Church Marketing Sucks

A few days ago we talked about online church video. We encouraged everyone to embrace the phenomenon of online video and harness its power. One church in Boston is doing just that.

The Greater Boston Vineyard is having a YouTube video contest for their fall kick-off service. It’s certainly an interesting way to harness the power of web 2.0 and mobilize church members outside of church walls. I see some really good things coming of this.

• People will be having fun. When people have fun, others want to be where the fun is.
• You can tell your neighbors you made a video they need to vote on, and it’s easy buzz for the church.
• It reaches out to people beyond the normal audience. YouTube has a lot smaller barrier to entry than a church service.
• You can find people within your church with talent you (or even they) didn’t know they had.

In a world of technological advance, web 2.0 hasn’t replaced the coffee shop, but it’s mirrored it. A church housing an event like this on a secular site is like a church having a Bible study at Starbucks. The same positives and negatives come to mind.

It puts Christians out of only church circles, and it brings them into the public domain. This, however, isn’t enough. If you have a Bible study in Starbucks, you aren’t doing any good unless people know why you’re there and what you believe. You have to build relationships for it to be effective. The same is true for web 2.0, but these relationships are virtual.

So maybe for you it’s a Facebook cause or group, maybe it’s a church blog, or maybe it’s a YouTube video contest. Whatever it is, remember two simple rules:

• The same principles apply on the web and in reality.
• These are points of entry, but once people access them, it’s your message that matters.

(link via Paul Griffiths)