Do You Know Who Your Church’s Target Market Is?

Any good business owner knows that zeroing in on the company’s target market is essential to success. Even though churches function differently than traditional businesses, many of the internal details are handled in similar ways, particularly when it comes to marketing. Although lead generation and converting those leads have a different end game, marketing a church and marketing a regular business are quite alike. In both situations, growth is directly impacted by how well you know your target market.

Defining Your Target Market

In order to properly market, promote, and grow your church, you have to clearly define who your target market is. While some might say that church is for everyone, and we would agree, that’s not going to serve you well from a marketing perspective. Your particular church is not for everyone, and that’s okay. But who is it for? Who is already making up your church? What kinds of people are you trying to bring in the doors? 

In a perfect world, everyone would be part of your target market. As church leaders and believers, you know that everyone needs a quality church family to be a part of. But not everyone is going to agree with you, and that’s okay. It’s not the best use of your time and money to try to attract every person in your community and encourage them to come to your church program. Instead, you should fine-tune what your church is offering to its attendees and members, and let that define what your target market is. 

What Makes You Unique?

All businesses and organizations have a unique offering–it’s what makes them stand out among their competitors. Although you may not feel like you’re in direct competition with other local churches, you still have things that make you different from other churches in your area, making you better suited for certain individuals. 

The first step in knowing your target market is defining what makes you unique. Maybe you have an incredible children’s ministry that kids absolutely love being a part of. Perhaps you have several niche small groups that answer the felt needs of oft-overlooked people groups. Maybe the way you run your church service is unique to your area. Perhaps your different outreach ministries are making waves in the community and are a big driver of new attendees. Figure out what your current members love about your church and define your “selling points,” and let that help you define your target market.

Look at Demographics 

Demographics are not the end-all, be-all of your target market or even of your church body. Most likely, you’re not looking for particular socioeconomic levels or races. However, knowing the general demographics of your current church members and the local community can help a great deal with defining your target market. A quality church management software program can make this simpler because it can help you see an overview of the people already attending your church services. If your church wants to grow its kids ministry, you’ll need to focus more heavily on young families, and that can drive your marketing in one direction. But if you want to expand your already robust senior ministry, where and how you promote your church will be drastically different. Know what percentage of your church is married and single, has kids and doesn’t, is retired and isn’t, and so on. Get a general idea of the age ranges of your most prominent groups, and think about where they are spending their time so you can market in that space.

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Consider Mindset

While demographics matter, perhaps the biggest factor that turns a potential lead into a church member is their mindset. You can be in the “right” demographic range, but if the people there don’t value your church’s values and goals, they won’t be part of your target market. Think about where the people you want to attend your church might be spending their time based on their mindsets, morals, and values. They likely aren’t out at a local bar or nightclub, but they may be in nearby parks, libraries, or schools. They might be volunteering at a local ministry or attending family-friendly events on the weekends. Put yourself in the position of someone who might be looking for a new church and what their mindset would be, and then aim to meet them in that place.

Compare Current vs. Future

Looking at your current church body is a great way to help define your target market. Particularly if you have steady growth already, then what you’re doing is probably working and you can continue it by further zeroing in on what your current people are already like. If your church isn’t growing, envision what your ideal future church body would look like, and plan for that. You also have to take into consideration the future of your church and your potential future members. While your target market may not shift drastically, make sure you’re making appropriate plans for where you hope to go in the future. If you are heavily marketing to young families, make sure you have the space to accommodate more kids. If you have a large student ministry but no current college ministry, make preparations to transition students into young adult ministries in a positive way.

Meeting Your Audience Where They Are

Once you more clearly define your church’s target market, you can start making strides toward more intentional and impactful marketing. 

If you’ve got a lot of young moms in your church, consider starting a mommy and me playdate each week or month. Encourage moms to invite friends to grow the group and then encourage the group members to attend Sunday services. You can also utilize church event management software to plan get-togethers that focus on young kids and their parents, offering opportunities to connect families to each other.

If your church has a large number of retired adults, consider starting different small groups or clubs during the week for them to get together. Maybe they want to golf, play cards, or just hang out and drink coffee. Perhaps they want to serve together at a local ministry or take a cake decorating class together. You can help facilitate that.

If you have a lot of young single adults, starting groups specific to their needs can be a great way to get new people coming to your church. Maybe they want to play ultimate frisbee once a week or try out new restaurants together. Offering events that they want to attend will help the group grow organically as members invite new friends.

Regardless of which age group or season of life your target is in, providing appealing opportunities to them can help bring more people into your church. Church event management software can help streamline these processes so that you’re never missing a beat in managing your marketing and event planning, which allows you more time to focus on engaging with your target market.

Manage Your Audience and Growth with Breeze

You know that your church is not just a building, but rather a group of people under your care. While you’re doing the hard work of ministering to your members, preparing messages, and planning an amazing church program each week, you know that having processes, systems, and programs in place can make your job easier. With church management software from Breeze, you can keep all of your members’ information in one place and make running your church much simpler. With a focus on church CRM systems, Breeze has incredible capabilities, including group organization and communication, management of church donations online, event management, service planning, and so much more. Get started today with a free 14-day trial and take the first step toward defining your target market for optimal church growth.