How Churches Can Increase Weekly Attendance Using Facebook

Church leaders are constantly looking for ways to better connect with their local communities and accelerate weekly attendance.  They are also looking for better ways to integrate social media into their ministry plans.

If this describes your church, I want to give you a very practical idea that any church can implement.  Take advantage of Facebook Ads.

It is highly likely that if you are reading this blog post, you are also one of the 845 million individuals who has a Facebook page.  If you remember, when you established your profile you provided the following:

• City in which you live
• Birthdate 
• Sex
• Education
• Workplace
• Religion
• Political Affiliation
• Relationship Status
• Etc, etc, etc…

Facebook has more relevant data on human beings and their behavior than any resource available.  This brings me to Facebook Ads.  I have utilized this service before to great success.  Any advertiser can specifically target whatever audience they wish to connect with.

The more targeted the communication and audience, the greater the results.

The following is a testimonial from CM Photographics on the Facebook Ad page as well as how they utilized the service: “People treat Facebook as an authentic part of their lives, so you can be sure you are connecting with real people with real interest in your products. Facebook Ads provided CM Photographic the ability to target their exact demographic — 24-30 year old women whose relationship status on Facebook indicated that they were engaged. 

Over 12 months, CM Photographics generated nearly $40,000 in revenue directly from a $600 advertising investment on Facebook. Of the Facebook users who were directed to CM Photographics’ website from the ads, 60% became qualified leads and actively expressed interest in more information.”

Church leaders, the 90’s just called and they want their billboards back.  The 2000’s just called and they want their direct mailers back.  Facebook Ads is the new deliverable!

I attend Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, GA.  Using our church as an example, here are a few examples of advertising ideas that could be easily implemented at a very low cost:

• When launching a new Singles class, target ads to people living in Roswell, ages 18-28, with a status of Single or Divorced.
• When launching a Divorce Care class, target ads to people living in Roswell with a status of Divorced.  As one church leader told me, “Just make sure you can accommodate the counseling on the back end.”
• With Easter approaching, target all people living in Roswell.
• When launching a Women’s Bible Study, we could target women living in Roswell who are Christian and are inspired by Kay Arthur or Beth Moore.
• When launching a Newlywed Class, target people living in Roswell, 18-29 years old, Married, and like the movie Fireproof.

You get the idea.  Facebook is great in that it allows you to be specific in the audience you wish to connect with while also budgeting how much you wish to spend.  

And one more important note, don’t forget to encourage your regular attenders to Like the ads and your page.     

If you give Facebook Ads a try over the next few months, let me know the results.  I am confident they will be HUGE!  They were for me.

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