Month: March 2018

6 Ways to Boost Post-Easter Engagement

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You probably already know Easter is the highest-attended church service of the year. Hopefully you’ve prepared your church and website to ensure guests can easily find you this Easter and that they feel welcome when they attend your services. If you don’t have a proper follow-up plan in place, however, attendance will drop again in the weeks that follow. To keep guests and non-regulars coming back for more, create and implement a follow-up strategy using the suggestions below.

Boost Your Post-Easter Engagement

1. Draw them Back In

Don’t let your Easter sermon stand alone. Consider making it into an intriguing series that will pique the interest of your guests. At some point during the service or church announcements, tell the congregation what they can expect to hear during next week’s sermon. Choose topics that address the real-life struggles your attendees and visitors may be facing, such as divorce or addiction. The more relevant the topic, the more likely guests are to return.

2. Provide Details for Future Serviceslightstock_80197_full_kate

Many churches offer additional worship times for their Easter services to accommodate the larger number of attendees. This can lead to some confusion for guests who want to return but did not attend a standard worship time. Make sure your guests know exactly what time worship will be held in the coming weeks, along with any other information they may need, like where to park or Sunday school times.

3. List How to Connect

List all your contact information in several locations, such as on a guest information card and in any bulletins or brochures you hand out. Be sure to include any relevant phone numbers and email addresses, plus how to sign up for an e-newsletter and where they can find you on Facebook and other social media platforms. The more options you give them to connect, the more likely they are to do so.

4. Get their Contact Information

lightstock_115845_full_kateDespite giving guests numerous ways to connect with you, they may not want to “make the first move”, so it’s important to get their information in return. Consider leaving guest cards in every seat or put them in the bulletin, asking for their name, email, address, and phone number along with their preferred contact method. To encourage guests to fill these out, offer them an incentive such as a gift or a small donation made in their name to a particular charity.

5. Make the Connection

Getting contact information from your guests is only half the battle. You have to actually use that information if you want to make the connection and turn those visitors into regular attendees. Put a plan in place to follow-up with every guest who left their information. Connect within 24 to 48 hours of receiving their information. Ask how they liked the Easter services and ensure they know the time and place for next Sunday. If they provided an address, consider mailing them additional information on your church and the various ways they can get involved.

6. Stay Connected

lightstock_319320_full_kateDon’t forget about your guests after you make that first connection! You don’t want to bombard them with so many emails that they unsubscribe, but you also don’t want to give up after the first try. You never know when that one touch will happen at just the right time and drive them to come back to your church. So add guests to your monthly newsletter, send them invitations to upcoming events, and keep them informed of special services coming up. For more ideas on following up with your church visitors go here.

Every church sees a bump in attendance on Easter Sunday, but due to poor planning and lack of follow-up, attendance drops again in the weeks that follow. Don’t squander your opportunity to connect with newcomers and turn them into regular attendees. Our mystery guest program has shown just how effective those follow-ups are:

“I received a follow-up card a few days after my visit, from the pastor. It was a nice handwritten note thanking us for visiting and inviting us to come again.”

If you’d like to find out just how well you’re connecting with visitors, our mystery guest program can provide you with the unbiased feedback you’re looking for. These mystery guests will come into your church and evaluate everything from the parking lot to the greeters to any follow-up they receive after leaving their information. They report back on how well your church performs in each of these areas so you can make adjustments to better connect with future visitors.

How to Make Your Church Easier to Find this Easter

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Easter is the highest-attended church service each year and Google searches for “church” spike in the weeks leading up to the holiday. People that don’t attend regularly but try to show up on holidays and special occasions will go looking for a church nearby. Your church could be exactly what they need on Easter and beyond, but will they be able to find you online? Moreover, will they find the information they need to feel comfortable coming to your church? If not, consider the steps below to make your church easy to find and attractive to newcomers this Easter.

Clean Up Your Website

startup-photosFor many potential visitors, the website is their first impression of your church. Is yours cluttered and lacking a clear site structure or is information easy to find and placed in logical locations? Proper site structure makes it easy for visitors to navigate your site and find the information they need, but it’s also crucial to showing up in Google search results in the first place. A well-organized site improves search engine optimization (SEO) and ensures Google understands who you are and what you do. You’re more likely to show up in searches with a clean and organized website, and visitors are more likely to peruse it for information. Make sure all the information they need, particularly for Easter services and other special occasions, is easy to find.

