Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Communication implications for those who “live their lives on mobile”

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For a generation that lives on mobile devices, you many need to adjust how you communicate.
For a generation that lives on mobile devices, you many need to adjust how you communicate.

From the Quote & Commentary Series:

Quote:

"Entrepreneurs in places like Cairo live in chaos and therefore, are not afraid of chaos. Out of that often comes innovation, she says. "Secondly, kids in many of these countries don't have much broadband, so they bypassed computers and live their lives on mobile. I expect to see great leaps in mobile coming from those places. "From Marco della Cava, "A not-so-crazy goal to find, nurture talent" USA Today, 7-16-2013

Commentary:

Though the immediate challenge is for missions and how they can use mobile technology to communicate the gospel, following are four implications for all church communicators.

Implications of increased mobile/smart phone use:

  1. Realize the computer-based communication is often ignored. If it isn't a text message, it may not be read and it doesn't matter who it comes from (this means pastors and other church leaders—you position matters little in online communication). For people who communicate primarily through their mobile phone, sitting down to a computer, turning it on, finding and reading email through the sea of spam that floods email in boxes,  is something they rarely do. And this isn't all age-related—it's more a technology preference, so check with your audience to see what they prefer.
  2. No-brainer: make sure your website is mobile-friendly. This doesn't mean you can see a tiny site on a smart phone and can pinch it to make it bigger. Your website has to be responsive, which means it automatically optimizes for reading on any device used to use it: phone, tablet, laptop or desktop.
  3. Consider creating a content-rich, minimal to no graphics, mobile-friendly site with WordPress. Most WordPress templates are already optimized and need no more work on your part to make them accessible on any device. Even if your main church site is a complex, graphics –intensive one that you don't have the time or money to change now, start a blog on a WordPress site and link to it. Even if you don't publish it to the world or link it to your church site—this is a great way to practice creating a site and it's all free at http://www.wordpress.com.
  4. You can talk directly to people through podcasts on mobile phones. Podcast listening is dramatically increasing especially on smart phones and experts predict continued growth.  Create podcasts to niche ministries in your church—encourage workers, challenge youth, read to the homebound. You may need to show people how to use them, but the one-to-one potential impact is worth the effort.

We're in for another big shift in communications and our God who sees the beginning and the end and is surprised by nothing in-between is still ready to give us wisdom and strength in the mobile communication world.

Why and how to create a newsletter for Seniors

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Senior communication
Seniors are a vital part of your church--give them communications that challenge them!

Answering the questions you are asking is one of my primary purposes in creating the content for this website and the article here and the video linked to it were prompted both by the question below that deals strictly with newsletters for seniors and several questions I've had lately about typography.

The Question:

What is the best way to send at least a monthly newsletter out to an older congregation when some don't think it is worth the expense, and others complain that we are not communicating with all our members, but only those that show up in a given week? Not everyone uses email, or texts because of the age of the congregation.

There are really several questions intertwined here, which is what makes it difficult to answer. The first part is somewhat simple and straight forward. The second part is a little more challenging.

Let me reword each part slightly to be able to handle them clearly.

Part # 1 of the question:  What is the best way to send out a monthly newsletter to an older congregation when not all of them use email or text?

This part is easy to answer, though it can be challenging to carry out, because there is no one best way. We live in a time of both/and, not either/or in all of our communications. Though it would make our church communication lives so much easier if we could create communications for any one group, one way, it doesn't work that way anymore.

To communicate effectively to an older congregation with a newsletter (which is an excellent communication tool) the best way to do it is to do one version in print and then another online. Again, that is probably not what most people want to hear, because it seems like extra work, but if you do it in the way suggested below it doesn't need to be difficult. Here are some tips on that: [Read more...]

Template for Senior Newsletter

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This newsletter in a MS Publisher template for a newsletter for Seniors.
This newsletter in a MS Publisher template for a newsletter for Seniors.

When designing publications for seniors, a few small changes can make it much more readable.

This newsletter template has typeface size, line-spacing, line length and boxed materials all optimized for seniors. Though the layout here is designed for seniors, it could work well for many other types of newsletters.

It it available as an MS Publisher template for Effective Church Communication Members. You must have MS Publisher to open and use it.

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CLICK HERE to download it.

[/mepr-show]

Church communication advice to church planters

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Effective communications is an important part of church planting.
Effective communications are an important part of church planting. Here are 6 reasons why.

Probably one of the last things you want to worry about when starting a church is communications—but if you want your church to be strong from the start, it should be one of your first considerations. Following the foundational reminder below are 6 reasons why.

Christians are people of the Word—both the Word made flesh in Jesus and people of a very big Book that our Lord expects us to learn and obey. Christianity is a content-intensive religion, not one based primarily on emotion, but on a renewed mind, an intentional turning from self to the Savior, and a willing apprenticeship to be conformed to the image of Christ. All of these require clear, complete communication of essential truth.

