Getting Your Name Out There

I bumped into a friend yesterday who has transitioned from advertising executive to surf artist. In order to grow his new business he has had to actively promote his art to gain new customers. In the early days of his new career he would create art to promote events even if it didn't pay well because it at least "got his name out there." He wouldn't do the same now though unless there was a good return on his investment - money or new clients. Marketing pro's I work with would agree that there has to be a good ROI to do marketing. For small or new churches (or churches reestablishing themselves) I would make a case for both:

- Getting your name out there
- Getting a return on investment (visitors to your church)

Getting Your Name Out There
I've been asked if I would ever promote an organization if the result was that it made it look like everyone else. If I was new and starting out, establishing an image as a successful, growing organization would be a positive step. So, yes, I would.

Harry Beckwith, author of the marketing book Selling the Invisible, tells of a Greek immigrant who started a tour business to show people his beloved land. In trying to get a publication to do a story on him, an interested editor said he had never heard of the new travel business. He wasn't convinced it was real. If they had advertised and gotten their name out there, the editor would have followed through with the story. Applied to churches - it's much easier for people to trust you if they are familiar with you. Getting your name out there can help establish your identity and lay the groundwork of trust and familiarity.

Return on Investment
If you have a familiar presence in your community, then your communications need to be effective and measurable. For established churches, use free of low cost PR to get your name out there. If you are paying to get your message out, it needs to accomplish what it sets out to do. Have the goal in mind before you start a campaign, then perform a postmortem after the event to see if you met your goals and how you would do it differently in the future.