1.Marketing feels very “business-like”. Should a church really be thinking about marketing?
2.Does signing up for Church Marketing University as a church allow anyone in the church to utilize it? Will you be able to share one account or add more under your account?
3.Would you consider offering individual courses if one cannot afford for the complete training?
4.Does Church Marketing University offer a forum for asking questions?
5.I am very busy and cannot dedicate time to go through everything until later. Can I go through Church Marketing University at my own pace?
6.How long do I have to work through the materials?
7.Is this a one-time fee or annual? What language should we use to convince this is a worth the investment, and are there any payment plans?
8.Are the Church Marketing University courses accredited?
9.Does Church Marketing University cover what to do after a first-time guest arrives?
10.How many of the courses are ideas that will call on you to spend money in the area or how many modules have ideas that can be implemented without additional cost?
11.I have noticed there are churches that pour thousands of dollars in missions, yet are hesitant to invest money in reaching souls at home. What are your thoughts?
12.We need to speak with our board to secure funding or we cannot afford the investment at this time. Is there anything we can do to help make this happen?
We believe church is about the greatest “business” on the planet and our mission to reach spiritually lost people is the greatest thing in the world to market. Many churches are already using marketing tools such as Facebook, a website, email, etc., however, they may not be using these things effectively.
It is important to look at the definition of marketing. Marketing is not a gimmick, but rather communicating who God is, and who we are as the church, to people where they are at. As we seek to reach our culture, it is important we use the tools they are now using.
Yes. The initial person to set up the Church Marketing University account will get access right away. That person can then add team members to their church account. Each team member will create their own login. We allow up to 10 team members per church account.
Church Marketing University has a large amount of content and we encourage you to invite board members, lay leaders, interns, volunteers, etc. to work through the content to help your church grow.
We believe churches are best served if they work through every single course. So we currently do not offer individual courses.
We feel strongly that churches need a full marketing system. Many churches have tried some of the tools in isolation with frustrating results. The breakthrough comes when a church has a system that works together.
We have a special CMU Pro Scholarship Program designed to help churches of every size. Learn more here.
Our team is available to answer any question you have. Once you join Grow, you will get our team’s contact information.
We also have a Church Marketers private Facebook group where you can ask questions 24/7.
While Church Marketing University does allow you to go at your own pace based on your schedule, we do have the calendar year strategically mapped out with which courses and bootcamps your church should be focusing on each month.
A church calendar has natural ministry and momentum seasons. Your church should lean into those seasons and follow our material to get more visitors through your doors.
As soon as you join Grow, we recommend taking the starter course and getting your Google Ad Grant set up so our team can start running your Google ads.
The next step is to take the Visitor Growth Engine course to set up a system that is always inviting people to your church.
After that, we will guide you through the material you should focus on depending if it is a ministry or momentum season.
For some Lead Pastors, it may be helpful to establish a point person to work through the courses and report back to you highlights of the courses and information on which courses would be helpful for you to work through.
You have access to the material for as long as you pay your monthly enrollment fee.
We recommend committing to Grow for at least 1 year because it may take some time to implement all the necessary changes at your church.
There are presently two payment options – a one-time payment and a 12-month payment plan. For more information on pricing, visit the pricing page.
The pricing structure is designed to fit within the cash flow of the church. We view this as an investment of the church and we designed the program so you can move forward very quickly with your initial investment.
We have had many years of working with church budgets. When developing church budgets, a common tactic is to look at the per-capita revenue per church member. For most churches, regardless of size, each person’s per-capita revenue is $2000 annually. Even if we look at the low end – $1000 annually, it is clear to see if the investment in Church Marketing University results in gaining one new person to the church, you are already ahead.
It is recommended most businesses spend 3-10% of their annual budget on marketing. We found through our Church Marketing Strength Assessment that declining churches are not spending anything on marketing. On the other hand, churches that are doing well spend money on marketing – and they have money because they are growing. You have to spend money for growth to happen. Make the investment and you will be amazed at what the Lord can do.
Not at this time.
Yes. We have an entire Guest Follow Up course dedicated to the guest experience. We take you from how to get people to your church, how to make sure they have a great experience once they attend, and how to get them to come back.
We understand you have great marketing, yet if the visitor has an awful experience, it is not the best for you. We teach you how you create wow moments, best practices in hospitality, how to encourage people to fill out your connect cards, and how to follow-up with visitors so they come back.
Most courses cover elements you can do that will not cost you money. It is important you do not get bogged down with the thinking that this isn’t happening because you don’t have money. Some courses will cost you in terms of leadership and time investment. Others will include some elements where you will want to invest money, and we tell you how to do it so you won’t waste money. We cover the whole spectrum, and there are many things you can do for little to no money.
Investing in missions is critically important. Yet, there are also people right outside your door where investing in them can make all the difference for them.
We encourage you to think of this as a digital missions trip to invest in the people of your city and the culture. When you do this, you will see people come to your church, and come to know Christ. We hear stories all the time of how the Lord works through things like door hangers, direct mailers, a random website search, etc. Our heart is to use any tool God will give us, and take advantage of it to see people come to know Him. Don’t be afraid to be aggressive in reaching people. The people of the church and community will respond.
We have put together a page of resources that you can use to help explain the value of CMU to your team.
Check out:
https://churchmarketi1.wpengine.com/worth-it/
https://churchmarketi1.wpengine.com/grow/
https://churchmarketi1.wpengine.com/pricing/
