Now’s the time to work ahead and be intentional about your church’s digital marketing efforts leading up to Christmas.

The holidays will be here before we know it. So, let’s start prepping your church’s digital marketing strategy for the upcoming holiday season!

Below is a list of things to prepare, so you can begin working on your church’s Christmas marketing and communications campaigns. Consider this your digital packing list – things to gather in advance – as you head into the Christmas season, all from a strategic digital marketing perspective. 

Analytics Review 

First, track down last year’s analytics. If you don’t regularly track them, focus on gathering last December’s data. Be sure to do this for all of your platforms, including: social media, email marketing and your website. Take the time to assess what was done last year. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What stands out that worked well?
  • Did anything flop that we should remove from this year’s plan? 
  • Is there anything that didn’t go according to plan, that we can work to revise this year? 

Local Research  

Think through your church’s holiday strategy from your community’s point of view. Be aware of (and compassionate toward) what’s been happening in and around your city. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Hardships: Has something made this year particularly difficult for our community? 
  • Unique: Are the neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, etc. surrounding our church walking through something different (good or bad) right now? 
  • New: Is there anything new or noteworthy in the surrounding areas that are affecting our community? 

These things can (and should) impact your marketing efforts. Knowing this information can help determine how receptive people in your community will be to your church’s Christmas offerings.

What’s Trending

Regarding online presence specifically, now is a great time to begin researching/thinking through bigger trends that are gaining some traction in the digital marketing landscape. The holidays are a great time of year to put a bit more time and effort into a trending digital campaign.

While you can’t jump on every trend and go all out each and every time, for the Christmas season, we encourage you to put some extra energy into a trending campaign or two. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What are bigger trends that we see working right now in digital marketing?
  • How can we take part in one of these trends and make a big splash with our church’s Christmas offerings?

A leading content marketing trend is short form video. For video, short and snappy content has built a lot of momentum recently. The content still needs to be high-quality and the messaging still needs to be purposeful. But, consider what content you already have and can repurpose or what content you can create that is direct, quick and can make a large impact in a short amount of time.

Also, consider that AI usage is widespread and continuing to gain traction daily. While it is a great tool to leverage for digital marketing, it can be elevated to the next level by pairing AI with personalization. Using AI to produce relevant, personalized content is a great step to take this holiday season. 

How can you utilize AI as a tool to support your digital marketing efforts? And, how can you personalize your messaging and branding in a way that is authentic to someone’s experiences and interactions with your digital platforms?

Budget Review

Determine what your paid advertising budget will be for the holidays, especially if this is different from your typical monthly budget. Make note of how you’ll divide the funds per platform and also per day/week leading up to Christmas. 

If you’re looking to create a paid advertising campaign and to strategically pair it with your organic efforts, let us know! Our team would love to support you in these digital marketing efforts.

Prep the Google Ad Grant

Now is a great time to set up your church’s Christmas campaign within your Google Ad Grant account. Remember, you can set it up now and schedule it to go live on a specific day in the future. 

If your church hasn’t yet applied for a Google Ad Grant, now is the time! Click here to learn more about this grant that gives nonprofits up to $10,000 of advertising spend per month. We'd love to come alongside your team to get it set up and running for you!

Inventory

Take inventory of the equipment your team will be using in the coming months. Clear memory cards, charge camera batteries, make sure your computer and all software is up to date … The more you can do now (and don’t have to do the days leading up to Christmas services) the better! 

Refresh

Before traffic picks up on your digital marketing platforms, take some time to conduct an audit on your platforms and make any edits you’ve been putting off. 

Make sure information is up to date, photos are recent and all links are active. Here is a checklist of channels for you to review and refresh:

  • Website
  • Church app
  • Social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram (plus link in bio information), YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn (and any other channels your church is on)
  • Podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple, etc.
  • Your email list’s sign-up landing page  
  • Google Business Profile 

Reconnect

In the months leading up to December, take some time to reconnect with any partners or vendors you’ll be working with during the holidays. These might be people you only connect with a few times a year for bigger projects. 

Be sure to engage with those who bring extra support to your digital marketing efforts this time of year. These seasonal connections may include graphic designers who create extra deliverables for web and social media, photographers/videographers who document services and events and additional A/V support who help with live streaming gatherings. 

Remember, we GET to do this. 

In the midst of this busy time, we want to encourage you that we GET to be a vessel of the Lord for the Kingdom this holiday season. It’s a privilege to usher friends, family, neighbors and strangers into Jesus’ presence during the Christmas season. May we never lose sight of this honor and the opportunities we have to show others Jesus during the holiday season.

We love coming alongside churches as they grow in their digital marketing efforts! If you need help in this area, our team would love to support you.