Originally posted 11-04-2009.  Reposted 06-10-2010.

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I had the privilege of attending a Business and Technology conference in Oklahoma City called Innotech, and the track I attended was all about eMarketing.  I’m excited because marketing is one of the greatest out-reaching tools at any organization’s disposal, yet many organizations tend to market rather poorly.

Today, consider what marketing avenues your church or business is employing and evaluate how effectively you think your marketing has been.  Here are some questions to mull over about marketing:

1. What are the top 3 things people in the community have to say about your organization?  (If you don’t know, it’s time to find out! There’s no excuse for not knowing in this information age.  Utilize surveys to learn what people think, and if they think about your organization at all.)
2. What are the top 3 things you want people in the community to think about your organization?
3. How well does your top 3 and the community’s top 3 align?  Why do/don’t they align?
4. What marketing approaches have you been taking? (Direct mail, signs, flyers, television, google ad words, social media, word-of-mouth, phone books, newspapers, etc.)
5. Based on your answers to questions 3 and 4, in your opinion, how effective has your marketing been?
6. What are you going to do to improve your current marketing strategy?  Resist the urge to just add new marketing approaches.  Find two or three marketing streams that really work.

Notice that the questions above don’t ask how many people attend your church or how much money your organization brings in.  Participation and finances are certainly good measurements because they are easy to measure.  Perception, though, is something we should also pay careful attention to.  A positive community perception will provide long-term growth, stability and impact.  Yet you won’t fully experience these things unless and until you know what people are thinking.

By the way, one of the most effective ways to nurture the right community perception of your organization is Social Media.  I’m just sayin’.