Do you feel like it’s hard to market to a Christian audience?

If so . . . I believe there are reasons why Christian marketing is hard .  . .  

To shed light on it, let’s start with secular marketing, as a reference point.

So when we think about marketing: audience building, virality, posts that share, lead magnets that work, client generation tactics, and sales methods that yield  . . . sales, we think of marketing tactics.

The thing is, with marketing tactics: many of them work.

And some work better than others.

But then people 100x them and it becomes noisy and spammy.

And then they don’t work as well.

Or they feel slimy.

And that’s in the secular world.

So now you are a Christian pastor, author, speaker, ordinary Christian writing to help others.

You only want to do the right thing.

You want to write and get people to see your writings and get help and learn the things you know.

And you write and you post and you get  . . . Crickets . . .

So you start studying the “online marketing stuff”

And . . .it’s feels slimy.

And it doesn’t work.

So you get discouraged.

What does God want me to do, you say?

It’s so frustrating.

And being in the Christian market, there are a few headwinds.

I know because I’ve had a secular business that I’ve marketed for 18 years, and right alongside it I’ve had a Christian presence where I’ve marketed and sold as well.

I don’t usually think of it as “marketing.”

But I do have a unique vantage point on the effectiveness of Christian marketing.

Because I have had a successful non-Christian business for 18 years.

So I know what works, how people respond, how lists grow, etc.

Who buys.

What they buy.

Etc.

So for a lot of Christians, they do something in the marketing world or in social or in audience building, and they get a certain result, and they don’t know why or where it comes from or how it compares.

But since I have done extensive audience building and selling in both markets, I can see the difference.

So I’ll tell you how my own Christian audience responds differently, and what those challenges are.

Again, I can tell you about them from a different frame because I know how those SAME PEOPLE act in a marketing environment.

And then I’ll share what I believe the answer is, and if you are serious about impacting the world with a Christian message, what I believe you can do!

On the secular side, people engage when they are seriously interested in something.

If they aren’t interested, they don’t engage.

And the same goes for buying, if the topic is interesting and meets a pain point . . . they buy.

If it doesn’t solve a pain point they generally don’t buy..

Now, what happens in marketing is that if the thing talked about isn’t interesting, we adjust it and adjust it and adjust it until it works and it sells.

But with the Christian market, it’s so easy to think, okay I’m just teaching God’s Word, why don’t they respond?

I can’t change God’s Word!!

So instead of thinking about adjusting your angle, your message, you think, I can’t adjust God’s message.

So you . . . do nothing.

They aren’t responding.

You think you are 100% 

So you do nothing  . .. and think it’s because people don’t want what you have.

But . . . what if it’s a matter of appealing to their problem?

AND making it interesting.

Like, why should they watch YOU or read YOU if you aren’t interesting?

Not necessarily even the topic . . . but the delivery.

Let’s face it, 2 different people can write about a Bible story . . 

David and Goliath for example.

And one person is really boring and tells a normal boring story.

Another person drills into what David is thinking, what Goliath is thinking, how God is involved, they make it really interesting . .  and the audience wants more.

We Can’t Just Share the Bible and Expect Virality!!

So one of the things that I think Christians are guilty of is that they just think they can recite the Bible and a dry recitation, like a commentary, on a Bible truth . . . and people are going to share it like wildfire!

They aren’t !! 

The second big challenge with a Christian message is that: 

Let’s just call it what it is:

Some Christians are so dogmatic about their “pet beliefs” that they won’t listen to what you say without starting an argument.

Hey! 

You might even be triggered right now!

Because for YOU your set of beliefs correspond with what you believe your relationship with God is.

So you can see how that happens.

And in the Christian world, just like YOU are passionate - the people in your tribe are passionate.

So they write you, tell you your beliefs are wrong, they write long dissertations about how their faith is right . . .

You get triggered, frustrated . .. and quit.

So one thing you have to do in the Christian market is embrace those commenters and realize they mean well, instead of framing them as being the enemy.

Sure, some might be! 

But don’t treat them like the enemy until they prove that to be true! 

And writing you a 10 page dissertation about their beliefs does NOT make them the enemy! 

It means they are passionate just like you are! 

And if you can get those people to participate in your community discussions . . . as long as they aren’t nasty or attacking . . . they can actually help your virality and audience building! 

And I think the third thing to understand about the Christian market is that you are not just competing against others just like you who are trying to market to a Christian market . . .

Your audience is also listening to their favorite pastors on youtube, reading their favorite authors - and they’ve been doing that for a long time.

You probably aren’t at that level yet.

And you haven’t been in their inbox for long.

So you have to be good at what you write, good at what you speak, for an extended period of time.

Don’t give up.

Build community.

Build audience.

Be active in communities.

Be great at what you write in the Christian world JUST LIKE YOU ARE in the marketing world.

Realize that conversion rates might be lower.

So make up for it in volume.

I actually believe there is a HUGE market in the Christian market, especially for people with a marketing background.

We are seeing a lot of traction anecdotally in Christian interest, new believers, etc.

I also believe God is specifically calling many Christians to do more Christian teaching online.

But I don’t think we can just post an article here and there and expect some huge results.

You’ve got to be consistent, and probably even more so than in the marketing world.

And don’t be an island . . . do it in conjunction with other Christian’s who believe like you do, and instead of fighting each other because you disagree on the interpretation of a certain verse, band together because God wants to welcome as many as possible to His heaven and your private interpretation won’t matter in heaven.

All that matters is the gold and silver . . not the wood, hay, and stubble we so often focus on.

I hope this has been super revealing for you and that it opens your mind to doing more in the Christian market, if that’s your desire!

By the way, if you are also interested in actionably growing closer to God, I’m actually teaching a class later this week on doing just that, and would love to have you!