Church Marketing Sucks

A lot goes on behind-the-scenes to ensure that church communications are shared effectively. From social media to print pieces and everything in between, we constantly look for the best ways to share information with our people. None of them are right or wrong; you have to find what works best for your church’s context and culture.

However, when it comes to communication during weekend worship experiences, I would like to make the case for video announcements. Check out my five reasons below.

1. We have greater control over what is said.

We put a mic in someone’s hand, throw them on stage, and they somehow go off script… quickly and horribly. We’ve all been there—that moment of sheer panic when we realize the announcements aren’t being shared the way we intended. The mishap can make or break our communications strategy, especially given the number of people who receive our information on any given weekend.

With video announcements, we maintain control. We write the script and know it is and will remain consistent from service to service, and from service to online.

2. We can plan ahead.

Video announcements cause my church and communications team to plan ahead more than we might have in the past. Because we shoot a month of announcements at once, we have to prepare and have graphics and other materials ready several weeks in advance.

The different timeline guarantees we don’t leave event planning to the last minute. It also pressures us to work out all the event details early so that they can be clearly communicated via video.

The change has proven hugely beneficial to our team. Video announcements have made us better thinkers and planners.

3. We get to insert personality into our services.

Video announcements offer a great opportunity to inject some personality into services or to introduce the congregation to people more often behind the scenes. They can also be a fun way to kick off new initiatives or transition between elements in the worship service.

Wherever and however you play video announcements, make sure to use people who can add a bit of fun. They can turn a dull announcement about a Men’s Breakfast into an entertaining, interesting and memorable piece of information. Many times, the break from the norm can be just what we need to re-engage people.

4. We can use the content elsewhere.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to re-use video announcements! The biggest way we’ve done this is by being intentional about shooting content for services and the web. Video announcements perform exceptionally well on social media, particularly as younger audiences continue to consume more video on mobile.

We knock both pieces of content out in the monthly shoot, giving us an abundance of ready-made, high-quality footage to share online. Our people have responded well to the online video content, and it’s really just a smart move. It gets the most out of all the planning and coordinating that goes into shooting them.

5. We increase clarity and conciseness.

Many would argue that video announcements are impersonal. I get it, I really do. But they also give us an opportunity to be incredibly clear and concise about what we’re communicating. And, if we’ve worked with people who have personality, the argument’s moot.

The real value, though, rests in limiting the number of variables. We know what we’re going to get when we record a video. We have a script, a scene and a narrator. At the end of the day, isn’t clear communication one of the most important things we’re striving for? That’s what we get, every time, with well-done video announcements.

I’m sure plenty of reasons exist not to do video announcements. I’m not saying they’re for everyone; however, I do think everyone should give them a try.

You might find that video improves your church’s communication drastically. If it doesn’t, you can easily go back to what you were doing before. But the attempt should be made. We should always try new communication strategies to see if we can’t make what we’re already doing even better!