Church Marketing Sucks

With weekly sermons, worship music, Sunday School and more, churches are content factories.

And church communicators are the loyal factory workers, diligently cranking out a seemingly endless stream of blog posts, social media graphics and highlight videos.

But how much of this valuable content disappears before it reaches its intended audience? How much is only ever seen once before it goes away? How many of our precious hours are wasted creating something few will ever see?

There is a better way. A way to save time and extend the shelf life of your hard work: repurposing content.

More Consistent Storytelling

Mark Horvath, founder of the nonprofit Invisible People, recently talked about how organizations can repurpose their content for more consistent storytelling.

He explains that by recycling valuable information, you increase the likelihood that the right people will find your message and you create a cohesive brand story.

“If you are not sharing your story on a consistent basis, you are going to have a tough time building a loyal online audience,” says Horvath.

10-to-1 Rule

When it comes to repurposing content, I usually to stick to the 10-to-1 rule. This method extrapolates one story to create 10 unique pieces of content across multiple platforms.

Here is an example of how you can stretch the same content from a weekly sermon in new ways by using the 10-to-1 rule:

1. Share a video of your pastor discussing the highlights of the message.
2. Pull quotes from the sermon and create shareable social graphics.
3. Use those same graphics to print out a few fliers to post around the church.
4. Summarize notes from the sermon and share as a blog post.
5. Push these same notes out via email marketing.
6. Post links to scripture verses mentioned in the sermon on your website.
7. Create a website landing page with all of the sermon videos embedded.
8. Pose thought-provoking questions from the message on social media.
9. Use the sermon graphics as the headers for your social media accounts.
10. Add a few bulleted highlights from last week’s sermon into the weekly worship bulletin.

Curated Content

Similar to repurposing your own content, don’t be afraid to curate the useful content of others. No one said that all of your content had to be your own. By sharing the content of others, you save time and energy, while also establishing yourself as an influencer.

Over time, I’ve compiled a list of articles and blog posts that are relevant to my intended audience. When there’s space, I share some of these links to provide value to our organization’s followers.

This should by no means be your primary mode of content creation. You can’t survive solely on borrowed content. However, the occasional piece of curated content can be a valuable addition to your original storytelling.

Get More Out of Your Sermons

So do more with your sermons and other content by repurposing them. Your church pours a ton of effort into creating that content, so make sure you’re making the most of that investment.

More:

• Edgar — The storytelling agency Mark referenced in the video
• How to Manage Content for Your Church
• Content is King, the King is Dead, Long Live the King
• Creating Church Community Through Better Content
• Social Media Content: Seek Engagement First
• Power to the Pews: We’re All Content Creators