Engaging is better than Selling.

Marketing your church is crucial if you want to keep up in the fast paced big-city setting (or anywhere). There are many ways of marketing a church, but most of them require a large budget. However, this doesn’t imply that you cannot promote your work if you have a limited budget. In fact, the lack of sufficient funds is the best motivation for creativity and innovation. With a little creativity and determination, you can still conduct effective marketing campaigns. 

1. Engage With Your Audience Rather Than Just “Selling”
It’s easy for a pastor to get into the trap of just wanting to push our messages in a one-way conversation. Though it’s not bad to prioritize announcements, sometimes you need to engage with people to help them know more about your church and your message. Social media is one of the best and easiest ways to engage with your target audience. It presents an opportunity for indirect marketing which is very effective.

Share or retweet posts, comment, get involved in conversations and backlink your opinions to your church. People will notice you and, eventually, they will begin to trust your voice. However, you should be very careful about what you post. People probably will not read your posts or follow you if you are always talking (just) about your church and worship services. You need to post interesting articles and things that catch people’s attention. Also, check for sites that are appropriate for your beliefs and focus on them.

A few examples of sites which likely post content you'd be comfortable posting:
• Bread For Beggars
• Hearts and Hands Podcast
• Illume Church