In January 2024, Pastor Ken Bennett stood in the lobby of Connect Church in suburban Atlanta staring at rows of empty chairs. Weekly attendance had stalled at 150 for over a year. The church had tried door hangers, direct mail, and even a billboard on the interstate, but none of it moved the needle.
“I remember telling my wife I didn’t know what else to do,” Ken told me. “We had exhausted every outreach idea I’d learned in seminary.” Six months later, Connect Church was averaging 600 on a Sunday morning.
The change came from a $12-per-day Facebook ad budget, a 90-second video Ken recorded on his iPhone in the church parking lot, and an automated follow-up sequence that texted every person who clicked “Plan Your Visit.”
I have worked with hundreds of churches on their digital marketing, and Ken’s story is common. Across the country, churches are discovering that the same digital tools businesses use to reach customers can help a congregation reach its community.
The channels are familiar: Facebook ads, Google search, email automation, and short-form video. What sets Christian digital marketing apart is the end goal. The invitation is to belong somewhere, not to make a transaction.
This guide breaks down the channels working for churches right now, with specific numbers, real quotes from the pastors using them, and practical steps you can act on this week.
What Christian Digital Marketing Actually Looks Like
Christian digital marketing uses the same platforms any organization would: paid social media ads, search engine optimization, email sequences, and website funnels. The difference shows up in what you are measuring.
A retail brand tracks revenue per customer. A church tracks new guests who show up on Sunday, people who join a life group, and over time, baptisms.
Dr. Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford International University, has studied megachurch growth patterns for over two decades. His research shows that large churches that adopted digital outreach during and after the 2020 pandemic saw measurably stronger attendance recovery than those relying solely on in-person efforts.
His Hartford Institute work consistently shows that churches combining online visibility with personal follow-up outperform those doing only one or the other.
I started in small-business marketing before pivoting to churches. The playbook is more similar than most pastors expect.
A short video ad introducing the lead pastor, targeted to people within a 15-mile radius, leads to a landing page where someone can plan a visit. Automated text and email reminders then guide them toward Sunday. That basic structure shows up in nearly every successful church campaign I have been part of.
Why the Old Playbook Stopped Working
Twenty years ago, a church could grow by putting up a sign, sending postcards, and relying on word of mouth. That era is over.
According to Barna Group research, over 70 percent of people searching for a new church now start that search online. They Google “churches near me.” They scroll Instagram. They watch a sermon clip on YouTube before ever setting foot in a building.
If your church does not show up in those moments, you are not being considered.
The organic reach problem makes this worse. Facebook’s own data shows the average organic reach for a page post is around 5 to 6 percent of its followers. For a church page with 1,000 followers, that means a Sunday morning post reaches maybe 50 to 60 people, almost all of whom already attend.
Organic posting mostly reaches people who already attend, so it is not outreach. This is where paid digital channels come in. They let you put your pastor’s voice in front of people who have never heard of your church but live five miles away.
Facebook and Instagram Ads: The Fastest Path to New Visitors
Paid social media advertising on Facebook and Instagram is, for most churches, the single highest-impact digital channel. The targeting is precise. You can reach people by zip code, age range, life events (recently moved, new parent), and interests.
The format that works best is also the simplest. A short video of the lead pastor speaking directly to camera consistently outperforms produced content.
Ken Bennett’s Connect Church in Atlanta is the clearest example I can point to. Ken spent $12 per day on Facebook video ads, roughly $360 per month, targeting adults aged 25 to 45 within 10 miles of the church.
The videos were not produced. Ken filmed them on his phone, usually in one take, talking about topics like loneliness, parenting stress, and finding community.
“The first month was brutal,” Ken told me. “We spent about $360 and got maybe eight plan-a-visit signups. Two people actually showed up. I almost pulled the plug.”
His very first video was a two-minute talk about loneliness during the holidays, and it got almost no engagement. He refilmed it three times before settling on a version that felt natural enough.
“I kept trying to sound like a pastor instead of just sounding like myself,” Ken said. “Once I stopped performing for the camera and just talked like I was having coffee with someone, the numbers changed.”
By month three, the retargeting kicked in. People who had watched 50 percent or more of a previous video started seeing a second ad inviting them to plan a visit. Conversion rates tripled.
By month six, Connect Church was averaging 20 to 25 new first-time visitors per month, and weekly attendance had climbed from 150 to over 600. Total ad spend over those six months was approximately $2,200, which works out to roughly $5 per first-time visitor.
The Plan Your Visit strategy Ken used is a specific funnel. A Facebook video ad drives traffic to a landing page where the viewer can RSVP for a Sunday service.
After they RSVP, they receive an automated confirmation text, a welcome email from the pastor, and a reminder the Saturday before. This follow-up sequence is what converts online interest into an actual person walking through the door. See how we run it inside our Plan Your Visit strategy.
For churches that want a deeper walkthrough of Facebook ad strategy, including audience setup and video best practices, I wrote a full guide on Facebook ads for churches. You can also see how it fits into a complete church ads strategy.
