4:30 AM
T.L. Branson
1. Don't fake your success.
The following information is a summary of the article Blogging Can Be Disastrous. It proves that advertising that presents fake or falsified information will only lead to disaster. Don't advertise that you've got 400 people in wall-to-wall crowds on Sunday when your church only has 40 people in a room big enough to fill 200. It might attract visitors, but as soon as they arrive they'll realize you faked it and they'll tell everyone they know you were deceptive. You'll not likely get any more visitors. Ever.
Dr. Pepper failed in 2003 when it tried to advertise it's new product, Raging Cow. It was a new type of flavored milk. To promote it, they pulled in a bunch of teenagers and told them to go blog about it as if they had just discovered the milk and thought it was amazing. They were to act like consumers, not paid employees promoting their product. The scam was revealed and the product flopped.
In 2006, Wal-Mart also failed miserably doing the same thing. You probably know some people who are McDonald's or Wal-Mart fanatics. You know, the type that just have to visit every single store in every city they go to because it's some sort of game to see how many stores they can go to? Wal-Mart hoped to capitalize from this mentality. They hired two guys to travel around the country in an RV visiting every Wal-Mart. They were to then blog about their experiences, thus making Wal-Mart look as popular as places like Hollywood or Disneyland. It, too, was exposed, the blog disappeared off the web and Wal-Mart dealt with a lot of bad publicity.
2. Don't fix what isn't broken
If you've got an ad source that works. Keep it up. Don't try to change it because you think people are getting bored with it. When you stop receiving feedback from that source, then think about changing it.
3. Don't reinvent the wheel. Creativity isn't always the best.
Be careful how you advertise. Going way out on a limb will just have people confused and possibly put off by what you're doing. Stick with what works, but don't be afraid to put your own twist on it. Just keep it within reason.
4. Don't advertise based upon culture.
This is a strong temptation for a church. Many churches compromise their standards because they think they can attract the world by being like the world. Truth is, people are sick of the world and want something different. McDonald's advertised for culture with it's "I'd hit that" campaign and it failed miserably. Coca-Cola tried it with OK Cola. Ever heard of it? Not me either. The reason is that Coca-Cola attempted to release a new soda in 1993 based upon the OK Manifesto. Except there was no reason for it. They just attempted to be culturally cool.5. Don't steal images, brands, or copyrighted information.
This should be a no brainer, but don't steal. Everyone knows you've done it. It doesn't look cool, and you'll lose your credibility. It's so tempting to do because that ad campaign was so largely successful.
Case in point: Church juice posted an article about stealing logos a few months ago. The author happened upon a church who tried to advertise ministry opportunities to it's members. It took Nike's slogan "Just Do It" and their logo and made it "Just Try It." It was a sad disgrace of an attempt. It's fun to do parodies every now and again, but make sure your obvious about the spoof. Don't try to look professional with someone else's work.
6. Don't sell more than you can offer.
Words like "Best Prices" are okay to say...if you can back it up. If you don't truly mean it, don't say it. We're churches. We represent God. Let's not lie to people in our advertising. You've all heard the grandiose promises of the candidates running for President, yet they fail to back up those claims. How does that make you feel? It doesn't give you greater confidence in the guy, that's for sure. Your church cannot afford to lose credibility and the confidence of the people around you.
7. Don't sacrifice your message for design.
Simple designs communicate better than flashy "attractive" ones. Graphic masterpieces and techno-gadgets are a thing of the 90s. In today's age, people relate good quality advertising to clean advertising. Some of the best websites are a simple white, yet they have an aura of power about them.
8. Don't advertise everywhere.
More ads in less places is better than less ads in more places. Simply put. If you have a chance to advertise on TV for one day, even if it's an ad during every commercial, and that's it, you're wasting your time. People will have forgotten you by tomorrow. But a newspaper ad that is seen every single day for years will attract more attention. Why? It's better to reach 10% of your audience 100% of the time than to reach 100% of them only 10% of the time (TheRadioStations.com).
9. Use testimonials instead of promotions.
If you can help it, the pastor should not be the one making the sales pitch in the ad. This doesn't mean the pastor can't be in it, but testimonials from every day people will go heaps further in the eyes of your viewers. Why? Because your biased, that's why. It's the truth. You've got so much time invested in it, you'd say your church was soaring if all it had were penguins (If you don't get that, don't think about it too hard...Penguins don't fly). Glad Tidings Omaha does this amazingly well. Check out their website and you'll be bombarded with testimonials from the home page.
If you can help it, the pastor should not be the one making the sales pitch in the ad. This doesn't mean the pastor can't be in it, but testimonials from every day people will go heaps further in the eyes of your viewers. Why? Because your biased, that's why. It's the truth. You've got so much time invested in it, you'd say your church was soaring if all it had were penguins (If you don't get that, don't think about it too hard...Penguins don't fly). Glad Tidings Omaha does this amazingly well. Check out their website and you'll be bombarded with testimonials from the home page.
10. Don't insult your audience.
You may think that your church has what everyone needs, but telling someone they're dumb if they don't go to church isn't the best way to get them to come. Instead, tell them what they do need. For instance, if you're trying to get smokers to stop smoking, you don't tell them "Only idiots smoke cigarettes." Instead, you show them what cigarettes do to your heart and lungs. Now obviously not everyone will respond to that, and not everyone is going to respond to your church ad.
You may think that your church has what everyone needs, but telling someone they're dumb if they don't go to church isn't the best way to get them to come. Instead, tell them what they do need. For instance, if you're trying to get smokers to stop smoking, you don't tell them "Only idiots smoke cigarettes." Instead, you show them what cigarettes do to your heart and lungs. Now obviously not everyone will respond to that, and not everyone is going to respond to your church ad.
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2 comments:
Great article. I've linked to it from our site.
Thank you for the link. May I ask which site that is? I'm interested in checking it out.
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