Marketing as Ministry #5: Know

On Monday, we broke down the four essential elements of any marketing plan.​

Today, I'm going to help you start to build out the first of those elements: Know.

Because this is the hill I will die on:

If you want your marketing to be ministerial (and also work 10,000x better), then you need to KNOW your people.

Like really, really, really know them.

If you've been around here long enough, you know that I am passionate about making sure you know your target audience really specifically (who you are marketing to).

But that's just the beginning.

It's not just knowing the specific group: Their age, gender, where they are in their faith journey (though all of those are important).

Your marketing isn't going to say "Are you a 35 year old woman with three kids who only goes to Mass on Christmas and Easter but has been feeling a pull to pray more?"

No, we want to know all of those characteristics simply so we can then more easily start to discern what we really need to know: ⬇️

THAT'S what we use in marketing and that's how you grow.

Because in a world where marketing feels generic and sleazy (and people know it)...marketing that is genuine and personal stands out.

But you can't do genuine and personal marketing without knowing your people really well.

When you know your people, you feel like a friend helping another friend out...because you are.

And THAT'S how marketing becomes ministry — a form of accompaniment — when even our promotional content helps people feel seen, known, and loved.

Where they recognize themselves in it and walk away thinking, "Someone gets it."

Maybe they learn there's a solution to their problem just by reading your sales page.

Perhaps they feel like someone understands their problems from your Instagram account.

And your emails alone might be enough to inspire them...

...Even if they never engage with you further.

Because here's the thing:

Your people? The people God has entrusted to you to impact?

It includes those who are “just” in your marketing audience, not only those who engage with you further.

They are still souls God wants to draw closer to Him.

Of course we want them to actually take action (buy, donate, attend, etc.). That way you can help them more through the unique gifts God has given you.

(And knowing them — and reflecting that you know them — is one of the BEST ways to get someone to actually take further action. It's wildly convincing, because you know they aren't just trying to make a quick buck, but genuinely want to help since they've taken the time to understand you first.

In other words, when you know, you grow.)

But not everyone Jesus encountered immediately became a disciple...but that didn't mean He didn't make an impact on them.

Think about the 5,000+ people He fed at the Feeding of the 5,000.

Or the thousands who listened to the Sermon on the Mount.

Even the Rich Young Man...he walked away convicted even if he didn't become a disciple right then.

Marketing as ministry starts with deeply knowing the people the Lord has called you to serve — even the people we'll never meet outside of our marketing.

Because if that's the only encounter we'll have with them...we can't wait for them to take an action to impact them with our mission.

(And again, because the Lord is so good, He is never outdone in generosity, so this very strategy that helps us to make our marketing more ministerial is also the very same one that will help us grow.)

So I want to help you do that.

For today's final Marketing as Ministry challenge, I'm gifting you access to a webinar I filmed in 2025, "The 5 Essential Marketing Strategies Every Catholic Business and Ministry Needs to Know to Grow."

Inside, it has the 5 main elements you need to get started building the "Know" part of your marketing plan.

(There's a lot more than this to the "Know" step — we spend a week on each of these strategies in Market Like Jesus! — but it's enough to get you started.)

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Then on Friday, I'll be back to tie together everything we've learned so you have practical strategies to market as ministry (and share more info about how to join Market Like Jesus if you want to go further!).

For His greater glory,

Emily

P.S. This is our final challenge of Marketing as Ministry! Send me your completed challenges in a document, and I'll send you a 10% off coupon for Market Like Jesus when enrollment opens next week!