I’m always thrilled when churches make the decision to share their story through local TV commercials.
In spite of the chorus that “everyone is moving to the internet,” broadcast television still has a huge audience and I wish more churches had that kind of vision.
So if you’re considering buying 30- or 60-second TV commercials, here are a few important things to consider:
Target audience
It all starts with identifying your target audience.
I know pastors who are looking for the 20–30 year old crowd so they advertise locally during “Saturday Night Live” and similar programs. We’ve worked with a few churches who are focused on reaching men, so they advertise during sports programming. One client in the Midwest advertises on the 6 p.m. news because they’re trying to reach more business people.
Depending on that decision, do you want to reach Christians or non-believers? While we all want to reach non-Christians, even with the larger audience of secular TV stations, your response percentage will be much lower, and their chances of visiting your church pretty small.
That’s not to say it’s not worth it, but know the response will be far less with a secular audience.
Advertising on Christian stations or channels will reach a Christian audience, and they are more likely to respond, and probably more likely to visit the church. Plus if you have a very popular Christian program playing before or after your spot (what we call a “lead-in” or “lead-out”), you’ll probably find a huge audience.
Length of commercial
A general rule regarding length: If you have a high profile in the community a 30-second spot is fine. But if you’ve not been on the station before or don’t have a high profile, consider starting with a 60-second spot because it allows you to share more information and let the audience get to know you. After a couple of months you could shift to 30-second spots, which are less expensive and it’s easier to find available slots. However, if your budget is better for 30-second spots, that’s no problem — better to be out there than hidden under a basket.
Key factor
Regarding when the spots are broadcast, look again at the audience you’re trying to reach. Remember — getting in front of the right people is more important than getting in front of the most people. So pick the types of channels, programs and times of day your best potential audience is watching.
Initially, I like the pastor hosting the commercial. That gets his face out there and connects a personality with the church. After all, the audience often makes the decision based on a reaction to the pastor, so it’s always good for them to see him and hopefully identify with him.
For more stories from Phil Cooke, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally written by Phil Cooke and published by philcooke.com.
