• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Marketing Tactics vs Strategy
  • How to Advertise Your Business
  • About Niche Marketing
  • Contact Me
Beyond Niche Marketing

Beyond Niche Marketing

Get more customers. Grow your business.

  • About the Author
    • About the Book
      • Beyond the Niche
  • About Niche Marketing
    • How to Identify Your Niche Market

Marketing your small business like a church

December 26, 2008 by Kathryn Hendershot 4 Comments

Most people don’t think of a “church” as needing marketing – but your local community church is in fact a small business.    Most churches- like most small businesses- rely HEAVILY upon “word of mouth” advertising as the primary means of marketing their “small business”.

The blog “Your Ministry Helper” shares the video below which was created by Beyond Relevance in the post “What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church”  The video helps to show those in ministry what a first time visit to their church might look like from a “visitor’s” point of view.

The sad thing is, my family has been “church shopping” for the past year and the video above hits the “problem” right on the mark.

Because I spend most of my time “online”, I can’t help but think of how many business websites are just like the “church business” featured in the video.  From pop-up windows  to instructions telling visitors to re-size their computer’s settings so they can view the website, many small business websites remind me of the”church” in the above video.

Over at the Beyond Relevance blog, Richard has a great article on the importance the “little things” play in the marketing and branding of a typical church.  In Inconsistent Artwork he writes:

Most churches are not consistent because deep down, they don’t know who they are, whom they are called to reach, or how to reach them. When a church does, consistency becomes the natural outflow of our successful communication with those people.

Wow!  Your local church has a LOT more in common with most small businesses than I ever imagined!!!

Churches – just like small business – need to know who their “customers” are in order to speak effectively to them.   Members of a congregation have GDP (Goals, desires and problems) just like the customers of your business have.  Church marketing messages – just like your small businesses marketing messages- have to address those goals, desires and problems in order to “break through” the clutter of daily life.

In my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results, I walk small business owners through the steps of identifying their target audience.  Once you know who your target audience is – then you can begin focusing on their goals, desires and problems as you create a marketing message which inspires them to do business with your business.

How long has it been since you’ve taken a fresh “look” at your marketing materials?    Set it and forget it is NOT a smart small business marketing strategy for a church OR a business.

Filed Under: Beyond Marketing Tagged With: Affordable Small Business Marketing Strategies, Small Business Marketing Strategies

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Steve Sherron says

    December 27, 2008 at 10:12 am

    Fantastic truth in the video. If Starbucks treated me that way I’d never go back. Why do most churches treat their visitors that way?

    Reply
  2. Valerie says

    January 1, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    Hi Kathy, I never know where I will find you – this time through blogged.com. Thanks for the reference.

    @Steve – I have been working in ministry for 17 years. Unfortunately, we often do what we have been taught through tradition. On the bright side, there are a lot of churches that are realizing that the church needs to change its way of operating.

    Reply
  3. Tim Andren says

    April 10, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    Great analogy. This especially applies to the social media aspect of marketing for small business owners. The conversational, community aspects of sites such as Twitter and Facebook reinforce your ideas.

    Tim Andrens last blog post..Be a business black belt

    Reply
  4. Cheryl Ndunguru says

    December 4, 2011 at 11:58 am

    I love this video!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More to See

Newspaper Advertising

Newspaper Advertising Basics

July 26, 2022 By Kathy

3 Marketing Tips for Small Business

June 2, 2022 By Kathy

Tags

Advertising Advertising 2.0 advertising and marketing for small business owners advertising and the web Advertising Effectiveness Affordable Small Business Marketing Strategies Beyond Marketing blog blogging and branding branding branding and entrepreneurs building trust business building business marketing strategies business owner creating a product for a niche audience customer's reasons for buying Customer Service free PR major sale marketing campaign marketing magic marketing messages marketing plan niche market Niche Marketing niche marketing for small businesses niche marketing strategy niche marketing wisdom PR small business small business advertising small business advertising solution small business marketing small business marketing consultant Small Business Marketing Strategies Small Business Marketing Success Online social marketing Social Media Marketing target audience the long term value of a customer transparency viral marketing word of mouth advertising word of mouth marketing

Footer

Low Cost, High Yield Marketing

Beyond Niche Marketing is a guide to effectively marketing your small business without breaking the bank.

Pick up your digital copy of Beyond the Niche for only $9.99 by clicking the button below.

 

Recent

  • Local Advertising to Reach Your Niche Market
  • Newspaper Advertising Basics
  • 3 Marketing Tips for Small Business
  • Niche Market Products Can Grow Your Business
  • Niche Market Ideas and How to Find Them

Search

Tags

Advertising Advertising 2.0 advertising and marketing for small business owners advertising and the web Advertising Effectiveness Affordable Small Business Marketing Strategies Beyond Marketing blog blogging and branding branding branding and entrepreneurs building trust business building business marketing strategies business owner creating a product for a niche audience customer's reasons for buying Customer Service free PR major sale marketing campaign marketing magic marketing messages marketing plan niche market Niche Marketing niche marketing for small businesses niche marketing strategy niche marketing wisdom PR small business small business advertising small business advertising solution small business marketing small business marketing consultant Small Business Marketing Strategies Small Business Marketing Success Online social marketing Social Media Marketing target audience the long term value of a customer transparency viral marketing word of mouth advertising word of mouth marketing

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in