The Find a Church: You’re Invited Campaign ran from August 22 – September 22, 2022. This campaign was a first of its kind in this diocese.
After the campaign was complete, a questionnaire was sent to church leaders and rectors to begin a campaign retrospective. Below are the results thus far:
First: What was the campaign?
Six billboards were placed around the state from North to South and East to West.
Each parish had the option to request mailers and/or door hangers, provided by the diocese.
Parishes were provided Facebook and Instagram graphics. The diocese placed paid ads for Facebook and Instagram posts and video.
All media directed viewers to the diocesan website. The images 1 and 2 show what viewers would see on a desktop/laptop or on a mobile phone. After clicking on ‘Look here’ on image 1, they would then be directed to the ‘Churches in Delaware’ page (image 2), which displays all diocesan parishes by county and by alpha, to include website addresses for each parish.
Analytics
Diocesan website:
- Homepage (month): +41% in August over July
- ‘Churches in Delaware’ webpage (day):
- +616.67% on 8/23;
- +2275% on 8/25;
- +315.79% on 9/6
- #1 age viewing group:
- 25-34 years old;
- then 18-24
- Gender breakdown:
- male 54%;
- female 45%
- New traffic:
- 85.8% of visitors were new to website in August;
- 72% in September
- Device breakdown:
- 8/25, mobile 58%/desktop 37%;
- 10/24, mobile 33%/desktop 63%
Church websites:
- Small church
- +67% jump in August over July immediately after billboards went up.
- +150% of previous highs on 8/24
- +200% of previous highs on 8/25
- Large church
- +25% in August and September
Diocesan Facebook page (Delaware audience):
Graphic ad (30 days)
- Reaches — 15,828; link clicks 494
- Post engagement — 615
- Gender breakdown — 64.8% female; 35.2% male
- Age breakdown — 65+, then 55-64
Video ad (15 days)
- Reaches — 5,770; link clicks 153
- Post engagement — 2563
- Gender breakdown — 62.5% female; 37.5% male
- Age breakdown — 65+, then 55-64
Church responses
Results were seen from
- all counties
- all size of churches — very small, small, middle-sized, and large
- city, suburbs, and rural
Results reported from which media?:
- billboards
- mailers
Results included:
- new visitors
- several churches reported increase in visitors after the campaign had started
- small church saw 10 new visitors after campaign began – 8 now receive newsletter and follow social media
- new members
- large church has seen four new members (two couples) that were new to the area and looking for a church (billboard).
- baptism
- medium church gained a new couple and have since been baptized (billboard)
- phone calls
- small, rural church received a phone call from an individual that wanted to visit but needed a ride (mailer).
- very small parish received phone call from mailer
A summary of what we learned
- campaign ignited new energy to some parishes
- churches began working together for campaign purposes
- many parishes enhanced their websites and some built new websites
- improvements were made to physical plants
- the campaign sparked new ideas, new campaigns
- billboards brought a significant number of new visitors to websites
- New visitors and members were seen in churches in all counties after the campaign started
- Results were realized by rural, city, suburban churches of all sizes, across the diocese
- EDDM mailings worked well: no labeling, no individual postage, lower cost at .20/piece
