What Every Church Leader Should Know About Facebook Ads

This is the latest in an ongoing series on digital marketing for church leaders - be sure to check out the companion post on advertising with Google!

In the first post, we looked at why and how church leaders should advertise on Google. But Google Ads are only one-side of the digital advertising coin. Google provides the ability to advertise to those looking for a church right here, right now.

But Facebook provides the tools to advertise to those looking for a church before they know they even know they are looking for a church! Google helps advertisers to meet the demand of customers seeking a specific product or service. That's helpful when the service you offer, whether it is facemasks or virtual school support, is growing in search interest. It's only somewhat useful to churches, where search interest has stagnated and even declined in the last five years. As a church leader, you should be advertising on Facebook because you're called to bring the Gospel story to your community even if they're not specifically looking for it.

The importance of audience-based advertising

Facebook Ads succeed because they put your message in front of users whose online interests align to the goals of an organization. They work for churches because they introduce your ministry to like-minded community members who are unfamiliar with the work of your Christian community. Within your context, there are more Facebook users interested in faith, spirituality, and social justice than there are Google searches for those specifically looking for a new church home.

Over one-third of American Millennials identify within the "spiritual but not religious" category. This audience of approximately twenty-four million Americans may not have a church home, but they believe in God, pray, and read scripture at a rate that is nearly identical to church-affiliated Christians.

The spiritual but not religious group also uses Facebook extensively (despite the rumors you might have heard, Facebook remains by far world's most popular social network). 77% of Millennials use Facebook daily. This group shares countless affinities with the work of your ministry, their spiritual practices are similar, their hunger for justice is near identical, they even share many of the core theological convictions that define your ministry. They just lack an invitation to involvement, an opportunity to hear the story of what God is up to with your ministry. That's why it's so important to combine Facebook's powerful audience-based advertising with Google's search engine marketing.

Facebook Ads share in common many of the same advertising settings as their competitor, Google Ads. There's still an opportunity to target ads to a specific community, focusing on a tight radius around your church building. There's still an ability to pay only for clicks that drive new traffic to your website. And there's still the reality of these clicks costing mere cents on the dollar, a fraction of the cost of marketing in print, within publications, or on television or radio. I suggested in my post on Google Ads that a church could generate hundreds of new site visitors for less than the cost of a pastor's mileage reimbursement. With Facebook Ads, a church could generate hundreds of visits from community members who have never heard of the congregation, for less than the cost of coffee and donuts during pre-Covid coffee hours.

Set up for success

As with Google Ads, there are some settings you'll want to get right from the start of your advertising test. I'll list a few of them here, but you'll want to consult two other resources before you activate your campaigns. First, Tithe.ly offers an approachable and free startup guide to any church leader who is trying Facebook Ads for the first time. Facebook also offers a free online course to any first-time advertiser.

There are two settings you'll want to get right from the start. The first is your ad "copy." You don't need to be Don Draper to write good ad copy for Facebook. Just write a compelling call to action. It can be as simple as "Experience grace and restoration - join for online worship Sunday at 9!" Be clear about how, where, and when post viewers can connect with your ministry. And don't forget a high-resolution image. Image-based ads are viewed more, clicked more, and noticed more!

The second setting you'll want to get right is your ad targeting. Facebook builds its advertising campaigns around location and other audience characteristics. As with Google Ads, you'll want to set a target radius around your congregation. But don't stop there. Narrow your ads so that they display for those who have a demonstrated interest in faith and spirituality. This is done through Facebook's Detailed Targeting settings. In the following screenshot, you'll see example settings for a Madison, WI, Millennial-focused ad campaign targeting ads to those who are interested in faith, prayer, social justice, or Lutheranism.

Once you set your targeting criteria, Facebook will ask you whether you want to run the ad continuously or for a set timeframe. For most churches, I suggest running a 30-day test with a $5/day investment.

