There was a stretch last year when I worked at FamilyVideo to make ends meet.
I purposely asked to train in the Saginaw location so I could immerse myself in the culture of people who don't always like going to church.
Late at night, the young adult staff I was working with would crank up the radio to blow off steam while shutting the store down.
Know what Top 40 station they always chose? 102.5 WIOG. I took a mental note then and there that if we moved forward on starting a new church in the Great Lakes Bay Region, THAT was the station to advertise on and enter their world.
A year later, our radio spot will hit Nate and Rachel in the Morning everyday for the next two weeks leading to our September 16th kick-off. Radio is a great tool for introducing people to your church plant (which will eventually introduce them to Christ). If it's good enough for Billy Graham, it's good enough for me.
Here's how to do a radio spot for your church plant.
1. Advertise your church plant on the popular, modern, Top 40 station. Why did we choose the #1 Top 40 station? It flows out of our vision: Reach the Lost at Any Cost. If you advertise on a Christian radio station, you will attract Found people. Remember the Apostle Paul's approach: he always went to the center of the marketplace to point people to Christ.
Radio is a great modern-day equivalent.
2. Contact the station, double-check their demographics and reach, get their rates, and push that you're a non-profit. Sometimes the station can receive a tax write-off for lowering their advertising rates for your church plant while saving you money. In our case, it helped that our church has no paid staff right now, thus freeing up funds for these spots.
Remember, YOU care the MOST about your church plant, not the salesperson!
3. Don't say yes to the first advertising package offered. Do your homework. Negotiate. Shrug off any high-pressure sales tactics. Remember, YOU care the MOST about your church plant, not the salesperson!
4. When writing your spot, research, research, research! Listen to other church radio spots for ideas. What's their pace? What's their delivery? What's their style? Steal what's good. You don't need to reinvent the wheel; the same Spirit is at work!
Don't wing it.
5. Write out your script and practice it. Listen, I'm professionally trained in improvisational-comedy and even I didn't wing it in the recording studio. You never know how you're going to feel when you're standing behind the studio mic and the tech guy in his AC/DC tee is staring at you with a timer in his left hand.
6. Don't use a "Radio Guy" voice. Imagine the microphone is a window you're speaking through to someone on the other side. Radio is a relational meduim. It's about creating warmth and relationship. Imagine you are having a conversation with that mom rushing her kids to school or that young dude making a Slurpee-run to the 7-Eleven. For what it's worth, here's our spot:
7. Say the name of your church website as many times as you can in 30 seconds. Don't worry about service times, don't get hung up on trying to cram every detail about your vision and values into your 30 second spot. Your goal is for your listeners to take that next step of checking out your site. Repetition makes it stick in their mind.
8. Have fun! Don't take yourself seriously! Enjoy the process.
BONUS: When buying the ad time, ask to personally meet the DJ whose show you are advertising on. Smile, share your elevator pitch for what you're doing, and offer to do a studio interview with them sometime. Who knows - they might give you free air time to talk about your passion!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Was this helpful to you?
If so, you may enjoy my new leadership email - - It's a freebie that will help get you fired up in ministry and leadership.
Make sure you sign up by this Sunday night...
That's when the first email will go out sharing How to get a free App created for your organization.
And while you're at it, maybe give us a Like on our new Facebook page. Thanks!