A Church Launch Built Entirely on Digital
Austin Scott planted a church in early 2023 without sending a single direct mailer. His entire launch strategy was built on Facebook ads and digital follow-up.
Austin spent roughly $1,500 over eight weeks leading up to launch Sunday, running video ads introducing himself and casting vision for the church.
“I didn’t have a building yet. I didn’t have a mailing list. I had a camera and a Facebook ads account,” Austin told me. “People told me I was crazy for skipping mailers. But I figured if I could get someone to watch a two-minute video of me talking about why we were starting this church, that was a warmer lead than a postcard they’d throw away.”
Austin’s first round of ads did not go well. He spent $200 in the first week on a video where he stood behind a podium in an empty rented room and talked about the church’s mission statement.
It looked stiff and institutional. Click-through rate was under 0.5 percent.
He scrapped it and reshot the video sitting on his back porch, wearing a t-shirt, just talking about what he hoped this church would feel like for someone walking in for the first time. That second video outperformed the first by a factor of six.
“I learned the same thing Ken did,” Austin said. “People don’t want a pitch. They want to feel like they know you before they show up.”
On launch Sunday, over 200 people showed up. Austin tracked every plan-a-visit signup and found that 68 percent of first-time attendees had come through the Facebook ad funnel. His cost per first-time visitor was approximately $7.
A traditional direct mail campaign for a church plant typically costs $0.50 to $1.00 per piece, with response rates around 1 percent. That means you spend $5,000 to $10,000 on mailers to get 50 to 100 visitors. Austin achieved comparable results for a fraction of the cost.
Read Austin’s full launch story here.
Valley Church: From Zero to 500 on Day One
Pastor Chris Moore launched Valley Church in Phoenix, Arizona in the fall of 2022 with over 500 people in attendance on the first Sunday.
Chris combined in-person start-up parties, small gatherings in homes where he shared the vision for the church, with a sustained Facebook ad campaign running for 12 weeks before launch day.
“The start-up parties gave us a core team of about 80 people,” Chris told me. “But the Facebook ads are what brought in the other 420. We ran video ads targeting a 15-mile radius around our meeting location in north Phoenix.”
“The videos were just me, standing in my backyard, talking about what we were building. Nothing polished. People told me later that’s exactly why they trusted it. It felt like a real person, not a commercial.”
Chris spent roughly $3,000 on ads over those 12 weeks, which comes out to about $250 per week. His plan-a-visit page generated over 700 RSVPs, and more than 500 people actually attended.
Chris did have one video early on that completely flopped. He tried a produced promo with drone footage of the Phoenix skyline and a voiceover about Valley Church’s vision.
It looked great but felt generic. The engagement was a fraction of what his simple backyard videos generated.
“I spent $400 getting that promo made and it was our worst-performing ad,” Chris said. “My wife filming me on her phone in the backyard beat it every time.”
Read Valley Church’s full story here.
Thriving Through a Pandemic: Vibrant Church
Vibrant Church in The Woodlands, Texas tells a different kind of story. They used digital marketing to survive and then grow during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When in-person services shut down in March 2020, Vibrant already had a functioning digital ad funnel and email automation system in place.
While many churches struggled to get people back into the building after lockdowns lifted, Vibrant was actively reaching new people online throughout 2020 and 2021.
“We were running Facebook ads the whole time other churches were dark,” said a Vibrant Church staff member. “When people were sitting at home, anxious, looking for hope online, our pastor’s face was showing up in their feed. We didn’t stop reaching out just because the doors were closed.”
By the time in-person services resumed fully, Vibrant had a pipeline of first-time visitors already warmed up through video content and email sequences. Their attendance grew past pre-pandemic levels.
Search Engine Optimization: Showing Up When People Search
When someone types “church near me” or “Sunday service in Phoenix” into Google, the results they see are determined by SEO.
For most churches, the single most important SEO step is claiming and fully optimizing your Google Business Profile. This is the listing that appears in the map pack at the top of local search results, and it is free.
A fully optimized Google Business Profile includes your church name, accurate address, current service times, and a description that naturally includes phrases people search for like “nondenominational church” or “family-friendly church.” It should also feature recent photos of your building and congregation, plus regular updates.
Churches that keep their profile current and respond to Google reviews consistently rank higher in local search results than those with incomplete or outdated profiles.
Beyond your Google profile, your church website matters. It should load quickly on mobile devices, clearly display service times and location on the homepage, and include pages that address what newcomers are searching for.
A page titled “What to Expect on Your First Visit” is one of the highest-performing pages on almost every church website because it directly matches what newcomers are searching for.
For a detailed walkthrough of church SEO strategy, see my guide on SEO for churches. If you are still picking a platform, check my recommendations for the best church website builder.
Short-Form Video and Social Media
Social media content serves a different purpose than paid ads. Ads are about reaching new people. Organic social media content is about building familiarity and trust with people who have already found you.
Sermon clips, behind-the-scenes moments from life groups, and personal messages from the pastor all help someone considering a visit feel like they already know the community before they walk through the door.
Short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram is helping pastors connect with younger audiences. For more, see my deep dive on how churches can reach Gen-Z.