Ethics and privacy concerns

It's no secret that Facebook has been scrutinized over its handling of user data. Their business model bundles and anonymizes user data, then sells that data to advertisers in the form of ad targeting. This should raise ethical questions for the church leader. But the keywords here are bundling and anonymity. You'll never be able to target ads to specific users. You'll never even have access to data on specific users, or even on specific groups of Facebook users (want to see how Facebook characterizes your interests? Check out this page). And as a Facebook advertiser, you are not given any special access to protected information about consumers.

Still, some will question whether it is ethical to advertise on a platform that makes its money targeting ads based on user internet behavior. I would advise church leaders working through this quandary to perform a simple ethical calculation. Weigh the opportunities from bringing the Gospel message to unchurched and unheard audiences against any concerns you might have about Facebook's ad targeting. Does the good of engaging new segments of your community in God's graceful and restorative work in the world outweigh the misgivings you may have about how Facebook makes its money?

For more on the ethics of Facebook advertising, check out this blog post from Rebel Interactive.

Facebook Ads for churches during COVID

Some church leaders may hesitate to advertise on Facebook, due to the uncertainty of being a church navigating a global pandemic. While it may be true that we don't know when our buildings will reopen and when in-person gatherings will resume, we do know that 2020 has been hard on us all. We also know that social media sites have become the most contentious platforms on the web. Those using social media are wandering through a landscape defined by cancel culture, mudslinging, hyperpartisanship, and trolling. They need an oasis of grace. They need an escape to Sabbath rest and togetherness. Your ministry offers this oasis, it provides this escape, even if your worship service is held on YouTube or Zoom or Facebook Live. Your church may have left the building, but it still provides exactly what our world needs: a restorative word for a divided team, a word of healing in an era of pandemic illness, a word of rest during a year that has shocked and exhausted us all.

The world needs to hear from you. Facebook will help you get the word out. Please don't hesitate.

What Every Church Leader Should Know about Google Ads

As a church leader, you want your ministry to show up on Google, because you know that's the first place many look when looking for a church.

But you don't have the time, energy, or expertise for a massive website overhaul, nor do you have the resources to publish the "relevant and original" content Google seems to prefer in its organic search results. Moreover, you know that searches for "church" are on the decline, with more ministries vying for fewer clicks. The "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)" game seems to be a losing proposition.

Searches for "Lutheran church" have declined nearly 50% since 2004.

Accordingly, the fastest way to the top of Google's search listings is paid advertising via Google Ads (formerly AdWords). With Google Ads, you can rocket from the basement of Google's "organic" search listings (the unpaid search results) to appear front and center when it matters most. You'll select the specific searches where you want your ministry's ads to show up. You'll target a specific geography, write some basic ad copy, and the visitors will start showing up.

While some church leaders are reluctant to consider paid online advertising, fearing costs and maintenance requirements, my experience has shown local Google advertising to be cost-effective and easy to implement. With clicks on the search term "church near me" averaging about $1.45 USD (source: Google Keyword Planner), most ministries can generate hundreds of site visits per month on a lower budget than what they use for mileage reimbursements!

Search results for "church near me" - the word "Ad" indicates paid listings

Set up for success

When I worked at Google, I helped nonprofits and small businesses set up and optimize their online advertising. Most of these organizations operated on a shoestring budget and had no tolerance for wasted ad spend. These organizations, undoubtedly like your ministry, required highly-precise ad campaigns targeted to just the right searches. While Google Ads has countless targeting settings to adjust, most churches will find value from the following:

First, be specific with keywords. Rather than focusing on the generic term "church" or "church near me," choose denomination and geographic-specific terms. For a Lutheran church in Madison, WI, I would only use the following keywords, set to "phrase match" to exclude irrelevant searches:

• "Lutheran church"

• "Madison Lutheran church"

• "Madison WI Lutheran church"

• "Lutheran church near me"

Second, be ultra-concentrated with geography. By default, most search advertising targets too broad an audience. As a church, your primary audience is hyper-local. Use a specific radius around your church building to only show the ads to those within a short drive of your ministry. I recommend that most churches start with a 20-mile radius.