#1: Our culture no longer has a Christian mindset.

All the philosophical babble about Post-Modernism etc. boils down to the reality that the background of Biblical, Christian culture, morality, and stories is no longer part of the mindset of our world. This is not a cause for "oh, isn't it awful" hang-wringing and working to vote in corporate morality. What is means is that a crucial part of knowing your audience, if you are truly a church plant reaching out to the unchurched and not simply robbing other churches with a more upbeat service, means your audience has no idea what you are talking about when you talk about Bible stories and church behavior that are most likely second-nature to you if you grew up in church.

#2: You have to explain everything to unchurched people.

This is where prayer, skill, creativity, and a lot of hard work in communication come in. You don't want to explain things in a wooden, talking down way, but as a natural part of everything you do. For example, it's vitally important to get information from visitors and one way to do that is through a Connection Card. To get the best response, you need to intentionally invite people to fill out the cards, in an upbeat, welcoming way. Here is a free ebook that explains this in more detail: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53563 you can also download a free Kindle version here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=yvon%20prehn%20Kindle

In addition to Connection Cards, pay special attention to your Church Bulletin and website. Be sure your church bulletin explains what is going on and then links to the website for more information. For more information on how to do these two things, this book explains and gives examples of how to make the most of the first piece of Christian literature many people see: your Church Bulletin. https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2012/06/ebook-are-printed-bulletins-still-needed-in-church/   The print bulletin can then give people links to your website where you can explain what you church is all about in more detail.

For example, suggest visitors go to the Visitor's Video section on the website. Have the lead pastor talk into the camera and welcome them. Have him or her talk about why they started the church and what is important to them. Have other videos where your staff explains what they do and their story of coming to know Jesus. Have a section that explains what communion is all about and why we sing songs (the idea of singing to worship is new to many who simply sing to feel better). A few notes on video production: anything will work to record them—these don't have to be fancy. PLEASE, don't try to be funny—this is not junior high school and amateur funny is awkward and uncomfortable to watch. You don't have to be super serious, just be yourself, but don't think about yourself and talk to the visitor as if you were face-to-face. Remember you represent Jesus.

#3: Keep in mind the limitations of social media.

Social media can update, give people a sense of what is going on in the church, and connect people who already know and care about each other. For a newcomer, it's like looking at a photo album without knowing who the people are. Social media is just that—social and not particularly informative about the Christian life.

If you aren't part of a group yet, you want information more than interaction. Make sure your website is a good a resource as the one for any product or company you checked out recently. As an exercise in what your church website should contain, Google "adventure tours."  They don't simply have social media links—they are there, but they are only a tiny part of the website that tells you all about what the company does, who is in charge, what you can expect, what it costs, who to contact for questions. The Christian life is the greatest adventure of all eternity—and your website should reflect that.

#4: Remember everything you do communicates.

Scary, but true. If you don't explain what is going on as people come in and they all just jump up and start singing for 20 minutes (songs the visitor doesn't know and that are repeated again and again), if you pass around little crackers and juice with the lights dim and no explanation of why the snack is so stingy, if everybody seems to know everybody, if the bathrooms are messy and there is no signage of where kids go—don't be surprised if you don't get a lot of visitors returning.

Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see everything you do with the questioning, often fearful heart of a visitor. If you really want to know what they see and how it comes across hire an unchurched friend or neighbor to come to church and ask him or her afterwards what it all meant. Not if they liked it (people are too polite), but simply, what did your actions, your setting, your words, and your people communicate to them?

#5: Evaluate, don't estimate communication effectiveness.

As your church grows in numbers, communication will get more challenging because the days of "everybody knows" will be in the past.  As you grow, honest evaluation of communications is vital because we so easily can deceive ourselves. When a lot is going on we can think we are successful in communication when our actual percentage response for what we are promoting may be in a steep decline. This most often happens in discipleship training. For example, in the early days of a church plant if 10 people show up for small group out of 30 on Sunday, it is exciting. When you are up to over 300 in Sunday morning attendance and only about 60 people are involved in small groups, yes, you doubled in numbers for small group attendance, but the percentage of involvement declined. What worked with a small group may need to be modified for a larger group.

#6: Keep growing and learning about communications.

This website has many resources that will help you. Take time, explore, read, and watch the free videos. You have been entrusted with the Words of Eternal Life. Continuously work hard to communicate them well.

Why print isn’t dead and what it means for your church communications

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Print or digital for churches
Is print outdated for church communications? Not at all--and this article explains why

The Apostle Paul encouraged us to be "all things to all people that we might win some" and in today's world that means using every communication channel possible to reach people for Jesus. Recently however, I've read a number of articles that encourage communicators in how to combine print and digital channels for maximum communication effectiveness. Following are some quotes from them and then applications for churches.

