Summer’s just around the corner! This month should be an exciting time after a crazy ministry year and getting past Easter and Mother’s Day. There’s some time to breathe! I hope you feel fulfilled.
Simon Sinek has said, “Excitement comes from the achievement. Fulfillment comes from the journey that got us there.”
If you’re like me during this slight lull, I look forward to fewer meetings and requirements. Take a few days to recuperate, clean up your computer and workspace, and take a personal checkup to make sure you’re ok and that your workload is sustainable for the next year. Then set challenging, motivational, and measurable goals.
Here are 5 things to consider for your summer Church Communication to-do list. Each take time and bandwidth to accomplish them properly. Perfect for the summer as you pray for the fall and new ministry year. It’s just a few weeks away!
- Get out into your community and listen. Effective ministry rises and fall on how well you know (and love) your audience. By now, you should know your internal audience (congregation) — but the community (external) is where real growth happens. God placed you there for a reason! Get out and ask questions. You’ll be amazed what this will do — if you listen to their answers! Define your external audience (needs, concerns, goals) and make sure it’s included in your personas. Remember that your congregation lives in your community so there are similarities!
- Talk to your Pastor and consider a Rebrand. Summer is a great time to discover your brand or rebrand! Perhaps a full agency process. Maybe a branding retreat! Or do it by yourself with the help of our bestselling church branding and leadership book, Be Known For Something. Make sure your lead Pastor is involved in the process — a rebrand helps reconnect you to your community and congregation. Growth and engagement often happens!
- Assess your past year and plan your upcoming year to your strategy. It’s time to figure out what’s worked and fix the areas that need it. You do have a strategy, right?! Everyone can’t have the loudest voice (but they’ll always try) — guide your ministries to communicate effectively (all of our products do that)! If you create “noise”, you train your audience to ignore you.
- Work on your website. In a digital world your website is the center of the digital hub. It NEEDS to be good. Not only internally and externally, but for Google, so they’ll become your biggest evangelist. Solid SEO (search engine optimization) will drive people to your church! Know and use your keywords, key phrases, and best SEO practices — all attaching to your branding thread!
- Create evergreen content to post. There are always episodes on social media that you hit a “I have no idea what to post” time. Evergreen content is entertaining or motivational content that can be posted any time. These graphics or posts are what your audience needs almost any time. I’m amazed how God uses this content to reach your audience “exactly when they need it”.