Third, opt-out of Google's extras. I've seen too many new advertisers burn through their budget because they didn't opt out of Google's "Display Network," which extends your ads to sites like blogs and YouTube. While it's important to advertise on mobile phones (which account for half of all search volume), the "branding" potential of the Display Network leads to big trouble for immediate-response advertisers like churches!

For more on setting up a Google Ads account, check out this resource (from Google) and this resource (specifically for churches!).

Mistakes to avoid

In my experience helping nonprofits and small businesses with Google Ads, I've noticed a few "trendy" mistakes that detract from online advertising success. I wanted to share them here so you can avoid making these very mistakes!

Mistake #1: Expecting an immediate response. While Google Ads drive immediate traffic to your site, they're unlikely to drive immediate engagement with your ministry, particularly in the form of attendance at worship services. Like any "path to purchase," the decision to engage with a church requires multiple "touchpoints" or interactions with your "brand." One ad click does not lead to one worship attendee. Chance are, you'll need those who clicked your ads to visit your site or social media accounts seven total times before they show up to one of your events. If your pews (virtual or otherwise) aren't filling up after you activate your campaign, be patient. Give any campaign at least 1-2 months before passing judgment.

Mistake #2: Too many starts and stops. Many well-intentioned church leaders tend to "tinker" with their ad settings a little too much. Often, they'll start and stop their campaigns haphazardly as their ads are just getting off the ground (Ads campaigns can be activated or paused at any time). Google's algorithms are geared towards delivering you high-quality web traffic. Let the algorithms do their work, give them enough time to do their thing!

Mistake #3: Not reading the fine print. Google goes to great lengths to document, explain, and teach advertisers how to succeed on their search engine. Pay attention to their resources, especially those that you will see within the Google Ads interface when you set up your first ad campaign. With so much to learn, it's important to move methodically through campaign setup. Take your time, don't rush. And remember that the budget you set is for each individual day and is not in fact your monthly or annual budget!

Find a Partner

Some ministries have the desire but not the time and energy to begin advertising on Google. If you consider yourself to be in this situation, I recommend reaching out to a Google Partner, a trusted and certified advertising agency that can set up and run your campaigns, often for a small fee. These agencies have proven their knowledge of campaign management best practices and have demonstrated a consistent ability to generate success. Unless your church plans to spend big bucks, look for the agencies that specialize in small business advertising. Find a partner today through Google's Partner Finder app.

Google Ads during COVID-19

With many church buildings closed, some may be reluctant to advertise on Google, or on any new marketing channel. But there's never been a more important moment for the church to actively reach out and form new (virtual) connections in their community. This pandemic is the great psychological, emotional, and spiritual crisis of our times. People need grace, they need prayer, they need to know that God is near. Searches for "prayer," "meditation," and even "church near me" are up year over year. Church leaders are called to tell the Gospel story in a way that spreads. Google Ads is a first step in fulfilling this call. The world needs a word of grace. Get your ministry online so you can proclaim that word to an anxious world.

What Every Church Leader Should Know about Google My Business

This is the first post in a new series on digital marketing for churches!

For all the attention that churches focus on their website, there's another (easier!) tool that determines how, when, and where you show up in Google's search results.

And no, I'm not talking about Google Ads, or paid listings in the Google search results. I'm talking about Google My Business (formerly Google Places), the app that feeds a church's address, phone number, website, and operating hours into Google's all-powerful search engine. Google My Business (GMB) is a free service that helps organizations to increase website and foot traffic by providing key pieces of information to people searching for local resources.

An animated GIF showing local search results taken from Google My Business

In this article, we'll explore why Google My Business is so critical to a church's online presence, especially during COVID-19, and how you, the church leader, can make the most of this free technology.

Google My Business: An Essential Marketing Tool

Perhaps the fastest-growing category of web searches is for services "near me." When searchers turn to Google for information, they increasingly do so with the intent of finding directions, operating hours, contact information, and customer reviews for nearby businesses and organizations. This matters a great deal for churches.

While searches for "church" have stagnated or declined in the past decade, searches for the query "church near me" have increased by nearly 100x since 2013.

