I teach Catholic churches, businesses, and ministries how to market like Jesus. Every Monday, I send out the latest musings on Catholic marketing from my position as a Catholic marketing professional, former parish employee, and regular old Catholic mom trying not to lose my mind while raising saints. Subscribe if you want to learn how to apply the strategies Jesus and the apostles used to grow the Early Church to your own marketing work today!
5 easy fixes you can make to your bulletin this week
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So you know it’s time for a redesign and a rethinking of the bulletin... ...but you’re barely making your submission deadline each week, let alone finding time to start entirely from scratch. So below, I rounded up my five favorite easy bulletin fixes you can make this week that don't take a lot of time, but maximize your bulletin's impact. Event better? You can make these adjustments right as you're putting in this week's content — so no extra time needed! #1: Make Your Cover a Real PhotoThe cover is the most important page of your bulletin because it’s what helps people decide if they are going to take it or not. So the purpose of your bulletin cover should be 1) getting people’s attention and 2) getting them to take it and open it up — NOT information dumping. The standard bulletin cover of the outside of the church building + walls of text with Mass times, contact info, and bland general information is not meeting those goals. A new, real photo from your parish each week helps express the culture and feel of your parish, signals it's a new bulletin, and creates intrigue! Here's an example of what a photo cover can look like. ⬇️ #2: Cut Down on the Number of Things In ItThe more options you give people, the less likely they are to pick any. So try putting less in your bulletin versus more. For example, instead of 15 promotions for upcoming events, try sticking to 5 or 6. This doesn't mean they can't be elsewhere in your communications (i.e. website, social media, email newsletter) or included in a brief "upcoming events" calendar round-up in the bulletin. But if you want people to actually engage with the promotions in the bulletin, you need to give people less options so they don't get overwhelmed. Try this trick: Divide the “promotional” sections of your bulletin into parts (for example, maybe you have one full page, two half page, and four quarter page spots each week). These predefined sections will help you prioritize and keep promotions to the most important for that week. #3: Put Action Items First.The most read page of your bulletin, after the cover, is the inside right-hand page. Most parishes have the "standard" info there: Mass intentions, prayer lists, donation amounts, readings for the week, etc. Not very intriguing, right? Those things aren’t bad. But they likely aren’t the #1 reason you’re hoping people take and read the bulletin. Consider moving these further back and instead placing here the top 1-3 things you want people to know and do that week. #4: Desing for Skimmability.People are skimming your bulletin, not reading it. So design it in such a way that it sticks out when people are skimming so then they'll stop and read. Design aids like white space, shorter lines of text, and consistent fonts and headings aid in grabbing attention while skimming. Also, try rewording your headings to be more intriguing! Your parishioners are making decisions based on why your programs will help. So play into that so they stand out! So instead of “Women’s Bible Study on Psalm 23,” try this — "How the Psalm You Know By Heart Brings Peace" See how much more intriguing that is? With this simple adjustment to “why,” it will stand out, and people are more likely to read further versus glossing over the more generic heading. #5: Tell People What You Want Them to Do.At the end of each bulletin promotion, give the reader a call to action, and make it easy. Want them to register or find out more info? Tell them where (short urls or QR codes are key!). Want them to add it to their calendar? Tell them, and give them a link for it! Want them to engage on social media? Ask a faith question in the bulletin and have the answer in YouTube video on your channel or ask them a question about themselves and prompt them to reply with their answer in a corresponding post on Facebook or Instagram. Want them to reflect on or pray on something? Prompt them! Because when people take action on something, even simply being prompted to think about something, they are more likely to remember it AND have some sense of ownership of it, which increases bulletin engagement! So come join me in my free LIVE training on Wednesday, “5 Essential Strategies for an Easier and More Effective Bulletin!”
Plus there’s also one bigger fix I really want to share with you. It’s the answer to a question you’ve probably never asked about the bulletin, but once you answer it, it will make everything in the bulletin SO MUCH EASIER. It’s one hour that will be such a gift to yourself AND your parishioners — and it’s free! I can’t wait to see you inside! For His greater glory, Emily P.S. Is "refresh the bulletin" on your summer to-do list? Starting with a strategy and not just a design facelift will make it so much more effective! Come develop your bulletin strategy with me for free during my live bulletin training on Wednesday, July 8 at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT! We'll be chatting more about design, print bulletin versus email newsletter, how to get people to actually submit things on time, and I'll share the #1 question you need to be asking about the bulletin before you redesign a single thing. |
Market Like Jesus: The Catholic Marketing Newsletter
I teach Catholic churches, businesses, and ministries how to market like Jesus. Every Monday, I send out the latest musings on Catholic marketing from my position as a Catholic marketing professional, former parish employee, and regular old Catholic mom trying not to lose my mind while raising saints. Subscribe if you want to learn how to apply the strategies Jesus and the apostles used to grow the Early Church to your own marketing work today!
I got an email from one of my favorite Catholic shops last week. "One-day only birthday sale!" The problem? I read that email while holding a squirmy baby in one arm and shooing my toddler out the door so we wouldn't be late picking his older sister up from Vacation Bible School. Oh, I'll look at this later, I thought. You want to know when I remembered? The next night. After the sale was over. Because that was the only email the shop sent about it, and I was so scattered when I read the...
Popping into your inbox midweek super quick in case you missed it in the YouTube video I sent on Tuesday... Next Wednesday, July 8 at 2 pm ET, I'm hosting a FREE Bulletin Training: "5 Essential Strategies to Make Your Bulletin Easier and More Effective." And since you're on my email list, you can claim your free seat super easily by just clicking right here! ⬇️ CLICK TO SIGN UP (All you have to do is click the link! No need to add your info — I'll make sure you're registered.) Want more info...
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