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Advertising - raising the profile of your church
Introduction
Ministry to visitors is a key part of the church's mission, and an opportunity to strengthen links with the wider community. There is some good advice around on how to take a fresh look at what might appeal to visitors to your church, also on how to develop your visitor 'welcome'. But how do potential visitors find out about your church in the first place?
For many this happens naturally through family connections, visits to friends, or simply passing by and seeing the door open (assuming it is open...)! However, to reach those who are not already familiar or on the spot, you need to build your profile amongst those who are already actively engaging with potential visitors to your area, ie, the tourism sector.
So what do we mean by 'tourism', and are there any easy ways to get involved? Well, happily there are some relatively simple steps you can take, and at very little cost, to build your profile with the local tourism community and reach new visitors.
Set out below are a range of ideas for you to consider and to choose those most relevant to your aims and needs.
How to build your profile in the visitor market:
- Prepare a marketing action plan
- Get your church onto the local tourism information database
- Build links with local tourism networks
Here is a brief introduction to tourism:
What do we mean by 'tourism' anyway?
The Tourism Society definition of 'tourism' is:
'the temporary short term movement of people to destinations outside places where they normally live & work, & their activities during their stay at these destinations'.
Thus anyone who visits a church that is not their own local place of worship is technically counted as a 'tourist' - even though most of us would probably rather talk in terms of visitors, or better still, pilgrims, and would certainly want to include local people too.
Understanding just a little bit about tourism may, however, prove helpful when speaking with those involved in mainstream tourism who are potential allies in helping to make your church or chapel known to visitors.
Our places of worship offer opportunities to encounter Christian heritage, architecture and fine arts, social and family history, as well as a chance to meet local people and hear their stories!
In 'tourism-speak', churches may be regarded as 'places of interest', 'visitor attractions' or even 'tourism businesses'. The important thing is to decide if you really would like to develop a 'ministry of welcome' for more visitors, who may simply be interested in local history, family ancestry or nice old buildings, but all of whom are people loved by God and on a spiritual
journey of some kind, knowingly or otherwise.
The tourism and hospitality sector is also a key contributor to the regional economy, providing 7% of jobs, hence the investment being made to strengthen this sector. Some churches may also see working with the tourism sector as a positive part of their engagement with the community.
Visitor marketing action plan
Here is a 'menu' of possibilities to consider when preparing a simple marketing action
plan for your church:
- Take a look at what you have to offer visitors - the key features, stories and the way it feels to pay a visit to your place of worship, in order to reflect this in your communications.
- Analyse your existing visitors. Who are they, where do they come from? What do they do when they visit? What needs or desires are you fulfilling?
- Look up the latest research about visitors (from tourism organisations, see below). What are their interests and what motivates them to choose where to visit? Are there visitors you are missing out on? Are there specialist visitors you could target, eg family history, decorative arts societies?
- Don't forget the potential for educational visits involving local schools. What materials would they need?
- Consider your 'brand' message - the way you highlight the experience you offer and connect this with the mind of the potential visitor. Is there something obvious you could use to appeal to visitors eg a person, a Saxon cross, a historic event that would distinguish your church from others in the area?
- Give priority to the other 'building blocks' described in this paper - your budget for marketing is likely to be very small indeed, so exploit these options first.
Other marketing actions worth considering include:
- producing a simple third-A4 flier for local distribution
- having a website that includes a visitor information page
- sending a press release to a local paper when you have a story to tell - eg have someone do an analysis of your visitor book, where people come from, etc, and link to the launch of a new 'open season'.
A word about internet promotion
More people than ever are using the internet to help plan their holidays. Six out of ten households in Britain are now online. So getting your information online where visitors are looking is important. This can include having your own church website, for which guidance is available website see Developing a Parish Website
VisitBritain intends to restrict promotion of visitor attractions via the EnjoyEngland and VisitBritain.com websites to those that have signed up to the National Code of Practice for Visitor Attractions.
The code provides an industry-wide standard for what constitutes a good visitor experience. Churches that wish to benefit from national tourism promotion should therefore consider signing up to this.
Work with others in your area
There are lots of people to help you. Work together with tourism businesses around you - especially nearby accommodation providers - to share information and ideas, collaborate on joint promotion, and make sure that staying visitors make the most of what's on offer. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how supportive local tourism businesses may be - after all, your church being open and welcoming to visitors provides another good reason for their guests to stay and enjoy the area!
Ensuring you have a good local profile will help you reach your share of staying guests and day visitors. So how do you go about working with others in your locality? Here are some suggestions to start you off:
Join your local tourism group:
This may open up opportunities for collaboration on tourism issues, access to trade seminars, local area website listings, etc.
- Call in to Tourist Information Centre (TIC) and ask them about their experience of visitors to the area, what events are happening, and offer to supply a visitor information leaflet (if you are planning one)!
- Consider the scope for collaboration in a local 'cluster' or themed trail, Heritage Open Days programme or local Market Town Welcome initiative.
- Get involved in support of local festivals or visitor welcome initiatives - see local newspapers or their websites for clues as to who to contact.
- Make direct contact with local tourism businesses, eg pubs, guest-houses, local tour guides, etc. Why not hold a special 'welcome' event in spring just for them, to launch a new leaflet and show them what you have to offer visitors?
Of course these actions take time, so it is worth considering whether someone connected with your church has an aptitude to take this on and be the point of contact on tourism matters. More advice and information can be found here
Welcoming people from different cultures
A small, but growing, number of visitors to your church are likely to come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. If you would like to understand more about those backgrounds in order to improve the sense of welcome you are able to offer, you may find the following multicultural website useful. There are sections on welcoming specific nationalities such as Chinese visitors, as well as sections on faiths such as Islam.