This shapes church marketing tactics because the search term "near me" tells Google to search Google's own local search data, listings that are populated from Google My Business.

From the standpoint of acquiring web traffic, today's church leader will find more value from claiming and optimizing their Google My Business listing than their own website! Unfortunately, 56% of all local organizations (those with some brick-and-mortar presence) have not claimed their Google My Business listing. Among churches, where tech adoption usually lags businesses and other non-profits, this percentage is likely much higher.

The information you include in your church's Google My Business listing will show up on Google.com. It will show up on Google maps. It will tell searchers if your ministry is open or closed. It provides photos, answers user questions, and lists user reviews. It is critical that today's church leader keeps this listing accurate and up to date!

An unclaimed Google My Business listing with little to no information about the church

GMB doesn't require much active maintenance. It's likely far less work than your church website. All you, the church leader, must do is to:

• Claim your listing. You'll need a Google (ie, Gmail) account. Google has thoroughly documented the steps involved in claiming a listing, and they're fairly easy to follow. While it can take several days for Google to complete the verification process, most church leaders I have worked with have no difficulty with this step.

• Ensure an active church leader has access to edit the listing. It's important that an active church leader be listed as a GMB owner, meaning they can make changes when needed. For this reason, it's advisable to log into GMB with a church email address, one that remains within the church during staff transitions. Transferring ownership is, again, a simple process that Google has documented.

• Upload core church information. Add business hours, update addresses and phone numbers, link social media accounts, and include recent photos. Logos, cover photos, and additional photos don't just make your listing more visually appealing, they also help with boosting your ranking in Google's search results.

• Update the listing when you change worship times, operating hours, or contact information.

Updating Google My Business Listings for COVID-19

COVID-19 continues to disrupt church operations, especially with regard to worship. Since your church's Google My Business listing continues to show up in search results, it's critical that this listing accurately reflect current operations. Updating your listing for COVID-19 makes it clear to searchers how they can engage with your ministry, while likely boosting your search rank on Google's search engine.

Some churches have marked themselves as "temporarily closed" on Google My Business. I would advise against this. A "temporarily closed" flag on Google My Business suggests to searchers that your ministry is offering no services at all at the moment, either online or in-person. Unless your ministry has completely shut down (ie, no online worship, no online community whatsoever), you shouldn't use the "temporarily closed" flag.

Instead, use the "Online Attributes" feature within Google My Business to highlight what your ministry is up to online. Online attributes don’t show when a business is marked "Temporarily closed." When logged into your church Google My Business account, navigate to the "Stay connected during COVID-19” dashboard card. You'll have option to provide information about online worship, virtual events, and other aspects of the digital community within your congregation. GMB managers should also consider adding a brief "COVID-19 Post" to provide the search engine with a synopsis of how your ministry has adapted.

What To Do With Reviews

Creating, updating, and changing a listing for COVID might seem daunting, but each of these tasks can be accomplished in one or two sittings. But there's one area of GMB that requires some active maintenance. As a church leader, you'll want to regularly check your Google My Business listing to engage with new reviews. From a user's standpoint, searchers want to click on listings and explore ministries with a high rating. This makes Google more-likely to feature the listings with the highest reviews atop its rankings.

To that end, I recommend the following three practices for handling Google My Business in a way that is empathetic, pastoral, and aligned to the realities of search engine marketing. First, encourage your community to leave a review for your church by clicking the "Write a review" link atop your search listing. Second, regularly respond to most, if not all, reviews. Thank your positive reviewers for their affirming message. Invite your negative reviewers (if you have any) to contact a pastor for a follow-up conversation. Every organization has some negative reviews, churches are no different. What matters is that you try to turn negative reviews into a conversation. Third, flag reviews that are inappropriate or dishonest. Churches can be targets for trolling and cyber-bullying. Take the time to report malicious reviews to Google.

Google My Business does not require hours of active maintenance or strategic thought. It doesn't take a web marketing guru to curate an effective Google My Business listing. By following the steps in this guide, you'll help your ministry to stand out in this digital age, during COVID and beyond.