I sat down with Alex Suber, ChurchCandy’s Director of Operations, to break down exactly what is working right now to get new guests through church doors. Alex and I have worked together closely, and this conversation was packed with the strategies, mistakes, and insights we have learned from helping hundreds of churches grow with digital marketing.
The Two Biggest Factors That Determine Church Growth
After working with churches across the country, we have seen two factors that consistently separate growing churches from stuck ones: content quality and follow-up systems. If your content does not stop someone from scrolling, they will never visit. And if your follow-up is weak, the people who do visit will not come back.
It sounds simple, but most churches get one or both of these wrong. They either over-produce their content so it looks like a TV commercial (which people scroll right past), or they have no system for following up with guests after they visit.
Why Most Church Ads Fail
One of the biggest mistakes I see is churches creating ads that look like commercials. Fancy cameras, blurred lobby backgrounds, lower thirds with the pastor’s name. It looks professional, but the problem is that when people see something on their timeline that looks like an ad, they skip it.
The ads that perform best for our churches are the ones that feel real. A pastor talking to the camera on their phone. A genuine invitation to come check out the church. No scripts, no production crew. Just authenticity. That is what stops the scroll.
Alex and I also talked about the importance of fresh content. You cannot run the same ad for six months and expect it to keep performing. People get tired of seeing the same thing. We recommend churches create new ad content at least every few weeks.
The Follow-Up System That Actually Works
Getting someone to plan a visit is only half the battle. What happens after they fill out a form or show up on Sunday is what determines whether they come back. The churches that are growing the fastest have personal, hands-on follow-up systems.
Here is what we see working:
- Personal video messages. Send a short video from the pastor within 24 hours of someone planning a visit. Use their name. Make it personal.
- Text from a real number. Not an automated system. A real person texting from their cell phone so it shows up as an iMessage or blue bubble.
- Follow up more than once. Most churches follow up once and stop. The best churches follow up multiple times over several weeks.
- Retargeting ads. Keep showing ads to people who have already interacted with your church online. Stay in front of them so your church stays top of mind.
Pastor Sherman Dumas at Kingdom Culture uses personalized videos as part of his follow-up, and it is one of the main reasons their retention rate is so high. Pastor Ken Bennett at Connect Church built a detailed follow-up system that helped them grow from 150 to 600 in six months.
How to Calculate Your Ad Budget
One question I get all the time from pastors is, “How much should I spend on ads?” Alex and I built a calculator to help churches figure that out. The inputs are straightforward: how many new guests do you want per month, how many people typically come per family, and what your cost per planned visit is in your area.
For most churches, we see about 2.5 people per family that plans a visit. The cost per planned visit varies by market, but we walk through the math in this episode so you can see exactly what to expect.
Common Mistakes Churches Make With Digital Marketing
- Over-producing ad content. It needs to look natural, not like a commercial.
- Not following up quickly enough. Speed matters. If someone plans a visit on Monday and you do not reach out until Friday, they have already forgotten about you.
- Stopping ads too soon. Digital marketing is a long game. The churches that see the best results commit to running ads consistently, not just for a launch or Easter.
- Ignoring retargeting. Someone who visited your website or watched your video is way more likely to visit than a cold audience. Keep showing up in their feed.
- Not tracking results. If you do not know how many people planned a visit, how many showed up, and how many came back, you cannot improve.
Final Thought
Growing your church in 2025 is absolutely possible. But it requires intentional content, consistent advertising, and a follow-up system that makes every guest feel valued. Alex and I broke all of this down in this episode because we want every church to have the tools they need to reach more people.
If you are ready to get started, grab a free copy of my book, the Plan Your Visit Playbook, which walks you through the entire process step by step. And if you want more stories about what is working, check out how Pastor Derrick Hawkins brought 950 people to his church’s first Sunday.
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