didn’t hinder me from sticking with following Christ, but I can’t help but wonder how many other people my age had that same impression, and it helped them turn from Christ.

    Now, I see the same thing, except the maner of dress is uber-metrosexual, Ed Young wannabes.

    Anyway, great insights.

  3. James Dalman on April 23rd, 2008 8:43 am

    @ AJ - You’re welcome and thanks for letting me know it makes sense, as I do have the ability to ramble in endless diatribe.

    @ Richard - EXACTLY! My best friend, who is not a Christian yet knows the Bible better than most of em’, gives me some really interesting insights just like you stated. He compares most of church propaganda these days as a Disney World brochure trying to sell you on a beautiful experience if you just have the right look, attitude, or money.

    He says he’d prefer that churches preach the Gospel and LET JESUS make the change and that they quit trying to be the uber-hip dishwasher where you come in nasty and dirty and go out clean and spotless.

    I think I’ll repost a conversation I had with him to drive the point home.

  4. » Is church marketing dead? on April 23rd, 2008 9:38 am

    […] Dalman at Church Communications Pro posted an interesting blog article asking Is church marketing dead?  He concludes that it is: Church marketing is dying. Throwing a slick advertising piece or website […]

  5. Paul Steinbrueck on April 23rd, 2008 10:32 am

    Interesting and thought-provoking article. I mentioned it and added my thoughts on our new Church Marketing Online blog:

    http://churchmarketingonline.com/2008/04/is-church-marketing-dead/

  6. Justme on April 24th, 2008 4:47 am

    Hi, I’m an atheist. If you are serious about this question you can reach me — user name JustMe — and some others on the WWGHA forum;

    http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forum/index.php

    Do you really want to improve your marketing?

    * Deal with the negitives. Talk to and as necessary protest against other Christians who do evil in the name of your religion.

    It is true some of the folks on your side — people you may not claim for your own — tarnish your positive points. I’m not talking about Westborough Baptist and that ilk. Nearly everyone thinks they are hate filled nutjobs. I’m talking about the more public hate espoused by Christians.

    Former President Carter is a good positive example of this, though I’d like to see more vocal resistance against the more common hate and bigotry pushed by many run-of-the-mill Christians.

    A small day-to-day example: I was at a wedding, and the priest took 20 minutes to badger the wedding guests who were not in that specific denomination. As I used to be in that denomination, I apologized to my friends afterward for the rudeness. It was the prime topic of conversation as we left the church and none of the comments were positive.

    Larger example: Hate speech or condescension against non-Christians. I remember when I was a Christian the priests mentioning this in every service.

    * Stop promoting ignorance.

    Yes, I know you personally don’t likely promote ignorance. Do you talk up when other Christians do? Do you promote knowledge or speculation? Do you call others arrogant while saying that you know what you clearly can not know? (Show some real humility!) Do you promote contemplation above opening your eyes and looking at the world as it is — and focusing on learning from that?

    * Theocracy

    Voice your opinions in politics, by all means, especially if you are informed about a specific subject and aren’t just reacting on emotions only. Stop promoting a theocracy or theocratic politicians. A theocracy wouldn’t be good for anyone.

  7. James Dalman on April 24th, 2008 7:53 am

    @Just Me -

    Hi! I’m a messy Christian.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I know some people won’t want to read your feedback and it could quite possibly get into one of those mudslinging posts which are of no benefit (and I won’t allow) to the Kingdom or this particular blog. BUT what you say does have merit and I can understand and will reply to your comment in general and not specific (i.e. on Theocracy)

    I hate that Christians have done some really stupid things. I am never ashamed about my passion for following Jesus Christ but I am ashamed at how some brothers and sisters act out. However, this is true of all of us - atheist’s, agnostic’s, Buddhist’s, and Oprahites. ALL of us are guilty for doing jacked up things.

    There are times where we behave in sheer ignorance and even though I don’t agree with an atheist view I am willing to listen, discuss (not fight), and even forgive (and hopefully be forgiven)if things go bad. And I don’t think we should lump all of one group together because even if there is a common “thread” we may differ greatly…there are Christians who believe in abortion and others who do not. It’s unfortunate but just how it is.

    I guess what I am trying to say is that I see your points and observe them daily. I am sorry that you have experienced these things and ask you for forgiveness on our part. Even though you don’t believe in God, I will pray for you - not in a way like “Jesus cure that heathen”, but rather that we can love each other as Christ loved us and share both our views in a civil way. The results and judgment are up to God and not me anyways.

    Thanks again for sharing and I’ll stop by your site. As for the CCP readers, I think this opens up a deep question for consideration on more than just a marketing level.

  8. Justmehttp://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forum/index.php on April 25th, 2008 4:13 pm

    James Dalman, thanks for your response. Agreed on general carelessness of different groups.

    Unfortunately, the forums are currently down at WWGHA. I don’t admin or moderate them — I’m just a forum member — so that’s out of my control. That said, I apologize if this has caused you any inconvenience.

    http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forum/index.php

    FWIW: My comments were intended to help, as I think people of good will can act ethically. Since Christians outnumber atheists of any sort (I’m an *agnostic* atheist BTW), the turmoil is that much greater from Christian actions just due to numbers.

