Christmas is a joyous celebration. It’s a perfect opportunity to use your church marketing to renew acquaintance with members who attend infrequently and invite guests from the surrounding community to celebrate with you. Who knows? Your Christmas postcard might be the invitation that encourages someone to take the next step toward becoming a new member of your congregation.
Every size church can effectively use Christmas postcards to emphasize togetherness and sharing, reminding your neighbors about the true meaning of the holiday.
It’s all about tradition.
People aren’t looking for a glittery Hollywood production, the retail stores have that covered. People look forward to Christmas as the season when they can take comfort from traditions. So use your church marketing to capitalize on that, by promoting your traditional activities such as:
- Candlelight services.
- Midnight mass.
- Reading of the Christmas story.
- Classic sing-along Christmas carols.
And remember this: no matter how traditional your church is from a religious standpoint, members expect you to communicate with them in modern ways, and that includes social media and email. Postcard mailings lay a foundation for those other church marketing efforts and also reinforce them by enabling you to reach out to everyone in your area with your message.
Promote your Christmas schedule.
This is especially important if you have added worship services or are hosting special activities. Does your church have a special Christmas tradition all your own? Talk it up, because it sets you apart.
If you’re a big church and you do things on a grand scale, or you’re a non-traditional ministry that emphasizes the upscale or upbeat, tell your audience visually and through your messaging, because that reflects your church’s personality. Even very small congregations and churches with small budgets can use Christmas postcards to promote a simple service, and your smaller size may feel more intimate and less intimidating to prospective guests.
Custom design is essential.
Clip art, generic photos or one-size-fits-every-church templates will not attract people or encourage participation. All church marketing, especially your postcards, must share your core values as well as your personality in order to set you apart from other churches in the area.
Working with direct mail professionals assures your postcard design will be both appropriate and unique. They can help you choose the right images – so important this time of year to reflect your church and evoke the emotions of Christmas. They’ll help you create a design that features warm, welcoming colors like reds, greens and gold.
And they’ll help ensure your mailers are consistent with your other church marketing, including your website and social media. You’ll want to make sure your website is up to date with Christmas images and information, because postcard recipients will visit your website to look for more information.
Successful Christmas postcards tell a story of embracing, welcoming fellowship.
They tell people visually and through your messaging what they can expect when they visit your church. The more open and inclusive your church looks and feels, the more likely you are to attract and engage prospective members. Show them your offer a calming presence in the midst of what can be overwhelming frenzied and stressful for many people.
Don’t wait!
Christmas and Easter are by far your two greatest opportunities to increase attendance during the year, so you don’t want to miss out on this excellent opportunity to spread your message about faith and joy. There is no better time to outshine the competition – and your church does have competition for new members — so shining like the brightest star now will help you grow your Christmas celebration and grow your congregation during the year to come.