Use print and digital side by side

Quote: Maybe it really isn’t about print or digital first, but leading together, side by side. The mantra of the web has always been more powerful and successful when it is collaborate, not compete. Why compete with each other? Why should any product go first, when both can cross the finish line at the same time if they work together?

The smart answer isn’t putting digital or print first, but to put design and usability first, using each product for what they do best and let them do it together.

From: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/10/digital-first-print-first-both-should-work-together291#sthash.vMK0cUur.dpuf

Practical application:  One of the best ways print and digital can work together in the church is when your church bulletin mentions an activity or event for the print notice to link to the church web for background information and explanations. In addition, your social media can remind, link to the website material. Your print (business cards, bulletin, and postcards) would also have the URL for your website and links to your social media.

This can work especially well for seasonal celebrations. For example, at Christmas your church will probably sponsor a variety of events. On your website you can have explanations of why Jesus really is the reason for the season, what Advent is all about, suggestions for how you can use the season to train children, a Q & A section for people unfamiliar with church. In addition you can use your social media to remind people of what is available in more depth and encourage them to invite their friends.

Print and digital mix works best to market events

Quote: Not only does a mix of communication mediums enhance brands, they can effectively work together to create a marketing solution, which adds real value by engaging customers with measurable results. An example of this is using variable data printed pieces that are specifically targeted and personalized to engage a customer, combined with digital solutions for example a corresponding personalized web page that enables further interaction. This kind of communication has proven results to increase response rates and improve customer retention giving a far better return on investment than static printed or passive digital communications alone.

From: David Allsopp, director, ASAP Digital: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/07/24/paper-and-print-print-v-digital

Practical application: To use Christmas as an example again, create print material such as postcards and invitation cards, for your congregation to give out that once again link to expanded digital explanations. Even more effective, if you have the communication volunteers who are able to do this, would be to create blog or web sections for specific groups in your church, for example: "Parents ideas to teach kids at home about Jesus at Christmas"  and hand out flyers in Children's Sunday School classes and send out emails and social media to parents. Another idea would be a series of tweets going to teenagers directing them to a blog or Facebook entries about "How to invite your friends to church without being embarrassed about it."

Creative Print can make your church stand out (2 related quotes here)

Quote:According to marketing experts, there is a new resurgence of print marketing from forward-thinking business people who recognize the revenue potential of direct-mail ads and other print promotions. In a crowded online market in which users are bombarded with banner ads and display ads, people are becoming jaded by internet advertising. Print is becoming a legitimate alternative.

It’s sometimes difficult to differentiate your business in a crowded online market. However, it’s not so difficult to make a difference with a posters, flyers, or other print promotions.  A large proportion of companies have yet to take advantage of new digital technologies. By optimizing your print promotions, you can create print promotions that not only stand apart, but also do a great job of bringing customers from a print ad to your website or sales offer.

Since working for print companies for the past 5 years, I can honestly say that print never went away for a lot of businesses. Especially small business and local chains that completely rely on direct mail offers and local print ads for their walk-in business.  I also see larger businesses starting to return to print to take advantage of new technologies that make it possible for customers to interact with them via smart phones. Thanks to the gigantic leaps-forward in smart phone technology, we are now able to bring customers to smart phone optimized web pages, social media pages, landing pages, and even to our checkout pages – directly from a print ad.  QR code technology is fast becoming an effective bridge between these two worlds.

http://www.lawtonprinting.com/blog/Integrating_Print_and_Digital,_Print_is_key_to_success_in_a_digital_world/75

Quote: Nowadays, printed materials such as books, brochures and magazines frequently direct readers to other digital media sources to supplement their experience with sound or moving image. A recent example of this in action is Jodi Picoult’s novel ‘Sing You Home’, in which readers can scan a QR code at the beginning of each chapter to hear a soundtrack intended to ‘bring the character of Zoe to life for the reader by giving her a real voice’. 

http://www.fespa.com/news/industry-news/when-two-worlds-collide-how-print-and-digital-can-become-complementary.html

Practical application: A key application here is how posters, flyers, and other print promotions can drive people to your expanded digital resources. No matter what any SEO "expert" tells you, you need more than the savvy use of keywords to get your church website found. One way to do it is in the same way that we check out the website from any company when we get an advertisement in the mail or Sunday paper that looks interesting, print in the form of postcards, mailers, invitation cards, or posters at the local coffee shop can drive people to your website.

The creation of QR codes added to creative media has many exciting options for the church—imagine an outreach postcard or poster with a QR code taking you to a your praise band, podcast or video that was specifically designed for an unchurched audience.

Finally—though we may often wish we didn't have to create so many channels of communication, to reach our world today we need a mixture of print and digital to be "all things to all people that we might win some."