"Church Employs the Internet and Raises Revenue"

"No Doubt That Its a Church -- They Need Money Too -- Yep, It's a Business Folks...."

I have to give this church credit where its due. They knew they had to take action and grow leaps and bounds and went to the web for answers.....Entrepreneur Business Blog:

"Sound out of reach? If you would've told the Eastpoint Community Church in Middletown, Delaware that their church community would increase membership by 277 percent about a year and a half ago, they would've thought you were crazy. But 18 months later, they've far surpassed their original goal and are moving into a larger space to accommodate the new churchgoers.How did they recruit so many new members? By using relatively inexpensive marketing techniques.

The campaign started with a prominent billboard on the side of a busy highway near their church, costing $1,000 per month for 14 months. On the billboard, they posted their website address under the main slogan. The church developed their website and tried to make it appeal to a younger demographic by also including Web 2.0 elements to build an online community. They followed up with a postcard mailer that went out to more than 47,000 households within five miles of their church, costing about $10,500."

Source:Entrepreneur Online

Its interesting that this church has more insight on onilne marketing than a lot of midwest businesses. These guys knew about costs and what they wanted to achieve. The investment was actually pretty small compared to what big companies are doing or... not doing in some cases.They even used Web. 2.0 elements !!!

Here are some extra things I noticed:

* They increased direct mail response 48%
* They are targeting the youth and getting a response
* The are encouraging participation
* They are incorporating online and offline techniques

Direct mail is not an easy thing to nail with one shot. There are a lot of things you need to do so the campaign will come out right. These guys also used a little SEO in their campaign.

Still, these guys are on the right track.

Ted Cantu writes for the fascube network and posted this on April 29, 2007 at 8:29 pm. He can be found at http://seowebcoach.typepad.com/