If you’re doing Direct Mail this Easter…

Bob FranquizChurch

Lots of churches are seeking to reach out to as many people are possible and invite them to Easter.  What many churches do is buy the names of every person in certain zip codes and “let ‘er rip”.  I don’t think this is the best approach.

In fact, here’s what we have been doing for some time now and would recommend to other church leaders:  

#1 – Be Specific by Buying lists 
You can call companies that have lists for everything you could possibly imagine. This way, you can be specific in the people you want to reach.  In Miami, 55% of people speak a language other than English in their home.  This means if I just blanketed an area, over 1/2 of my mailing would be useless.  We need to be good stewards of the funds God has entrusted to us. So, if you’re a church who reaches predominantly young people, you may want to get a list of people if you main zip codes that are 18-45 (for example).  The point is, do the hard work of finding those in your community that would be most open to the Gospel the way you present it.  There’s a reason there are so many different types of churches.  God is using each of them to reach different types of people.  So focus on our strengths and invest the most in those whom you believe will respond to the Gospel based on who God is already reaching in your church.

#2 – Mail to your database 

There are people who call your church home, who don’t attend every week.  Let’s me honest, there’s people in our databases who attend once or twice a year.
Don’t assume that the semi-disconnected people on your database know when Easter is and what you’re doing for Easter.
Plus, it sends another reminder to those who are regular attenders in your church.

#3 – Track your results

If you’re going to take the time to invest the resources for an Easter mailer, then create a way to track its effectiveness.  One way to do that is to create a URL on the mail piece that people can go on.  This way every time someone logs on, your analytics program can record that and you can see how many people are taking the next step.
If you’re doing 2 different mail pieces, create 2 different URL’s for each.  We have one for our mailers and another for our door hangers.  We’re trying to assess which is more effective.  This is a simple way to do it.
Don’t do what most churches do – they mail pieces out and never create a tracking system.  Instead, track your results so you can improve your effectiveness each time you mail something out.