Today’s church planting resource post is provided by Church Marketing Solution’s Eric Reiss.  I have worked with Church Marketing Solutions several times for design work and direct mail campaigns.  They excel at branding and design and are very competitively priced and experienced with direct mail.  Many church planters say direct mail marketing is dead.  I often teach planters that direct mail can be an effective communication tool when done in supplement to a great outreach and community service strategy.  Eric has given me new language.  Direct mail is Robin.

Direct Mail is Robin

by Eric Reiss

Imagine you were invited to speak for 90 seconds to 30,000 people before a major sporting event.  The stadium is filled to capacity, the national anthem has been sung and the crowd is buzzing with excitement.  You look around and smile at the sea of people around you.  All of them representing an extended network of friends, family, co-workers, associates, and relational contacts yet to be made.  They represent millions of people, billions of dollars of resources, and for a moment God has given them to you.

What would you say?

Would you tell them about God’s love in a surprising way? Would you challenge them to service and to step up to greatness?  Would you tell them that there is an answer for life that goes beyond what we dare to dream?  Would you encourage them not to give up?

You might pull a bunch of your smartest, wisest friends into a room to write the message well.  You would beat on those words until they were perfect.  You would rehearse it until you had it cold.  And you’d be right to do all of those things.

Direct mail for a church plant gives you that kind of microphone, a well crafted message to engage (if only for a moment) tens of thousands of listeners.

The first key to an effective direct mail campaign is this: craft your message.

Know exactly who you’re talking to, who you want to jazz, who you want to worry and who you want to smile with the audacity of what you’re saying.  Let it flow with a clear beginning, middle and end and challenge people to respond tangibly in some way.  Make that response easy to understand and crystal clear.  Make sure any graphic or visual element resonates with the key message you want to bring.  The look, feel, color and intuitive nature of the piece should support your key message on multiple levels.  They should get it immediately.  They should also find food for thought.

Could you capture that kind of an audience and give them something good, or maybe something life changing in 90 seconds?  Bring that approach to direct mail and it will be more effective.

The second key to direct mail is this: direct mail is Robin, not Batman.

The direct mail piece might be your best supporting actor, but it won’t carry the day alone.  Direct mail at it’s best is a piece that is supporting a well thought out and comprehensive communication strategy.  Remember that your very best touch for releasing God’s love is people talking to their friends.  That is how the church was added to daily in Acts, and it is still true today.  Everything else is a supporting cast of characters that will ultimately lead to a meaningful conversation, or not.

You might do enough marketing to draw hundreds of people, but without love and real connection, few of them will stick.  So keep the first thing the first thing and be the kind of leader who constantly cultivates relationships.  Be the leader who is aware of God moving in a kind word or a loving action as we walk through the day.  Teach the people around you to love in authentic, contagious ways.  In that context, things like printed pieces and websites and direct mail can be powerful, powerful tools.  But they will never replace a real touch from a real human being, they can only help create an opportunity for that loving touch to occur.

So, if you are thinking about a campaign involving direct mail, or a host of other creative ways to get the best message ever out there, go for it!

Craft your message to convey God’s love with excellence.  And remember the methods and tools we use today will always bow to love.