Today, we hear from Santiago Jaramillo, CEO and founder of mobile app developer Bluebridge, and Drew Goodmanson, CEO of Monk Development (developers of Ekklesia360).
Both companies serve churches across the country, helping them bring the power of apps and responsive websites together. As experts in mobile strategy, Bluebridge and Monk have co-authored a guide for churches to understand Mobile Technology and the Church.
The following post is based on an excerpt from the book, highlighting the journey churchgoers take to becoming engaged with the congregation.
The Mobile Engagement Journey
Journey.
You’re probably pretty familiar with the word. Sure, it’s a popular buzzword in marketing today, but it’s also the word we use to describe the path one takes to become acquainted with a new church—perhaps yours.
And just as the people who take that journey are unique individuals with different needs and preferences, so are each of the steps along the way.
Thus, the way you communicate with your congregants can’t be through a single channel. It must be multifaceted.
Enter the mobile engagement journey.
Why Mobile?
As the world’s fastest-adopted method of communication, the mobile device continues to grow in usership—and it’s only expected to rise.
According to Forrester Research, the number of global mobile smartphone users will reach 3.5 billion by 2019. With that, mobile apps and responsive websites are on the fast track to becoming the preferred channel for consuming information.
But churchgoers’ preferences aren’t always met.
Meet the people consuming your content and what they’re looking for as they become acquainted with your church:
The New Visitor
Nearly half of all your website visitors
Your website is the primary way that new visitors will find your church’s basic information. This may include:
- Church mission
- Church values and vision
- Location/directions
- Service times
- What to expect during a service
In order for churches to fulfill their mission of helping people become fully devoted followers of Christ, your website must move new site visitors toward attending a service.
Your new goal once they start attending service? Making them engaged and loyal members of the congregation.
The Regular Attender
Give clear invitations to participate
Regular attenders make up the majority of your congregation, ranging anywhere from 60-80% of your member base. But getting them to become engaged participants may be a challenge.
Think of them as those who attend each week—but not much more.
That said, it’s imperative that they’re given clear invitations to get involved in church activities, moving them from lukewarm participants to loyal, engaged members.
Why not capitalize on a device they already have in hand? Make your content timely and relevant through a combined strategy that includes:
- A mobile responsive website
- A mobile app
- Social media interaction
The Engaged Member
Those who serve
With extremely high engagement rates—85% of engaged members attend church three to four weekends per month and 47% participate in a small group—engaged members are no longer at the “basic info” stage. They want more from you—something they can act on.
By far the easiest tool for expanding the church’s reach, mobile apps allow your most committed members to:
- Share your content via social
- Take action on in-service announcements
- Participate in mobile giving
This group has the highest preference/demand for online content (sign-up forms, push notifications, digital sermon notes and bulletins, etc.)
Make sure you’re putting your app to work by meeting their expectations.
The Mature Disciple
Leading the church
Your mature disciples can be seen guiding the other three segments within the congregation, doing everything from leading small groups and Bible studies to caring for the poor, tithing and evangelizing.
But even as mature disciples, these churchgoers still want an opportunity to grow. And because they thrive on relationships, person-to-person connections and technology, your mobile app is the best tool for high engagement, helping them connect and assist others in their spiritual growth.
Make easy wins with easy technology to keep this group—one of your church’s biggest assets—engaged through:
- Events on the calendar
- Church news
- Volunteer and charity work opportunities
- Online giving
- Opportunities for sharing and inviting new members
Why the Engagement Journey Matters
No matter what segment your congregants fall in, your mission is to provide a consistent experience across all devices so churchgoers can participate as they wish and as they move through their engagement journey.
This will allow people from all segments the ability to find the information they need in order to become fully-engaged members of your church community.
So consider: are you meeting your congregation’s needs, and is your digital content prompting them to move from newcomer to fully-devoted disciple?
If not, it’s probably time to join the mobile revolution—because it’s not going away anytime soon.
More:
- Webinar: Want more advice directly from the mobile experts? Join Bluebridge’s upcoming webinar “Churches Go Mobile: Apps, Sites and Mobile Strategy” on Tuesday, March 24 at 2 p.m. EDT, hosted in partnership with church creative agency Fishhook. Register now >>
- Ebook: Don’t forget to check out the Mobile Technology and the Church ebook.
Eric Dye
April 3, 2015
These are the typical arguments for mobile friendly websites—which are solid!—but with Google’s new rule change, it may become more about search-ability than usability.
Marc Aune
April 7, 2015
I remain unconvinced about the benefits of a church having its own app if it already has a mobile version of its website that can facilitate registration forms, podcasts, giving, etc. I see having an app as adding a superfluous step to engagement (certainly for visitors) that unnecessarily takes up space on a phone.
What am I missing?