God Dot Com: 7 Church Growth Ideas For the 21st Century

Roughly 79% of America considers themselves to be religious. Given that extraordinary number, it’s shocking to many churches that in recent years, they’ve found their attendance dwindling.

There are a lot of theories on why fewer people are going to church, but the majority of reasons point to the simple fact that traditional church operations are having trouble connecting with the next generation of churchgoers.

Therein lies the value of focusing your church growth ideas within the digital marketing spectrum.

Digital marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses engaging with potential churchgoers across the broad spectrum of digital platforms they use regularly.

Below, our team breaks down a few simple ideas that can help your church start seeing success in the digital space.

1. Create a Website That’s Mobile Friendly

If your church doesn’t have a website, you need to remedy that now. Before any new churchgoer shows up for service, they’re going to want to get a sense of you online.

Without a website, they can’t do that and probably won’t show up.

If your church has a website already, make sure it’s mobile friendly and updated.

Having an antiquated website might make youthful visitors feel as though your church isn’t contemporary enough for their tastes.

2. Get Social

After you’ve established a functioning website, it’s time to get social.

Your church should have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media platforms that you feel you can manage that are a good fit for your sensibilities.

Simply having social media profiles isn’t enough to start building traction online though. You’ll need to share quality content regularly in order to engage new followers.

Your church can share inspirational stories, verses that are relevant to news stories, and information about events going on at your church.

We recommend staying away from scare tactic marketing since young social media users are less likely to be moved by content of that nature.

3. Start Building Your Email List

So many church growth ideas lists forgo investing in an email list. This is a huge mistake.

Email is one of the most effective means of marketing to people and many organizations live and die by the strength of their email list.

To make sure that you live by yours, it’s important that you get hooked up with a service like MailChimp and start collecting emails by asking people to fill out cards during sermons and by asking prospects to opt into your list on social media and through your website.

4. Share Your Sermon Series

A lot of churches expect people to show up for service week in and week out without letting them know what it is that they can expect to enjoy.

Again, this is a mistake.

There are a lot of stimuli out there pulling people’s attention in today’s digital age. To make sure that you can grab people’s attention amidst the noise, tease them with what they can expect from a content perspective in the coming week.

Promoting your upcoming sermon series can have a profound effect on your turnout and should be near the top of your church growth ideas possibilities.

5. Invest in Local SEO

SEO (or search engine optimization) is the key to the modern internet.

Google fields over 5 billion searches per day. If you want Google to showcase your church’s website as a top result when people are searching for church-related things in your area, local SEO is your best bet.

You can learn more about SEO via this free guide and/or you can learn more about hiring a church-focused marketing agency to help you out.

6. Target People’s General Interests

When you’re marketing your church, not everything should be focused on scripture and sermons. To connect with today’s multi-interest person, you have to be a little broader in your appeal.

Consider starting book clubs, sports clubs, gaming clubs, etc. at your church. Advertise your clubs through your social channels.

People will show up to network with those who share similar passions and your club meetings can find unique ways to tie church values into your activities.

7. Ask People to Share Feedback Online

At the end of the day, for better or for worst, people who are considering coming to church are going to go through the same thinking process they go through when deciding whether or not to visit a restaurant.

They’re going to ask their friends if your church is any good. They’re going to check out what you offer through your website. They’re going to read online reviews.

Online reviews can bring hundreds of people to your church or can turn hundreds away. To make sure your online reputation is helping and not hurting you, start asking happy members of your congregation to leave you reviews online.

These reviews can be left on Yelp, Google, Facebook or on any other relevant platforms.

The more 5-star reviews you get, the more traction you’ll build with attracting new faces to your services.

Got bad reviews? No problem.

Respond to them respectfully and use any valid feedback to improve your experience.

Wrapping Up Church Growth Ideas For the 21st Century

Your church’s ability to align its “church growth ideas” with 21st-century tastes will determine its success over the next decade.

Our recommendation is to take our tips above to heart and to start attracting your community’s youth.

Want more free information on how you can maximize your church’s marketing efforts? If so, learn everything there is to know about a multitude of digital marketing mediums by reading more of our newest content on Article City today.