    Unfortunately, the disruptive Christians aren’t about to listen to the comments of an atheist even if it is with the intent to reduce misunderstandings or improve dialog. That limits the corrective actions I can take.

  9. James Dalman on April 25th, 2008 8:28 pm

    Just me,

    I went to check it out but didn’t have time to dive deep enough to notice it was down - but it did look overwhelming for a simple guy like me. LOL. I’ll check back later though.

    I know you mean well by your comments and think if some people could just lose the attitude and realize that we can agree to disagree, then we could carry on a dialogue in a way that is respectful not hateful.

    My goal is not to beat Jesus into people but try and love them like Jesus would. Do I want everyone to call Him Savior - you bet - but I also know many will reject Him. I want to share the Gospel and my story, but I also want to hear and listen to the stories of others. And there are many Christians like me who feel the same way.

    Again, I agree there are Christians who don’t even want to do anything with atheist’s or their world view, but it goes both ways and it won’t change. What we can do is what we are doing here - finding people willing to talk and share in a civil way. It can be done but it will require persistence and patience. Maybe that’s a great start!?

    You can always contact me through my personal website at jamesdalman.com or the contact form if you’d be open to talking more. I appreciate your willingness to share my friend!

  10. James T. on April 26th, 2008 10:40 am

    great post. I think that just throwing the slick marketing piece at people has stopped working some time ago.

    However, I do still think that marketing must be considered and utilized. It just has to look and feel different than what we typically think of when we think “marketing”.

  11. Stuart on April 26th, 2008 4:18 pm

    Good thoughts sir …..

    I’ve jsut come back from a 4 day men’s leadership conference (even though I’m not in any leader role my pastor thought it would be good) and the “relational” link is the very thing they were talking most about.

    Secondly the church I attend has a tagline of “building a house of love” and love can only happen on a relational level - this is something we are very much working on but has been in progress for a couple of years now and is very much a work in action and progress.

    Keep sharing …

  12. Mean Dean on April 27th, 2008 3:39 am

    Okay James, I answered your question over on the Digital Leadership blog:

    http://digital.leadnet.org/2008/04/is-church-marke.html

    And thanks for asking the important question!

  13. Digital @ Leadership Network on April 27th, 2008 6:51 am

    Is Church marketing dead? Nope, just stuck on stupid!…

    There’s no getting around it, despite the efforts of many to teach, rebuke, correct train in righteous web design, there still exists a great cloud of witlessness when it comes to the Church’s presence online. A fact painfully corroborated by…

  14. James Dalman on April 27th, 2008 11:37 am

    @ James T - Thanks! No doubt churches will continue to use print and web media to communicate about themselves (and shouldn’t necessarily stop) but it’s time for a change in the approach. I think church branding is a topic that needs to be discussed more in-depth as a substitute to stupid marketing as Mean Dean discusses on his post.

    @Stuart - Thanks for your feedback and I like the tagline!

    @Mean Dean - Thanks for your two cents and your follow up post. I agree that most church marketing is stuck on stupid (and dig your acrostic)and that there HAS to be a drastic change in how these churches communicate through web and print.

    We also need to focus on and realize that church branding is important and can be more beneficial than the marketing tools because branding is everything a church is about. It’s not just a logo; it is the total image - and sometimes the outside (packaging) doesn’t match the inside (people and personality). This is one reason I feel church marketing isn’t effective and dying.

  15. Ryan on April 27th, 2008 12:24 pm

    James,
    I wish that I’d gotten here before the LeadNet folks. I really think that the value of REALationships is where it’s at. Getting better at what we’re doing in marketing is not the solution. I would dare say that not only church marketing is dying (not yet dead), so is mass communication in general.
    I touched on this topic myself just last week… http://tillingthesoil.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/communication/
    People want personal delivery systems of personal messages. It doesn’t matter if it’s the church (clergy connecting with members, i.e. Facebook for Pastors) or multinational corporations (Notice Coke’s marketing of MYcokerewards.com
    Just my two cents.
    ryan

  16. James Dalman on April 29th, 2008 5:54 am

    Ryan- These are great points. Thanks!

  17. Kevin on April 30th, 2008 5:31 pm

    Very thought-provoking. Marketing in and of itself is not bad… although there is a lot of bad marketing out there (marketing done badly). What is marketing? I am going to generalize here, but marketing is a form of communication that results in the “sale” of ideas, products or services. Ryan above describes an example of how marketing is evolving. I think it would be better to say that the old form of church marketing is dead. There are simply better ways to spread the word in the world we live in now… and, it has everything to do with being honest, open and available for dialogue.

  18. James Dalman on May 1st, 2008 7:36 am

    Kevin,

    I agree that marketing in and of itself isn’t bad and we do need to rethink it if we continue to use it. I am not proposing we give up only that maybe we stop trying to be all things to all people.

    I do think church marketing is going to die in it’s present form because people who are not in church, for the most part, tune it out and ignore it. Church marketing of the future will be word of mouth because lives are being transformed and this is the way it should always be!

  19. Is Church marketing dead? Nope, just stuck on stupid! » Heal Your Church WebSite on May 8th, 2008 6:46 am

    […] would include Cory Miller and James Dalman at Church Communications Pro (CCP), the latter of whom begged the all important question: “Is Church marketing […]

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