How To Market Your Church Event

Planning a church event is so frustrating. Barely anyone shows up. It can be so disappointing, especially when you spend so much time planning them. 

Here’s the truth. If you want more people to come to your events, you’ve got to change your approach. Yes, it sounds harsh, but you can’t market your events the same way you used to 20 years ago and expect people to show up. 

Churches depended on word of mouth or flyers to spread the word about their events. Today, you can’t depend on these tools to get the word out about your events. You have to use new techniques to market your church events. Here are 4 strategies you can use to market your church events. 

Start An Email List 

An email list is a valuable tool. It will help to get your events in front of more people. 

Nearly 4.26 billion people across the globe use email. Everyone with a smartphone, laptop, or desktop access checks their email daily. So, you are missing out on a prime opportunity to Increase church event attendance. 

I use an email list to gain new subscribers and promote new recipes and articles on my food blog. You can use email in the same way. You can set up a website for your church, where you can livestream your services, sell products, and set up a simple email form so people can subscribe to your list. 

Every week, you can send a weekly newsletter of all the events scheduled for the week. For example, if you have a women’s meeting on Monday, Bible Study on Tuesday, men’s night on Thursday, youth night on Friday, and church on Sunday, you can include all of this in your newsletter. You can put all the information in the newsletter, including the date and time and what you will discuss. You can also email your subscribers tips, scriptures for mid-week motivation, or other fun stuff. 

You can also create special newsletters for church anniversaries, with small tidbits about the church’s history, founding or current members in leadership positions, and events that you will be hosting to celebrate this special time.   

Note creating an email list is the easy part. You have to put in the work to grow and nurture your list. Yes, this includes telling people about your list. But you have to do more than that. You have to find creative ways to get people interested in your list.   

Give Away Free Gifts 

Nothing attracts people like free gifts. I know what you are thinking. My church doesn’t have the money to sponsor gifts. 

You do not have to buy extravagant gifts. You can buy 20-dollar gift certificates to a spa or popular restaurant. You can also buy Amazon gift cards, grocery vouchers, crockpots, or hand-crafted art. 

You can also ask your church members to donate inexpensive but useful gifts like an air fryer or instant pot. If you feel uncomfortable asking your church members for donations, you can set aside a small portion of the church tithes or money fundraisers to provide the funds for your giveaways. 

You can also use these gifts to get people to sign up for your newsletter. For example, you can give away a $20 gift card to the first 5 people who sign up for your newsletter. 

Text Notifications

Text is even more popular than email. You can promote your events by sending out text notifications. You can send people a link to an event. They can forward this link to other people they know, which can encourage more people to come and support your event.

You can also use text messages to gauge interest or test ideas for church events. For example, if you are trying to choose between a movie night or a trip to a museum, you can send a link to a survey via text. Whichever activity the majority chooses is your next event. 

You can also use text notifications to remind people of your event the week before and the night before. Sometimes, people don’t show up to your event because they forgot. People lead busy lives. Not everyone adds events to their digital calendars. This is why sending out text reminders is so important. 

Paid Advertising

Paid social media advertising is another way to increase attendance at your events. Social media is where the people are. About 94% of consumers visit at least 1 social media platform once a month. Therefore, social media is the right place to share information about your events. 

Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram are some of the most popular social media platforms for paid advertising. You can target ads to target your ads to specific demographics. 

Suppose you are having a conference for young women. Your demographic may include people who live in your city, young adults aged 13-18, or young women. With these demographics in mind, you can create a powerful ad that draws young women to your event. 

You do not have to use paid advertisements for every event. You can save it for bigger events like church anniversaries or conferences. Nevertheless, paid social media advertisements are a great tool that can double attendance at your events if it’s done right. 

It does not matter which marketing strategy you use. Make sure your content has a strong call to action. 

A call to action is a marketing term that refers to the next steps the marketer wants the audience to take. For example, at the bottom of your ad for a conference, you might put the words “Register Now” with a link to a registration form on your church’s website. 

Whether the medium is through email, text message, or paid ads, always include a call to action. Consider what you are offering your audience and the next steps you want them to take. Make sure you use clear, concise language to communicate it to them and provide actionable steps that they can perform, such as clicking on a link. These 4 methods, combined with a strong call to action, will help to boost attendance at your next event.