This may seem like a bizarre question but here at Church Pages, we are part of the Khooseller website support team and day-in-day-out we help people be found online. Usually this involves many on-site tasks as well as paid digital marketing. 

When it comes to churches however, should we undertake digital marketing? 

This blog explores what digital marketing is, and how the church could respond to these online tools. For more information about digital marketing, head over to the Khooseller blog - and it would be great to get your comments. 

What is digital marketing?

What does the Bible say about marketing? 

Surprisingly, in Biblical times, marketing was not such a segregated activity. Jesus certainly understood how to influence those around him, and was never short of a crowd. Here are some verses that can help frame how we think about why and how we market:

We market because we believe we have something of great value - the good news that Jesus Christ saves - to be shared with people. Peter is clear that we should 'always be prepared to make a defence' and do this with 'gentleness and respect'. 

1 Peter 3:15 "but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect"

Colossians 4:5-6 "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

1 Corinthians 9:20 "When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law."

What does this then mean for digital marketing? 

So, it is clear we should be sharing the message we are given, but what does this mean for the types of marketing we undertake? Most of us would be happy leafleting our neighbourhood for our church family-fun-day or putting up posters about the next Alpha course. However, would we be happy taking out Google Ads about our church, or boosting some of our Facebook posts?

As someone who constantly maintains Google Ads for business clients, I can understand this reticence and for me, this comes down to a few objections. I list these as my feelings, as they are not all rational, and I find this a challenge myself. 

1) It feels expensive

GoogleAds particularly, can feel expensive when you are paying £x per-click for someone to visit your website. However, compared to other marketing channels the return is comparably high. It's important to remember that these are not random clicks either, these are targeted, 'interested' individuals. 

Imagine the scenario that someone is searching for a church in a particular area on Google (which is where the majority of this generation are searching) and they cannot find your church because you do not rank highly... they could miss the opportunity to meet you. Google, feelings aside, would help you reach these searchers, and could help bring someone into church. 

As well as this, if you are not so keen on spending money on advertising, social media can be a great way to promote your church activities. You may wish to consider having this run by your congregation, to share the workload. And as with anything social, your 'reach' is greater when shared, so encourage your congregation to engage with you online and this will help you get a long way, without spending a penny.  

Additionally, to make it even easier for churches to be found without paid advertising, we have built optimisation into Church Pages websites. More information can be found on the Khooseller blog here. 

2) It feels detached 

When undertaking any form of digital marketing, it can feel detached. This unfortunately, is the nature of being online rather than in person. If you're walking the streets leafleting, you can see the houses you are visiting however, with online, you have to hold these individuals in your mind without ever seeing them. 

Whilst feeling detached, digital marketing is highly-sophisticated and targeted, allowing you to be more effective, with less effort. We all have finite resources, and digital marketing can help you do more with what you have.

3) It feels like giving control to Google/Facebook

This may seem a strange objection however, although we work online, we share objections about giving money to various corporates. This unfortunately, is inevitable no matter what you do, whether online or offline advertising. It's simply then a choice over who you choose to use or invest in. 

What do you think?

Our heart is that the church is confident in engaging the local community, whether online or offline. With the majority of the next generation researching online, it seems that digital marketing is more relevant than ever. 

It seems for some churches the debate is still open over whether to use digital marketing. However, we hope this blog has helped to give you food for thought and it would be great to get your comments/questions.