Catch up on part 1 and part 2 of this series here!

I truly believe that when done well, marketing can be ministerial.

Because what actually is ministry?

It's serving others.

It's sharing the faith.

It's relationship.

⬆️ All of which good Catholic marketing does.

Which means that even when you're in a "slow time" for sales...

Even when people aren't exactly thinking about donating to your cause...

Despite being in between events or big launches...

I believe we have a call to continue marketing year-round.

Because if what we do helps people grow closer to Christ, then there is no "off season" for that.

But what if you truly don't have any offers right now? How do you keep marketing without just adding to the noise?

Let's look at our final two ways that I think Jesus would have "marketed" in His down time: teaching and giving.

Teach

We have Jesus' major teachings recorded — but I imagine He never really stopped teaching.

I'm sure He repeated the same major teachings wherever He went.

There are likely lots of smaller tidbits that were never recorded.

And just watching Him live would have been a fantastic education all its own.

Marketing down time is the perfect time for teaching your audience.

You don't have to teach them about your specific offering (though you can).

Instead, back out a little: What can you teach them about what you do that would be helpful for them and help build your case for the future?

For example, if you sell Catholic apparel, teach people about the saints who are featured on your shirts or what the Church teaches about how we dress.

If you run a marriage ministry, but your next event sign-up isn't for three months, you can spend the next few months sharing everyday marriage tips.

And Catholic service providers can easily teach more about what they do.

Even better if what you teach them is something they can practically apply in their lives, because then they build a relationship of trust and being trained to listen to your advice.

These teachings not only help keep in relationship with your people, they also solidify your expertise.

That way, when you switch to heavier promotion, people have already seen they know what you're talking about. They've already learned, trusted, and been helped by you, so taking the next step feels a lot less big and scary.

Give

Obviously everything Jesus did was pure gift — which means that even the quieter times that weren't recorded in the Gospels were still a complete gift of grace.

Even Jesus just sitting down to eat a meal by Himself was the God of the universe existing among His people.

To quote Fr. Mike: "Man oh man, what a gift."

If you truly have no offerings right now (or even if you do!), some of the best marketing you can do in down times is giving things away.

Marketing down time is THE time to promote (or work on) any freebies that you offer:

➡️ If you have good follow up, it helps build relationships with people so they're primed and ready to go when you do have something bigger to offer.

➡️ It builds good will and grows your audience.

➡️ If your freebies are truly valuable (which hopefully they are!), it elicits the response of: If this is what the free things are like, I can only imagine how valuable the paid offerings are!

You get them practically asking you to market to them.

➡️ They can also help people to connect with you on more than one channel. Maybe they already follow you on social media, but they haven't taken the leap to email yet.

Perhaps they've listened to your podcast each week, but never been on your website.

Those continued connection points all add up to deeper relationships and becoming a bigger fan before they've even taken a bigger action.

➡️ But most importantly, they help you to truly minister to the people God has called you to serve.

To walk with them no matter whether they will ever pull out their wallets or not.

To share the message God has put on your heart to share regardless of the financial returns.

So give. Give, give, give, give.

So after these past three newsletters, hopefully I've convinced you to keep marketing even when it's not a busy season!

(And plenty of ideas of what to say, so there's no excuse.)

But...what if you've already taken break?

What if you accidentally reenacted the Exodus on your audience?

Next week, I'll break down exactly how to come back from a marketing break (and how not to!) so you can reengage those lost sheep.

For His greater glory,

Emily