A Better Approach to Your Church Promotions

Life-change happens through the many events, activities, and ministries your church generates. You either use a "decentralized" and "centralized" approach to your event promotion. Let's look at quick look at each, and then I'll share some thoughts on which I think is better.

Decentralized Approach
The decentralized approach is probably the most common. This is where each ministry is responsible for its communication strategy. It would seem logical that each ministry leader would come up with an event communication plan. After all, who would know better about the activity, its objectives, target audience, and details?

With this approach, the first step is to gather all the event details. Next, the department may lean on a committee or planning team to help build a promotion plan. They brainstorm a little to develop creative ways to promote their event to grab maximum attention and connect with their prospective attendees.

A plan may include producing a display for the lobby, developing a comedic video, or presenting a live sketch on stage. A content calendar may also have the usual screen announcements, bulletin inserts and entries, emails, and features on the website and social media. Finally, the team drafts and finalizes a promotion schedule. When finished, the team submits the plan for the communications coordinator to implement.


Centralized Approach
The "centralized approach is similar, except responsibilities shift. With this approach, the communications coordinator gathers the details submitted by the ministry and crafts the communication plan.

The communications coordinator crafts the content calendar, submitting a draft to the ministry leader for affirmation. The communications coordinator implements the plan once it is complete. 


Decentralized Approach: Pros & Cons
Overall, the decentralized approach would appear to have the most flexibility and less creative restriction. In this scenario, the sky's the limit on how teach ministry promotes its activities. Additionally, ministry leaders may have more ownership of their promotions.

However, what most churches miss with this approach is they're unintentionally creating competition. Your church members are on the receiving end of the frequency and volume of all this messaging.

Each team crafts its own coms plan without knowing how it impacts or is impacted by the coms plans of other groups. The coms coordinator is left with the daunting task of making it all come together. This congestion often translates to information overload for your congregation, as everything to promote is included in your communications. I may be identifying a key pain point, but let me assure you, you are not alone.

Nobody enjoys congestion. What prevents traffic gridlock? Well-engineered traffic patterns. Your communications strategy is no different. Creating healthy, well-planned traffic patterns will help you and your team get a handle on your coms approach.
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Centralized Approach: Pros & Cons
With this approach, your communications framework should be predetermined. Your communication channels must be established and affirmed ahead of time. Generally, this channel list might include a printed bulletin, screen, video, or live service announcements, email newsletters, or social media and website spots.

Your promotions calendar window is also predetermined. You may consider limiting your promotions to events taking place within a 6-week window. Also, the communications coordinator should be appointed and entrusted to coordinate and craft the content calendar each month while your ministry leaders submit their activity details to the coms coordinator on time.

The centralized approach shifts schedule management and conflict mitigation to the coms coordinator. One person (or team in larger churches) coordinating promotional content eases unintended competition.

There are more advantages to the centralized approach than we can cover in this post. If you'd like to discuss this topic further and how it might help your church, you can schedule a call at no charge. To discover how ChurchCom Solutions can help you evaluate and reshape your coms strategy, simply schedule a free call.