In a past ministry job, it was once made very clear that my value in a particular person's eyes was directly tied to how many people were in a group I was running.

Not the good work we were doing.

Not the impact it was having on the people who were attending (which, by the way, wasn't such a small amount that would make it not worth it to keep going).

But just on the number of bottoms in seats.

Thankfully that sentiment was not shared by everyone, but that encounter still stings years later, and I see its effects on my work even now.

I then worked in higher ed marketing for several years, where it sometimes felt like the number of students in the freshman class was indicative of how well I did my job.

So I kind of have a thing with numbers, wherein I've believed the lie that bigger numbers = bigger personal value.

And on my way to Adoration this week, the Lord was coming after that lie big time.

(Completely out of left field, as that was NOT what I was planning on discussing, but I rolled with it.)

And I realized it's kind of ironic that I've ended up here in marketing, where numbers are preached as the be-all, end-all.

What was the open rate? The click rate? The conversion rate?

How many people did X?

Were all the KPI's met?

How can we get MORE people to do MORE?

The general thought is that if the numbers are low, it must be the marketing.

But that's not the main thing I want to measure when it comes to Catholic marketing.

Don't get me wrong, numbers and analytics are really helpful. They can generally tell us what's working and what's not. They're like a compass that can point to changes needed.

But despite what people may say, marketing is not a science or math.

Not when you mix in things like psychology and the fluctuating economy and spiritual attacks.

So here's my pondering:

What if we stopped striving for bigger numbers in Catholic marketing and started striving for bigger impact?

Because that group I was running back in the day? Yes, it had less people than previously.

But that was a strategic move that sacrificed broader appeal for more intimate, impactful ministry.

Or those times where I'll have a campaign that flops numbers-wise and I can't figure out why, but I know for certain it's what the Lord asked me to do, and I find out later that it caused deep spiritual change for someone who encountered it.

When we measure impact over numbers, it places the value where it really belongs — in following the promptings of the Lord, not becoming a slave to numbers, or even worse, putting analytics in the place of God.

As soon as the Lord put that idea of impact versus numbers on my heart, the marketer in me recoiled, though.

"But numbers are really important in my work! We can't just stop looking at the numbers!!"

But since I strive to market like Jesus, I decided to open my Bible and find any times He stopped to analyze the numbers.

How many followers do we have?

What is our conversion rate?

Did this type of miracle or that type of miracle net more followers? Okay, I'll do more of those then.

And I found nothing.

What I did find? Strategy, but Jesus' kind of strategy.

The Good Shepherd, who leaves the 99 to go after the 1 sheep.

The Messiah who stops on His way to perform one miracle, even though it seems like time is of the essence, to perform another.

The Miracle Worker who defies math by adding 5 loaves + 2 fish and gets enough food for 5,000+ people.

The Teacher who sees people leaving in John 6 and doubles down on His message, losing even more.

To market like Jesus means that sometimes, we don't just follow what the numbers say. We go deeper.

The closest thing I found to numbers analyzation was the Parable of the Talents, where the servants are judged on how much return they get on their investment.

But really, the point there is that they need to put in the work. If they don't do the work out of fear or pride, then there is a reckoning.

(Aka, it's not really about the numbers, but the effort.)

"But still," I wrestled with Him, "I can't just stop looking at the numbers."

And that's when He hit me:

Are you making decisions based on numbers or the Holy Spirit?

It's like the intersection of faith AND reason. We can have both.

We can look at the numbers and allow them to inform our reason and then leave the discernment of what to do with those numbers up to the Holy Spirit.

We sandwich it in prayer: Pray, look at the numbers, and then pray again.

Because if we leave it as numbers being the only story, especially the only story of our value, then we can lose sight of the real work God is asking us to do: impact.

And at the end of our lives, I think impacting one person is better than simply reaching thousands.

For His greater glory,

Emily

​

​

Young People in the Church I know I basically share every report they publish, but this latest report from Catholic Leadership Institute was incredibly eye-opening. If you do anything with Millennials or Gen Z, you'll want to read this. Read article

​