As Easter is just days away, I just released a brand new FREE Special report on “5 Steps to Mastering Facebook Ads”. You can request the free report here and we’ll email it to you. Happy Easter!
Easter Follow up Essentials (Part 2)
One of the easiest ways to get contact information is to ask for it in different environments. Here's a couple of ways to do that: #1 – So if a first time guest is checking in children, make sure you get their contact information in your Children's Ministry. This way, if they make a decision in the service but don't fill out all of their info on the connection card, you still have the completed info from their children's check-in. #2 – When you present the Gospel, let those who make a decision know that you want to mail them … Read More
Easter Follow up Essentials (Part 1)
Truth: Lots of people are going to show up to your church on Easter. Truth: Many will decisions to follow Jesus at your church on Easter. Reality: In many churches, most of those people will fall through the cracks. Here's the number 1 issue when doing follow up with new believers and/ or first time guests: get their contact information. Without contact information, there's no way for you to follow up. They many think you are the greatest preacher in history and your worship set was angelic, but without their contact information you are left in the reactionary position of … Read More
The 3 Second Rule for Direct Mail
You pick up your mail and sort through it. How long do you give each piece of mail that you bring inside? I'll tell you: about 3 seconds. If it doesn't catch your eye and say something that connects with you, it ends up in the round file. We talk about these 3 seconds a lot at Calvary when we're getting ready to do a direct mail campaign. You've got 3 seconds to say something that keeps you out of the garbage can. Then you've got to say something that compels them to an action step (i.e. attending your service). … Read More
Your 2011 Easter Checklist
The big day is 10 days away, so here's 10 things you need to have ready for Easter to be a day where you reach a lot of people: 1. Direct Mail - What's you direct mail plan? (Please tell me it's not just blasting a few zip codes. Be more strategic and you'll see much better results) 2. Mobilizing your congregation - Have you equipped your church with the tools they need to invite friends? 3. New Believers - Are you prepared for God to bless your church with new believers? 4. Servants - Have you challenged those who don't serve to get involved in some way … Read More
Why does Direct Mail Fail? (And How to Keep your from Failing)
One of the reasons churches get poor results in their direct mail is because they don't track their results. Here's the truth: if you aren't tracking your results, you have no idea if your direct mail is working or not. Butts in the seats is not the only way to see if your direct mail is working. While I would agree that someone attending your church is the end result we want, there are other factors involved. 1. Someone could get your direct mail and go to a confusing website and not attend 2. Someone could get your direct mail and … Read More
Thinking about doing a Facebook ad?
500 million. that's the number of people that are on Facebook and they show no signs of slowing down. So here's the question: if that many people are on Facebook (which by the way, is greater than the population of the United States) then the people that you want to reach in your community are on Facebook as well. But are you reaching out to them in the places where they hang out? I believe every church should be on Facebook because that's where people are all the time. Not only that, Facebook gives you the tools to narrow your parameters … Read More
Sunday Stuff
– Great day at Calvary! – I taught the book of Obadiah (Yes you read that correctly) – The thrust of the message was on how pride poisons your life and your future. – I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching this "Postcards" series. – If you aren't aware, this has been a series on the 5 one chapter books of the Bible. – Looking forward to starting a series in the book of Romans on Easter. – I can't believe Easter is 2 weeks away! – There's been lots of traction on the blog with the outreach related posts. – I'm … Read More
Facebook: Clicks Versus Impressions
There's over 500 millions people on Facebook, so if you aren't using it as a tool to reach people, you're missing the boat. One question that regularly comes up is, "Should I pay per click or impression when buying Facebook ads?" Here's the short answer: clicks. When you buy clicks rather than impressions, you get the impressions anyway because Facebook doesn't get paid unless people click. That means Facebook is going to put the ad up as much as possible so that you can get clicks. The other reason clicks are better is because it allows you to track your … Read More
When it Comes to Outreach, Testing is a Must
I was talking with one of our staff members who oversees our Facebook advertising and he was telling me about an ad we use that does very well. What I found amazing was that he told me that when he changed the image the clicks DOUBLED! That's why I say in direct mail and in Facebook ads, testing is our friend. We test the same ad with different images. We test the same ad with a different headline. We test the same image with different copy. Our goal is to get the combination so the ad performs the best … Read More
