At Calvary Fellowship, the internet is a tool we regularly use to reach people far from God. But we use several principles for effective online Outreach:
1. Know What you can and Can't Do – Online evangelism/ marketing is most effective when you're inviting someone to a church event. In Facebook ads for example, you have so few characters to work with that you can't give a complete Gospel presentation. Instead, your best bet is to invite them to your church where you can present the Gospel in an environment conducive to them responding.
2. Think Active not Passive – At Calvary, we use both Google and Facebook. I prefer Facebook because it's a more active outreach approach. Instead of waiting for someone to type "Church in (my town)", you can craft a message they can respond to by speaking their language in the copy.
3. Focus on Benefits, not Features – A feature is "Batteries included". A benefit is "Ready to play with right of the box". So write copy that explains the benefits of attending your church.
4. Track Results – The great thing about online outreach is that you can track results through analytics programs (such as Google Analytics). This way you can see how your ad is performing and modify/ adjust it as necessary based on its' performance.
For learn more about how to effectively reach people online, check out our resource, "Digital Evangelism" by clicking here.