A Simple Strategy for Church Communications: Inform

by: Jonathan Howe

0

Tweet

I’m currently in the middle of a series on church communications strategy. That may not sound like the most exciting topic, but it’s one that is grossly neglected in thousands of churches across the U.S. and Canada.

I previously wrote on the six keys to engaging your audience. So once you have them engaged, you need to keep them informed. These seven keys will help.

1. Information isn’t just facts. Presenting information alone doesn’t get the job done. When people are inundated with data without context or a purpose, they ignore it. The information you decide to share needs a reason and a purpose.
2. Consistency is key. Knowing when to expect information and how it will be presented helps in awareness and retention. Many churches have a template for their worship guides or bulletins. That’s because people want to look in the same spot each week to find similar information. If the information changes locations on the page every week, it makes it harder to find and fewer people will retain the information. Templates are a communicator’s best friends.
3. Timing matters. When you decide to communicate information to your church or potential guests, having enough lead time is important. If you have an upcoming event and you would like to encourage members to invite friends, they need time to identify potential invitees. A week isn’t really enough time. A month might not be either. Inform your audience well enough in advance to act when you are encouraging them to do so.
4. Calendars are helpful. Not only do calendars allow you to give enough lead time, they also help you to plan how often to communicate with your audience and in which ways to communicate. A variety of channels and messages help people retain and remember information. Use a calendar to eliminate message clutter and information overlap.
5. Don’t major on the minors. It’s best to have a system to determine the importance of your messaging and decide what gets the most attention. A Christmas Eve service should be communicated much more than a room change for the decorating committee meeting. Knowing what is of most importance will keep you from cluttering your communications.
6. Tailor your wording to the audience. I mentioned this in the engaging post as well. You need to use the right words for the audience. Acronyms often make little to no sense to church guests. Your message should always be geared to its desired audience.
7. Use all the tools at your disposal. Don’t limit the methods in which you communicate. Your options are nearly limitless. Newsletters, bulletins, social media, texting, phone trees, mailings, and the church website only scratch the surface of the communications options churches have today. Use as many methods as possible to communicate as much information as possible.

When it comes to informing church members and guests, keep these seven keys in mind. What would you add to this list? What is your church’s greatest struggle in keeping members informed?

Connect with an Auxano Navigator to learn how your church can learn more about keeping members informed.

> Read more from Jonathan.

Tags: Church Communication, Jonathan Howe, church communications strategy, informed

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

A Simple Strategy for Church Communication: Engage

by: Jonathan Howe

0

Tweet

In a previous post, I outlined three essentials of a church communications plan and promised to develop the three points further. Today, we begin with the keys to engaging your audience. Remember, your audience includes both church members and potential guests alike. So it’s imperative that you craft messages for both and to each segment.

Engagement is most successful when you start with the goals of your communication in mind and work backwards: consider the desired result, decide the best platform to reach your goal, and word your message accordingly. This can be seen more fully in these six strategic steps:

1. Keep the audience in mind. One main reason for communications failure is not considering the audience for the message. When you don’t think from the audience’s perspective, you tend to miss details or context clues that are needed in communications. A good example of this is using acronyms. Members may know what you mean, but church acronyms are often lost on guests. Simplify your messaging to reach the widest audience possible as clearly as possible.
2. Decide on the best channel for communications. Not thinking about the audience often leads to using the wrong channel of communication. Not every message has the same audience, and not every message requires the same channel. Some announcements are better made in print, others are better online, and still others need to be communicated verbally.
3. Find the best timing. A major church event needs weeks of lead-time when you’re communicating to your members and guests. A Wednesday night supper menu doesn’t. But for weekly events, don’t wait until the last minute or the day before to promote them. Promote them early and often. Finally, when using social media, consider posting at times when you know people will be online and able to respond or share your posts.
4. Think about the wording. Every word matters. How you label something or the words you use to communicate will have an effect on how people respond or digest the information. A pastor I know once referred to “tithes and offerings” as “church revenue” in a blog post. He received several angry emails and letters as a result. It was an honest mistake, but it goes to show how using the wrong wording can cause the message to be missed.
5. Use appropriate imagery. Images should compliment the message, not distract from it. There are several free or low cost image sites online for churches to use. If you use imagery wisely, you’ll better communicate with your audience. Please, no clip art. Please.
6. Proof relentlessly. Some mistakes will slip through. It happens. But you should do everything possible to proof everything that is sent out from your church. Find someone other than the creator to look over something before it’s sent. Familiarity with a document or message will cause you to miss errors. A fresh set of eyes is always best to catch spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors.

Once you’ve moved through this progression, you should have a more fully developed and engaging message to communicate.

How do you engage your audience with your church’s communications? Is there something that is particularly effective for you in your context?

Connect with an Auxano Navigator to learn more about engaging your church through communication.

> Read more from Jonathan.

Tags: Communication, Jonathan Howe, communication strategy, engage

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

A Simple Strategy for Church Communication

by: Jonathan Howe

0

Tweet

Most churches don’t think strategically about their communications efforts. Many times, communications practices are passed on from staffer to staffer without any regard to what is effective. And often, the responsible staff member or volunteer has other duties that take precedent in ministry.

Regardless of your staffing structure or size, church communications can be done effectively and strategically if you consider the perspective of your audience. Church communication isn’t for the benefit of the church; it’s for the benefit of members and guests. So when considering what to say, when to say it, and which channel to use, keep in mind these three essential elements:

1. Engage the audience. Your church communications should be engaging. Putting out a tweet or Facebook post just so you can check that item off your to-do list is rarely going to engage your church members and potential guests. Content should be sharable, memorable, and relevant. The difference between engaging content and content that is not typically involves thinking through the messaging. Start with the goals of your communication in mind and work backwards: consider the desired result, decide the best platform to reach your goal, and word your message accordingly.
2. Inform the audience. Once you’ve engaged your audience, keep them informed. Consistency with your communications is important. Try to plan out your church’s communications week by week and stick to the plan as best as possible. Once you have your weekly schedule set, then you can move to monthly, quarterly, and annual planning. By planning out what you want to communicate to members and guests on a consistent basis, you can more effectively integrate major church events into your communications plan.
3. Inspire the audience. Informing and engaging your audience isn’t enough. They should be inspired to share. Graphics aid in this area more than words. People are more likely to share inspiring graphics than inspiring paragraphs. Both have value, but one appeals visually. The graphics you choose can be the difference in someone sharing your content and not sharing it.

Over the next few week’s, I’ll be digging deeper into these three elements. So if you have any questions about the specifics, share them in the comments section below, and I’ll be sure to touch on those items in future posts.

Does your church plan its communications strategically? Do you engage, inform, and inspire your church members and guests with your content?

Want to learn how to be strategic with your church communication? Contact an Auxano Navigator to start a conversation.

> Read more from Jonathan.

Tags: Church Communication, Jonathan Howe, church communication strategy

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >