Someone asks for more Facebook posts. Someone wants a new website. Someone suggests buying an ad for Sunday.
You're the person who has to make it happen, probably between work, family, and getting everything ready for the weekend.
Before you add another task, ask: What do we want a local person to be able to do because of this work?
Maybe it's finding the right service time, planning a first visit, or registering for a public event. That answer gives you something useful to work toward and helps your pastor decide which requests can wait.
Issue 1 gave us shared words for getting found online. Keep that glossary nearby. This week, set aside 30 minutes with your pastor and the ministry leader involved before choosing where to post or what to change.
Choose one outcome for the next 30 days
Your church communications goals should describe something that matters to someone outside the church.
"Post three times a week" tells you how much work you're doing. It doesn't tell you whether that work helps a family visit.
For this month, choose one outcome:
Help local families plan a first visit.
Help local people register for a public event with a confirmed date.
Help someone looking up your church find accurate service times and directions.
You may care about all three. Pick the one that needs attention now and fits the time you actually have.
If people keep asking which entrance to use, clearer arrival information may deserve attention before another graphic. If an event is three weeks away and registration is hard to find, start there.
This is the first decision in a church marketing strategy: what you want your communications work to help people do.
Pick one signal you can count
In Issue 1, we called the next step someone takes a Response. Choose one Response that gives you a useful sign of progress.
For a first-visit goal, that might be completed "Plan a visit" forms. For an event, it could be registrations. If your website simply provides visit information, clicks on its directions link could be a starting signal.
Choose something you can count with the tools you already have.
Be clear about what the number means. A directions click suggests interest in getting there. A completed form suggests someone is planning a visit. Neither proves that person attended, and some visitors will arrive without doing either.
Likes and views can provide context, but they won't tell you whether someone found the information they needed to visit.
Write down where you're starting
Record the current number and the period it covers. "Four visit forms in the last 30 days" is more useful than "four visits."
If you don't know, write unknown. Don't turn missing information into zero. Assign someone to start counting, and use the first week to establish a starting point.
Then choose a review date, usually 30 days away. Compare equal periods when you review, and note anything unusual, such as a holiday or special event.
Here's an illustrative goal:
Over the next 30 days, help local families plan a first visit, aiming to increase completed visit forms from four in the previous 30 days to six.
Those numbers are examples, not a benchmark for your church. Choose a target together based on your starting point.
The 30-minute leadership conversation
Bring your pastor and the ministry leader responsible for the visit information or event. Here’s how we envision the conversation to go:
Minutes 0-5: Name the need. What are local people struggling to find or do? Use actual questions you've received when possible.
Minutes 5-10: Choose the person and outcome. Who are we trying to help this month, and what should be easier for them?
Minutes 10-15: Choose one signal. What action will we count? Where will that number come from?
Minutes 15-20: Record the baseline and target. What happened in the previous comparable period? If it's unknown, who will begin counting?
Minutes 20-25: Set the boundary. How much volunteer time is available? Which lower-priority request can wait?
Minutes 25-30: Confirm the plan. Agree on the goal sentence, the person responsible, and the review date.
Leave with a decision the volunteer can work from without asking for approval on the same priority every week.
Do this in under an hour afterward
Give yourself 50 minutes:
10 minutes: Create a shared note with the approved goal, signal, baseline, target, owner, and review date.
15 minutes: Follow the path on your phone. Can someone find the service time, address, arrival information, or registration without guessing?
15 minutes: Fix the smallest obstacle you can safely edit. Correct a time, clarify a button, or repair a link. Assign anything requiring additional access.
10 minutes: Choose where to support the goal, such as your website, Google Business Profile, or an existing social account. Use the same clear next step wherever it fits.
That gives you a small church marketing plan you can finish. Your church social media goals should support the same outcome.
What usually goes wrong
Everything becomes a priority. Keep routine information current, but give this month's improvement work one focus.
The number replaces the purpose. Don't force visitors to submit a form just to see service times or directions.
You promote a broken path. Check the destination before spending time on posts or money on ads.
Nobody reviews the result. Put the review on the calendar now. Ask what changed, what remains unclear, and what you'll adjust next.
You should be able to open that shared note next week and know which task deserves your limited time.
Jesus
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