Everyone in ministry is looking for ways to spread the word about their ministry. Most of these churches and ministries have something great about them that brings something good to the world. But, when it comes to sharing what they have with the world around them what they share often looks and feels ugly. That great thing is somehow being presented in a way that makes people turn away in disgust. Let's take a look at a few ways this happens.
Ask Passionless People To Advertise
Asking people without passion to advertise your ministry is going to seem like work to them. To that passionless person you are asking them to share, with others, something they don't care about.
These are not the people you want sharing your ministry with the world. How can a passionless person share the passion? How will that person see that church or ministry after they have been shown it from someone without the passion?
Call It Advertising Or Promotion To The Public
Do viral marketing campaigns call what they do advertising or promotion to the public? Behind closed doors or with core members of your organization these names make sense. When we move to the general public these terms have a mental association with sales. Organizations advertise and promote themselves. People share these organizations with others. This is an important distinction to make.
Leave Out The Meat and Potatoes
Why is your ministry worth the effort? Since the movie Field of Dreams came out with the mantra "If you build it they will come" churches and ministries have been doing just that. They build a ministry and look for people to show up. When it comes to advertising their ministry they talk about how great their church is or what a talented leader their pastor is. But, is that what people are looking for?
The question people are asking is, where is the meat and potatoes? Where is that thing people are looking for and how is that being held up.
Next Step
This may seem like a bit of a critique on ministries and it is. I've seen this in physical advertising and technological promotion. The problem with the way we typically do things is that it doesn't hold to the biblical model set before us and it doesn't work in relation to people and religion.
So, what does work? That will be in my next post. Do you see any other areas where churches fail in their advertising and promotion?
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