An effective comm strategy lets everyone knows what communications support they'll get any time they have an event.
A clear strategy focuses everything you say on the mission you are trying to accomplish. Focus leads to success.
Structured communication is easier for your congregation to understand. Understanding is the first step to action.
Ministry leaders expect their ministry to be the only thing you promote
Announcements take 15 minutes (and people still complain about not knowing about events)
Your congregation gets multiple emails from the church but you don't know about most of them
Every request becomes a negotiation about how much promotion they can get
No one really knows what is working, but everyone has a strong opinion on what should change
Creating content for social media feels like a guessing game
You live in a constant state of crisis management and can't see a way out of it
If you don't have effective strategies in your communications ministry, it will lead to problems.
But sometimes building a custom strategy is out of reach. Either because you don't have the time, or you don't have the skillset.
It's time to solve that problem.
The process takes two weeks and consists of three, 1 hour meetings.
The kickoff conversation focuses on understanding where you are today, where you want to be, and the mission and values of your organization.
One week after kickoff, I'll present a custom build strategy for your church that will get you from wherever you are to day, to where you want to be.
Two weeks after kickoff, revisions are applied to the strategy and we build an implementation plan. A strategy only works if it is adopted by the rest of your staff.
A custom built strategy for the problem you are wanting to solve (promotional plan, email strategy, social media strategy, etc.). The strategy will be built out as a keynote/google slides/powerpoint so you can present it to staff and leadership.
Implementation plan focused on helping you roll out your strategy effectively.
While the strategies you need depends on your specific situation, these are common needs.
This is the starting point for all communication strategies. This establishes clarity for all ministry around the areas of promotion for ministries and events. A promotional plan categorizes events by tier (high, medium, low) and defines what promotion looks like for each tier. Check out the promotional plan case study to learn more.
While social media feels like a mandatory part of how we communicate, it's also one of the most difficult communication channels to sustain. A clear social media strategy empowers your staff by clarifying exactly what types of posts move the mission forward. This helps content creation and execution happen faster, yields better results, reduces frustration, and enables you to invite volunteers to participate in social media.
Email is a powerful way to communicate to those connected to your church. As your ministry grows, whether in size or complexity, the need for air traffic control around email grows as well. An email strategy helps each department know then "when and what" of email communication while protecting the congregation from being overwhelmed with email messages.
The more staff you have involved in pulling off a weekend service, the more important it is to have clarity around what's coming. By developing a weekend series development strategy, every aspect of every weekend has the time it needs to be developed well.
The goal of a strategy is to move you from where you are today, to where you want to go. If you have a specific objective you would like to accomplish, your best first step is to build a strategy that can focus your efforts toward accomplishing your goal.
Owner of Lunchtime Heroes
Matt Curtis has been using creativity for ministry since 2002. After two years promoting missions and 16 years on church staff—in roles ranging from graphic designer to Creative Minister—Matt shifted from serving one church to equipping many.
In 2022, Matt launched Lunchtime Heroes to help churches effectively leverage creativity for ministry. Through branding, design, coaching, and consulting, Lunchtime Heroes has partnered with churches to build healthy and effective creative ministries across the country.
Outside of ministry work, Matt enjoys content creation, BBQ, roasting (and drinking) coffee, and gaming with friends.
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