A disclaimer to start off this newsletter: I prayed a lot about whether or not to send this.

I don't want it to come across as a "plank in my own eye, taking out the splinter in others" kind of thing. I know that I do not and have not always done this perfectly for myself or my clients.

But I had another newsletter halfway written for this week, and it felt off. I prayed about it and asked Jesus what He wanted me to tell you, and He said, "the truth." And I knew He meant this newsletter, the topic that's been on my heart for the past few weeks.

My role is to teach, and sometimes that means calling out the truth even when I am still growing in the practice of it myself.

So please know that this comes from a place of "We can all improve in this area," not judgment.

Here it goes:

This Lent felt very heavily marketed to me.

It's a trend I've noticed over the past few years, but this year in particular felt overwhelming.

And listen, I get it: It's a liturgical season where we all have a lot to offer.

I have nothing against Lenten devotionals or products that will help me enter into the season more, and I do think you should market them. I WANT to know about those things, even if I don't end up purchasing any.

In fact, I've literally taught you all in the past to think about how you can connect what you offer to the liturgical season.​

What I found worrisome this year was the messaging around it.

(Before you worry, no, I'm not talking about you — I promise. I took a look, and none of the particular examples I'm using came from anyone on my email list. I'm also changing the exact wording of the messaging so it's not identifiable, but the spirit is the same.)

I saw things like "getting through" Lent...with implications that specific products would help one "survive" the season.

There was messaging around the "necessities" for the season...which were also products being sold.

There were subtle insinuations that various, non-essential products could help you prepare to do prayer, fasting, and almsgiving better.

Not to mention the 5,382 Lenten devotionals and prayer series competing for my attention.

It was all good stuff. It just felt like...a lot.

For a season focused on simplification, the amount of marketing I saw was similar to pre-Christmas.

(And it's not just Lent. I've seen the same with Advent, Easter, and other feast days too.)

And it wasn't just the quantity; it was the spirit of the content.

Let's be clear: The only thing that's needed for any liturgical season is God's grace and an open heart.

Our offerings can help aid in that, but implying otherwise is not only incorrect, but also dishonoring the heart of the season we're promoting.

It's like the Israelites carrying the Ark of the Covenant into battle to "guarantee" their success even though God told them He wasn't with them in the battle.

You know what happened?

They lost the Ark of the Covenant in that battle. It was stolen by their enemies.

In other words, we can't just slap a Catholic label on our offerings and then use whatever coercive, pressurized marketing tactics we want, under the guise of sharing Jesus but really to our own gain.

(Again, speaking to myself here as much as anyone, because I know I have been guilty of this line of thinking myself.)

Please hear me: I'm not saying don't market your liturgical season offerings.

(In fact, the newsletter I was originally writing for today was why we NEED to market our Catholic offerings. I'll get back to that one eventually.)

But as Catholic marketers, we also have a responsibility to make sure we are not turning liturgical seasons into sales seasons.

In other words, it's how we market it that matters.

And that's where I think we can start to learn some lessons here.

All of the examples I shared above would have hit differently if they felt like they were solving genuine problems, not taking advantage of the liturgical season to make me feel like I needed something (besides God's grace) in order to be a better Catholic this Lent.

There was some Lenten marketing I thought was really well done, and the three key things I can define that made them different are:

1. They started with relatability.
2. Their offering was pitched as a way to help.
3. The "promotion-y" part of their marketing was not overwhelming.

It didn't feel like they were "taking advantage" of the season to make a sale.

Rather, I felt seen first and then offered a genuine way to assist in my Lenten journey to grow closer to God.

It wasn't pitched as necessary or something I had to "get through" — it was an invitation.

And it felt like a natural flow from the relatability already shared in a non-pressurized way — just a "hey, we have this if it would help" kind of thing.

(Also, it wasn't a massive quantity of communications. Just a few reminders, not daily bombardment.)

The problem is, there's no litmus test for this.

Something that feels "off" from one business could feel totally fine from another.

It comes down to intention, but you can feel the intention come through even as a consumer.

So here are some questions I'd invite us to ponder:

Is your primary motivator to take advantage of a liturgical season in order to make a sale?

Or do you truly offer something you think will help someone grow in holiness this liturgical season?

I can't answer that for you, but I invite us all, myself included, to ask ourselves that question and be truly honest about the answer, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and see ourselves and our intentions as He does.

And if it's the latter, to do your marketing in a way that reflects that intention.

As I said at the beginning, I have not always done this perfectly myself. The lines in marketing can get blurry really easily.

To that end, I am sorry and ask forgiveness from you for times I may have leaned too heavily into tactics over ministry in my own marketing.

But as I said, I felt called to share this even as I am my own work-in-progress.

As we go into the Easter and sacrament seasons, I want to invite all of us to simply be cognizant of our marketing intentions.

I don't think most of us would do pressurized marketing intentionally. It can just kind of slip in subtly without us realizing it, as we are bombarded with it by the secular marketing around us and trained to think it's normal.

It's easy to simply copy what seems to be working for someone else and not take the time to think about what it's actually doing.

But as I referenced last week, as Catholics we have a responsibility in any marketing, but especially marketing of Catholic offerings, to align how God would promote things — in a way that first and foremost protects the dignity of the person to whom we are marketing and the holiness of the One to whom we should always be pointing.

May all of our liturgical promotions be marketed like Jesus would: help first, promote second.

For His greater glory,

Emily