1.  What percentage of student in your city know about your ministry?

Honestly you may have to start within your own church.  I know we literally have hundreds of student who attend our weekend services every week who know NOTHING about ELEVATE.  They will never try it unless they know about it.

2.  Where does your "target audience" get it's information from?

Facebook, myspace, twitter, the mall, word of mouth, web-site.  Find out where they found out about you and put your information there. 

3.  What information do they know about you?

What do you want them to know about your ministry?  If you connect with them at a point of felt need it will increase the sense of urgency to try out your ministry.

4.  Do you use a synergistic approach to gaining exposure?

There really is no "one" way to get total exposure.  You need to come from several different angles.  It has been said that people need to hear about a product at least 7 different ways before it sticks with them.  Here's an example of how we  approach exposure at ELEVATE.

Step One:  Sam is sitting at home after school and instead of doing his homework like his parents have told him to,  hecomes across our myspace or facebook and out of curiosity he checks it out. 

Step Two:  While at the mall catching a movie, Sam notices the ELEVATEyouthchurch slide displayed before the movie.  With the slogan..Find Friends, Find God, Find Purpose, Sam thinks to himself, "Man I could really use some friends, especially since I'm here seeing High School Musical 3 alone for the second time." 

Step Three:  Sam remembers the Web Site that was prominently displayed across the movie slide. www.ELEVATEyouthchurch.com  After checking out the web site and getting more info, Sam is still not sure about walking into a strange place, even though the people seem so beautiful.

Step Four:  Sam is in Freshman Algebra, which is a little weird since Sam is a Junior.  As he is sitting there he notices another student in his class with an ELEVATEyouthchurch Tshirt on.  Something about winning a cactus bowl, or some sort of trip.  Sam starts to feel like ELEVATE is stalking him.

Step Five:  Sam is sitting outside waiting for his ride home from school, when one of his friends Jesse walks up and hands Sam an invite to ELEVATE on either Wednesday @ 6:30 or Thursday @8:30 at the U of A.  Sam thinks to himself, this card is done really well.  Jesse offers him a ride and brings Sam to ELEVATE that week.

Step Six:  Sam goes to the service and is invited to a first-time guest party during the service.  Here he gives ELEVATE his information and gets signed up to follow ELEVATEyouthchurch on twitter. 

Step Seven:  Sam goes back into service, thankful for the snack, since he forgot to eat dinner.  After experiencing ELEVATE and the presence of God. Sam gets saved and joins a TRIBE that night.  Man, so many new friends.

Fast forward.....Sam is now out of bible college, married with kids and in full time ministry as a youth pastor in Mesa. 

This outcome would not be possible if there is no exposure.  -pw

So here's the application in bullet points:

1  The stronger the "brand" the more people will pay.

Would you pay more for a Range Rover than a KIA?  Remember, branding is all about feelings that are evoked.  If your brand is weak or undefined, students are not going to be willing to buy-in at a high level.

2.  Unmet expectations are the death of a brand.

A youth ministry makes a claim that "we are the friendliest place on earth" and when you attend no one even looks in your direction let alone talks or engages you.  As a customer you will probably never give this ministry another shot.  Remember there are two kinds of people..prospects and users.  (not in the drug sense)  You are trying to convert people from prospects into lifetime users, into promoters.

3.  Make sure you have thought through your price tag and communicate it passionately.

Jesus said it will cost you everything, but in return, you will gain everything.  When we tell students that they can buy-in to Jesus and it costs them nothing, 1.  if it costs nothing, then it has no perceived value, 2.  when someone claims amazing results without cost, we smell a con artist or at least a fake.

4.  Ask yourself, Is this worth what I'm asking  people to pay?

Whether it's joining your leadership team or serving on the drama team, is it going to be worth it. If not, lower your expected price or don't ask people to buy in.

Next - Exposure  -pw

Step 1 - Branding!

Branding is creating a feeling or emotion that is connected with your product or service.  What is the feeling you get when you see a Mac vs. PC ad?  What about the Ipod?  Or the I-Phone?  I have to be honest, there are times in my mind that I have thought to myself, In order to be a cool youth pastor, I really need to own an I phone.. It's not that I would be be any "cooler" but I sure would feel that way.  .that's the power of branding. 

When you think of branding as it relates to your youth ministry the million dollar question is, "What do you think about when I say the word (fill in the blank with your youth ministry name)?  It is often that feeling that determines whether a student will ever walk into or invite someone into your ministry.  If you will spend time developing your "brand", marketing your youth ministry will be much easier. 

Tips For Effective Branding

1.  Develop a ministry name and logo and use them consistently! 

Nothing goes out of our office without the ELEVATEyouthchurch name or Logo on it!  It's all about exposure. 

2.  Decide what you will put your name on and what you will not!

Bottom line, don't put your name on something that is not excellent.  Two words..Ford Pinto!  Whether it is an invite or an event, excellece must always be your goal. Excellence is found in the details. 

3.  If you want to know what your students think...ask them?

I'm sure you are 30someting cool, but your not 15 cool.  Take time to get input from your students on what they think about your ministry, venue, events.  You may find yourself in a place where the brand you have developed is not the greatest, you can always re-brand, it is a difficult process but with consistency it can be done.  Two words....Al Gore!  Keep in mind not every brand will appeal to every student.  Find your target audience.

Key Questions to ask:

Where do my students get their information about (fill in the blank)?  Who controls that information?  What do I want them to know about (fill in the blank)? 

Next....value proportion  -pw

Arizona DYD Tim Black, John Henning of Dallas and Javier from Tucson, have been speaking at the Uprising summer camp.  Right now i am sitting in our hotel room after having a great dinner with our host Gary Heiney.  I really had a great time here.  The people were so hungry for God, the entire week has just been incredible.  It really seems in this season of my life and ministry, that God is sovereignly opening doors to extend our ministry and reach.  I look forward to being able to bring an ELEVATE missions team here some time in the future.  For any of you looking for a great place for ministry, a great host, and welcoming people..Venezuela may just be the place for you.  -pw