Big events are a great way for churches to create momentum for growth if they know what to do to build relationships with people. Steven Records, a church digital marketing director, talks about practical things he does to maximize big events at a large church that allows them to see more growth. He also shares about Google grants and how he has used the free money to promote his church.
Show Notes:
Host a large special event.
A core value of James River Church is to reach young families.
A digital marketing team, on all campuses of James River, help promote a large event to help reach young families in Springfield, Missouri.
The October 31st event specifically targets this audience. The main goal of the event is to help the community meet people who attend the church.
Be sure to keep your event branding consistent with your church brand.
Use automated email sequences.
A good call to action for large event promotion is to capture their basic information.
Try to get them to give this information so you can follow up with an automated email sequence.
An automated email sequence is created once, then is triggered by the action a user takes.
Automated email sequences, and emails in general, are a great way to keep engaged with people after the event is over.
Build relationships with people.
Be intentional about using an event to connect with people and build a relationship.
Communicating with people is all about building the relationship. Think about how to get basic information so you can continue to reach out to the people at your event.
Use a mix of promotions.
An event page is ideal so you can set it up for search engine optimization. Blog posts can be written to reach people who are looking for keywords related to your event.
Reach out to news stations to let them know what your church is doing in the community. Post your event on community calendars as well.
A good strategy for a big event is to keep a special day special instead of creating interest in a new date; for instance, use holidays.
Consider using a Google Grant.
Churches can apply for a Google Grant as a non-profit.
The grant that James River used was $10,000 a month that a church can spend to advertise.
James River uses blogs to get people in the community to learn about the church. The grant is used to boost posts in the community to increase web traffic
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