Pastor Alex Suber grew to over 18,000 followers on TikTok by posting short, relatable, faith-focused videos aimed at younger audiences. “I just talk about the stuff people in their twenties are actually dealing with,” Alex told me. “Dating, anxiety, figuring out what you believe. I’m not preaching at them. I’m having a conversation.”
Alex’s approach works because it meets people where they already are scrolling short-form video, and because it feels personal rather than institutional.
His TikTok account has become a pipeline to his local church, with several first-time visitors each month citing his videos as the reason they showed up. More details on Alex’s approach are in my article on Pastor Alex Suber’s TikTok strategy.
For a broader look at building a social media strategy for your church, including platform-by-platform guidance, see my article on promoting your church through social media.
Email Automation: The Follow-Up That Converts
Email is the most underrated channel in church digital marketing. Unlike social media, email does not depend on an algorithm deciding whether your message gets seen.
You have a direct line to every person on your list. Open rates for church emails tend to run significantly higher than the industry average, often 35 to 45 percent compared to 20 to 25 percent for most organizations.
The most important email sequence for any church is the new visitor welcome series.
When someone plans a visit through your website, they should immediately receive a confirmation email, followed by a “what to expect” email the day before the service, and a personal follow-up from the pastor within 24 hours of attending.
Churches that automate this three-step sequence consistently see higher second-visit return rates than churches that rely on a single follow-up or no follow-up at all.
For specific email sequence ideas and templates, see my article on email automation ideas for church marketing.
Your Church Website as the Hub
Every digital channel, from ads to search to social media to email, ultimately points people to your website.
If your site is slow, confusing, or does not make it easy for a first-time visitor to find service times and plan a visit, you are losing people at the last step of the funnel.
A strong church website loads in under three seconds on mobile, puts service times and location above the fold on the homepage, and features a prominent “Plan Your Visit” button that leads to a simple RSVP form.
For more guidance on church website design, see my tips on creating the best church website.
The Tension Between Faith and Marketing
Some pastors resist digital marketing because it feels transactional, too close to treating the Gospel like a product. That tension is worth taking seriously.
Nobody wants to reduce a Sunday service to a conversion metric. But the pastors I have worked with who have embraced digital outreach consistently describe it the same way: making sure the invitation reaches people who would never hear it otherwise.
“Every Sunday I stand on stage and invite people to come back next week, to join a life group, to take a next step,” Ken Bennett told me. “Digital marketing is just that same invitation extended to the people who haven’t walked through the door yet. I’m not changing the message. I’m changing who gets to hear it.”
Justin Dean, a former communications director at megachurch Mars Hill and now a church communications consultant and author of “PR Matters,” has written extensively about this tension.
His position: churches that refuse to communicate strategically online are being less effective. People cannot attend a church they do not know exists, and digital tools are how people discover everything in 2026, including restaurants, doctors, schools, and yes, churches.
Dennis Yu, the founder of BlitzMetrics, teaches a concept he calls the “dollar a day” strategy. The idea is that even a very small budget, as little as one dollar per day, can amplify your best content to the right local audience.
For a church, that means you do not need thousands of dollars to get started. You need one good video from your pastor, a $30-per-month ad budget, and a willingness to test and learn.
Getting Started This Week
Ken Bennett’s $360-per-month budget started the same way you would start. He claimed his Google Business Profile, recorded a parking-lot video on his phone, and set up a $12-per-day ad targeting people within 10 miles of the church.
Austin Scott did it with $1,500 spread over eight weeks. Chris Moore spent $250 a week for three months leading up to his launch. None of them had a marketing background. None of them used a professional videographer.
Step 1: Claim your Google Business Profile. It is free and the impact on local search visibility is immediate. Make sure your church name, address, phone number, service times, and a few recent photos are all accurate and complete. That takes about 20 minutes.
Step 2: Record one video. Have your lead pastor sit down with a phone and talk for 60 to 90 seconds about something real, like a struggle families face, a question people ask about faith, or simply why your church exists. Do not script it word for word.
Every pastor I have worked with has had the same experience Ken and Austin and Chris did: polished, scripted versions underperform raw, conversational ones every time.
Step 3: Run the ad. Take that video and run it as a Facebook ad targeting people aged 25 to 45 within 10 to 15 miles of your church. Set a daily budget of $5 to $10. Let it run for two weeks and look at the results: how many people watched at least half the video, and how many clicked through to your website.
Step 4: Build the follow-up. Create a simple “Plan Your Visit” landing page on your church website where someone can enter their name, email, and the Sunday they plan to attend. Set up an automated confirmation email and a reminder text the day before. This is the piece most churches skip, and it makes the biggest difference.
Step 5: Track everything. How many people saw the ad, how many planned a visit, and how many actually showed up. Those numbers tell you what is working and where to improve.
The churches I work with that see the strongest growth treat this as a system, not a one-time experiment. For a broader look at how all these channels fit together, see my complete guide to church marketing and our church marketing online overview.
And for a breakdown of what makes faith-based marketing distinct from secular marketing, read my article on ways Christian marketing is different.
About The Author
