The Web Process
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Churches are like people in so many ways. One of those ways is the process people take when they’re getting to know you. If you’re a church and think people check you out first by walking in your front door, think again. That’s akin to someone showing up for a first date by knocking at your door with flowers. Sure, it’s cool and all, but it’s not the reality. What is reality, is that there is a long and drawn out process for people who are looking for a new church or a church for the first time. What we want to discuss here are the three processes people take when checking your church out online, from first connection to engaged servant.
Process 1: Date
Because everyone has a website today, your audience can sit in the comfort of their home and check out everything they want. People are dating you before they ever walk through your door. Think about the message you are crafting online and how people are receiving it. Are you carefully curating your content? Are your images a pure reflection or representation of your church in person? Are you, you online? These keys will help frame the discussion during the dating process, but the keys you really want to make sure you have are the following:
- Who you are and what you’re all about.
- What makes you unique in your city and context.
- Your contact information.
Process 2: Engage
If you adhere to the above steps and follow these three keys on your website, then you’re winning the process so far and someone from your audience is more likely to want to begin dating you in person. Remember: the object here is moving them along in your process. You want them to continue to take more and more steps every time they visit you online.
Having a strong online presence is instrumental in this next phase of your relationship. Just like in a person to person dating relationship, you’ve got to keep the flow going in your relationship. If someone has stuck with you so far, then you have an opportunity to woo them like none other. So forget the flowers and step up your game. The keys you really want to make sure you have during the engagement process are the following:
- Online messages.
- Upcoming events.
- Next steps.
Process 3: Marry
If you have gotten this far in your online “relationship,” then you’ve got a real good shot at #winning the relationship. You’ve brought the flowers, you’ve upped your game with fancy restaurants and chocolates, and perhaps some jewelry, and now you’re hoping to seal the deal with an in-person visit, or marriage. By now, they truly know who you are. They have seen the flash, but they have also seen or listened to the real you. If they’re still here, they must really be into you.
If you’ve ever done any fishing, then you know what it means to set the hook. When you cast your line, your bait attracts the fish, the hook catches it, but you need to set the hook to make sure the catch doesn’t get away. In the online space, that is best done through an emotional appeal. Every person is different, so the appeal will be different to each person. However, as you go about the process of doing church, you carry your appeals across the board. Like Paul, do all things to reach some. Somewhere across your appeal spectrum, you will reach the people you are intending to reach. The keys you really want to make sure you have during the marriage process are the following:
- Core church ministries: services, groups, serving
- Pocket ministries: events that cater to a specific spectrum (foster agencies, homeless, kids, single moms, etc…).
If they’ve stuck with you through the online dating and engagement process, then your pocket appeal will not only catch their attention, it will draw them in. When that happens, you are given the opportunity to show them what it’s like to be married to you. And that, that right there, is where we want every one of our clients to get to with their audience. We want the process to be clear and concise as outlined throughout the post, but also for it to end with a happy and beautiful joining of two people, church and audience.