Evaluate Your Name

What’s in a name? According to Matt Morrison, if your online name doesn’t include the word “church”, Google may not recognize you as one. So, if your name is “St. John’s”, you might not show up if someone searches “churches near me”. Adding “church” to the end of your name is a simple way to make sure you show up in those search results. While you’re at it, update your Google business account to ensure the right name, location, and hours are listed, along with contact information and your web address. The information should not only be correct, but it should also reflect the information on your “contact” page on your website. (You do have a “contact” page, right?)

Provide Clear Directions

choose-the-right-direction-1536336_1920Helping potential Easter attendees find you online is only half the battle; you have to help them find your physical location as well. Provide clear directions on your website so newcomers can easily find their way. Better yet, embed a map on your contact page. Visitors can simply click on the map and get directions to your location from wherever they are. Plus, an embedded map can further improve your search rankings. A mystery guest at one church said:

“Prior to my visit, I checked the church’s website. I also used Google maps to determine their location. It was easy to find, both on Google and Google maps.” – church visitor

Promote Your Church

lightstock_231553_full_kateYou can restructure your website, update your name, and add a map to your contact page, but if you aren’t advertising, you still may not be easy to find this Easter. If you’ve long-held the belief that marketing is “bad”, it’s time to change your perspective. Instead of viewing marketing as “good” or “bad”, view it as the tool it is, and learn to use it. Post regularly on Facebook and your other social media pages, and try promoted posts, particularly those pertaining to Easter. Doing so will get the post—and your church—in front of more people, and they may feel inspired to spend their holiday with you.

You’re bound to see some new faces at your Easter services, but the easier you are to find online, the more new faces you’ll see. If you’re curious how and where your website is showing up in search results and whether or not it’s attracting visitors, we can help. Our mystery guest program sends thousands of guests to churches across the country to evaluate everything from their websites to parking to the atmosphere, and more. You can use this unbiased feedback to make changes that will make guests feel welcome, accepted and want to return.

3 Reasons to Add a Parking Ministry to Your First Impressions Ministry

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Unless you have a church with multiple parking lots, people don’t typically need help finding a place to park when they’re arriving for Sunday worship. As a result, most churches often lack a parking lot ministry and fail to recognize the impact and influence it can have on both their regularly attending members and guests. This ministry is the first opportunity to connect with people and the first chance to make someone feel truly welcomed as soon as they drive onto the property. When done right, this ministry welcomes guests and helps set the tone for the rest of the worship experience. If your church is lacking a parking lot ministry, here are a few reasons you should start one.

3 Reasons to Form a Parking Lot Ministry

1. They are the First Point of Contact for Guests & Members Alike

The volunteers in your parking lot are the first point of contact for guests and members alike and are the first to recognize and greet newcomers. Visiting a church for the first lightstock_424776_full_katetime can be uncomfortable. Having someone welcome you from the moment you drive onto the campus, help direct you to an appropriate parking place, and guide you towards the correct entrance or who to speak with inside to get more information about the church helps eliminate that initial anxiousness a guest might feel on their first visit.

2. Keep Traffic Moving Smoothly Before & After Services

Imagine sitting in church and suddenly seeing groups of people get up and leave before the service has ended. A church we worked with in Virginia said it took an average of 8 minutes to exit their lot. As a result, people left services early to avoid the traffic lines. That’s not a great first impression for visitors. You’ll always have people who arrive late and leave early, but you can reduce that number with a parking lot ministry. Another way a parking volunteer can play an important role is by managing and directing traffic safely and effectively, so everyone gets in and out of the parking lot in a timely manner.

3. Farewell Impressions

Farewell Impressions matter just as much as someone’s first impressions. Parking volunteers have a unique opportunity to send people off in the same cheerful manner they were welcomed with. Recognizing people with a smile and a wave or saying, “Have a great week!” leaves your guests feeling valued and they’ll be more likely to recall their experience and your church fondly. lightstock_246174_full_kate

Do you have a parking lot ministry? If not, start one. Gather a team of your most cheerful volunteers and provide them with the necessary tools to ensure every guest and member feels welcome and safe. For larger churches, this may include golf carts, traffic cones, and signs. For smaller churches, they may simply need some reflective vests. The most important tool of all, however, is that a church sees this work as a ministry and understands the impact it can have. You never know who you’ll encounter on a given Sunday and what brings them to your church. A parking lot ministry gives you the chance to make someone feel welcome before they even enter your church and let them know they matter before they head back out into the world.

 

At Faith Perceptions, we provide churches unbiased feedback by sending mystery guests to their services. Churches with a good parking lot ministry often receive the most positive feedback because this ministry makes guests feel welcome before they even set foot inside. If you’d like to find out how your church’s parking lot ministry is impacting people, our mystery guest program can help.