You’ve planned your church event—got the speakers ready, the venue is rocking, all the equipment is already rented. Now, how do you let people know when, where, and what is gonna happen? Getting people to come to a church event is just as hard as planning the actual event. How do you invite them? Do you create crafty invites? Or just plainly ask them in person?
It is essential to let people know about the details of an upcoming event, but how you invite them is just as important. It could impact the decision of the people you invited whether to come or not. We listed the advantages of announcing in person and sending digital invites to help you figure out what fits your church best.
In-Person Announcements
In-person announcements are the most basic way of informing someone about an upcoming church event. Here are some of the pros of doing in-person announcements.
- Better Impact – Inviting someone in-person whether through the service, an event, or personally approaching them may create a better impact. You may also have a better chance of successfully encouraging them to come to your event. Compared to digital invites where the reader can’t see or hear you, doing it personally feels more warm and intimate. Especially if you approach a person to invite him or her personally, it can create a feeling of inclusivity.
- Easier to spread – In-person invites can easily spread through word of mouth. The in-person experience creates excitement and joy especially when they’re attending an event of the church. Through this excitement, it’s easier to urge them to invite their friends and spread the word. Also through this method, you could easily reach people especially those who aren’t online most of the time.
Digital Invites
Digital invites include e-mail, messaging through social media platforms, online ads, and likes. The benefits of doing online invites are as follows.
- Eco-friendly – Online invites are very eco-friendly and don’t consume physical materials. It could only be just you, a computer, smartphone or tablet, and the internet.
- Convenient – one major benefit of doing online or virtual invites is the convenience it brings. You can do everything in the palm of your hands. Also, updates and changes regarding the events are very easy to do with just a tap or push of a button. You could also post links for references or videos about the event. People could RSVP to your invites easier which is a time saver when you’re doing a headcount on how many people will attend. Doing it digitally keeps everything hassle-free.
- Cost-effective – Since everything is done digitally, no need to spend money on papers, getting your materials printed and mailed. You do not need to allot money on travel expenses to get to people’s homes or other communities, which is especially helpful right now while the lockdown and quarantines are in place.
- Wider reach – Most people nowadays are online and have access to the internet. Although there are still some guests that aren’t tech-savvy or are not accustomed to smartphones and the internet, the reach of online invites is still very large. People get the invites instantly as you send them, compared to the time-consuming act of mailing them a traditional invite or inviting them personally.
In-Person + Online Announcements
While each have their own advantages, what better way to invite than to do both of them! After all, our goal here is to invite and reach as many people as we can for our events and for our ministry. Below are the benefits of doing both methods.
- Bigger reach and better impact – Expect better reach and impact by announcing to them personally and sending them a follow-up invite through email. This way, you’ll get both those who are not online (like the elderly) and those that are not tech-savvy. By combining the two methods, you’ll not only get people excited but through the follow-up online invites, they are reminded of the event and could RSVP immediately. Twice the effort, but generates better results.
- Adaptability – Using both methods will give you a chance to adapt when circumstances arise. In announcing events and inviting people, sometimes there are too many people for you to be doing personal invites so you’ll have to do it digitally. Having a backup plan is a must in any event.
Conclusion:
Both methods have their own pros and cons. There’s no ignoring the fact that there’s still a space for in-person invites and announcements, though more and more people are heading into the digital age. Combining the two seems to be the most effective way we could send invites for your church event. Although combining the methods will require a lot more effort and energy from us, it will certainly generate better outcomes for us. But despite all that, your personal choice should depend on the one that works best for your church and people.
