Promoting the Launch Series

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Preparing to launch a church-wide campaign? There are some keys to doing it well (and it’s not too late to kick your campaign up a notch!). Here are some ideas you can use right now:

Take advantage of the website. Keep in mind that many of the adults in your congregation only attend once or twice a month. The website can be a way to make sure they hear about what is coming. To take advantage of the site, make sure you’ve got the upcoming series on the home page (perhaps in a block midpage or in the rotating banner). Need an example? Take a look at Saddleback’s home page as they prepare for Life’s Healing Choices. A second important aspect of leveraging your website is to link the homepage image of the upcoming series to a page that has more detail.
A second important key to promoting your launch is your bulletin or program. Be sure and include a weekly section with information about what is just around the corner. You can use the bulletin to promote the series, HOST orientations, and how to find a group.
A postcard size insert promoting the series can be included in the bulletin for 2 to 3 weekends leading up to the church-wide campaign. “This is not for you. This is for you to give to your neighbors and friends, inviting them to join us for the series.” Since the most powerful invitation is a personal invitation…this can make a big impression.
Direct mail is an effective way to build name recognition. Whether you mail to your database or to the wider community, it can help but it should be done alongside personal invitation.
Once you have your website ready, be sure and send an all-church email that links to the site. Services like Constant Contact make it very easy.
When your church-wide series is a national campaign you can usually obtain banners, postcards, bulletin shells, etc. easily and inexpensively from services like Outreach Marketing or from the campaign website. One Month to Live and Live Like You Were Dying are two that have their own promotional resources.

Some of the ideas on this list will take preparation. Others can be implemented easily and inexpensively with just a few days notice. The key is to take advantage of a few to promote the series. What if in choosing one or two ideas you could add another 3 to 10% response to your campaign?

Next, I’ll take a look at Host Orientations That Work. Missed a post in the series? You can catch up right here.