What I’ve Learned About Church Communications
As a creative, I’ve always struggled to be organized. Who else has a folder on their desktop labeled “miscellaneous.” ✋
By no stretch of the imagination am I the most knowledgeable church communications director. But I want to share a few tips that have helped me over the years and hopefully help your church better communicate your mission!
1. HAVE A METHOD
I use a google sheet broken down by week. Each week gets a few cells and contains dates, times, and even event verbiage. I also included every single communications pathway we have, ie. texting, mass email, social media and so on. This helps me visually layout all of our events and which event gets promoted on which platform when. But if this doesn’t work for you, find your method and stick with it!
If you would like, check out this sample schedule.
2. MEET WITH YOUR MINISTRY LEADERS EVERY OTHE WEEK
I’ve made it a point to schedule a bi-weekly meeting with each department at my church. The point of this meeting is to find out what is coming up in their specific areas. Often, these meetings turn into great brainstorming sessions on how we can better promote their events. Ie. Microsites, social media advertising, print collateral.
CHURCH MEDIA MASTERCLASS
3. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Our church demographics skew 40+ communicating to 40 + or – years olds is different from 20 somethings. We have personally found mass email is a massive asset for us. But being able to look at analytics to determine which pathways receive the most interactions will help you determine that! Also, don’t ignore those other demographics. Find a way to engage both effectively.
4. PLAN AHEAD (Do churches do that?😂)
I am nowhere near perfect in this area. But what has helped me is blocking out a few hours a month to keep up our promotional calendar, schedule out emails and social posts. This will ensure you don’t get caught unprepared.
5. BE FLEXIBLE
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve created all the promotional collaterals (social graphics, promotional slides, website events, animated graphics), then to have that event cancelled, or the date change. It’s such a frustrating experience, but I’ve found a silver lining. Those cancelled events go into a particular folder, and then I cannibalize the design elements for a future design so all that time does not go to waste.
Hopefully, you’ve been able to take something away from this post that will help your church be better at communicating your mission!
