I recently spoke at a marriage event at Fellowship Bible Church in Batesville, Ark. The event had a great turnout, primarily because the church did such an incredible job promoting it within their community.
I was so impressed with their work that talked to Tera White about she did to promote the event. And since this is so important, I thought I’d share her answers with you.
Who did you reach out to within the community to help you spread the word?
Our Chamber of Commerce sends out a weekly e-newsletter to roughly 2000 recipients, comprised of Chamber members and other community members. You can advertise free of charge in this newsletter.
As Chamber members, we also have the opportunity to send out two “All About You” email blasts per year to the same e-newsletter distribution list. This advertisement also gets posted to their social media networks.
How did you use digital advertising for the event?
We created a Facebook event for the evening and boosted the event for a month. Boosting allows you to target an audience that you set.
The boosted post will show up in that target group’s newsfeed for the duration and budget you set. Our target was men and women, ages 18 – 65+ who live in Arkansas. This cost us only $30 for the entire month.
The main ad was a picture of Ted & Nancie Lowe, straight from the promotional material.
Our description for the event/ad:
Experience a night of comedy and laughter while exploring what it takes to make a marriage work! During this fun, exciting, ONE-NIGHT marriage event, you will hear from speaker, blogger, and director of MarriedPeople, Ted Lowe and his wife Nancie.
Don’t miss a FREE night out ON US! In addition to our fabulous speakers, we will provide childcare, yummy snacks, a photo booth, and great door prizes! Let us know by January 21 if you plan to attend, and if you need childcare! Some ways to let us know you plan to attend:
- Respond to this Facebook event
- Message us on Facebook
- Email us: news@fellowshipbatesville.org
- Call us: 870.698.9244
- Follow link to fill out this simple form: https://www.cognitoforms.com/FellowshipBatesville1/YourBestNightOut
How did you announce the event in worship and the bulletin?
We began with a basic “Save The Date” graphic about two months out with minimal info during our announcements. We also put the graphic in our church newsletter around the same time.
After a few weeks of “Save the Date” announcements, we moved into giving more detailed information during our announcements with a different graphic. This graphic was the picture of Ted and Nancie with some basic info (date, time, etc) about the event.
Our pastor started a short marriage series two weeks before the event to prepare hearts for the event. He also gave shout outs for the event before each sermon, as well as showing the promo video.
How did you get the word out around your town?
We posted 25 posters around our town. We also put out postcards at the locations that we hung the poster.
What other advice do you have on promoting special events at church?
A few additional avenues that we used:
- Weekly community circulars that allowed us to advertise for free
- Radio spot on a local radio station
- Social Media shares on staff’s personal accounts
- Church Member Chat video that included members of our church telling why they were excited about the event
- Facebook Live video describing event and inviting people to come
How do you promote marriage events at your church?
Ted Lowe is a speaker and the director of MarriedPeople, the marriage division at Orange. Ted is the author of two books—one for marriage ministry leaders (Married People: How Your Church Can Build Marriages That Last) and one for married couples (Your Best US: Marriage Is Easier Than You Think). He served for almost 10 years as the director of MarriedLife at North Point Community Church. He lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with his four favorite people: his wife, Nancie, and their three children.
