Christ Called the Sinners

I love the verse from Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  I love it because it provides us so much clarity; if we are sinners, He is calling us.  It is precise, we can determine if we fit in the category of those He is calling.

Why do I reference this? Because this week in the Marketing God Podcast, we are focusing on target audiences.  Often when I speak and work with parishes or ministries they are concerned with the idea of target audience as they fear that might be putting a limitation on those they are trying to reach.  But, nothing could be further from the truth!

A target audience provides clarity, it allows us to say, “that parish (or ministry) sounds like it is perfect for me.”  As Christ demonstrated with His target audience description, that does not make the group small at all, it makes it well defined. 

This week in the Marketing God Podcast we explore target audiences, how to define them, how to reach and connect with them.  We start with target audience because understanding your audience forms the foundation for all the marketing work you will be doing.  When you understand your audience, you know what matters to them, how to connect with them. We start the week considering that the hardest part is done: there is inherent "demand" for God.  We were made in His likeness and as such people seek Him, even if they don't call Him by name. That knowledge offers us a jumping off point as we think about our target audiences.

Sometimes we have several target audiences for a parish or ministry.  When that occurs we may need to speak to each group a tad bit differently.  People sometimes get their dander up at the idea that you can speak to different audiences in different ways.  It feels off, as if we are saying one thing to one person and another to someone else.  But, again, I draw us back to Christ himself.  We often hear of Christ teaching in the synagogues to the leaders there.  The way He taught there was very different from how He talked to those in the rural areas, where He used parables to explain His concepts. 

That is what we want to do as well.  We want to understand our audience so well that we can speak to them about our parish or ministry in a way that connects and resonates with each of them.  We look forward to having you join the Marketing God Podcast this week so that you can reflect on your target audience and use the tools to develop and describe your audiences.  If you are following along in the book, our podcast this weeks reflects on Truth 1- The Hardest Part is Done, Truth 29 - It Is Easier to Hit a Smaller Target, Truth 15 - Marketing is Courtship, Truth 34 - Managing Brands is Often the Opposite of Common Sense and Truth 31 - Respositioning is Often a Fool's Chase.  As a Marketing God Podcast tip, we launch all of the podcasts for the week first thing Monday morning, so that you can listen to all in one sitting or one a day.  The podcasts build on each other, so scroll down to the first one of the week when you get started.

Do you want to join a community of people trying to determine how to reach more people and help bring them back to your church or ministry?  If so, feel free to join the Marketing God Facebook group where we hope to work together, offer ideas and solutions that everyone can use.