You may have noticed a new type of ad coming from churches on social media in the last couple of years. Do lines like these sound familiar?

“Rob here with Restoration Church, and I’d like to invite you to Bible study with me.” 

“Hey, you! Be our guest this Sunday at one of our 3 worship services.” 

“What’s up, Houston? Are you looking for a church family to call home?” 

These are all examples from “Plan a Visit” ads, one of the most effective digital tools churches can use to expand their reach. Think of them like personal invitations in your community’s social media feed. 

In our latest blog post, we’re going to cover the basics of setting up Plan a Visit ads, the importance of digital ads for churches, and how these ads can lead to tangible results in your church. Keep reading to learn more! 

Why Does My Church Need Ads?

We get it. You’re a church, not a business. We’re not trying to market ourselves and earn more money, so words like “ads” and “marketing” might feel disconnected from your ministry’s vision and mission. 

We’re not trying to cheapen the gospel or treat it like a commodity. Instead, we want to use all the resources God has given us to reach more people for His Kingdom. 

Advertisements aren’t going anywhere. In fact, the University of Southern California suggests the average American sees 5,000 ads every day. Opting not to use ads isn’t going to change those numbers. 

As a church, you have the opportunity to be among those 5,000, providing a message of hope and healing to members of your community. 

If you’re a longtime church leader, your ideas of church ads are probably mailers, door hangers, magazine spots, or radio ads—costly advertisements that go out to a wide audience, with little ability to measure their efficacy. 

These older forms of advertising aren’t bad, but they’re not the only tools at your disposal anymore. 

Online ads, like Plan a Visit ads on Facebook, can be targeted to a specific audience, so you don’t waste your resources on uninterested readers. You can tailor your messaging to those specific people, and you can use digital forms, email, and SMS to follow up with interested leads. 

Digital ads allow you to be a better steward of your resources while communicating directly with the people who are interested in the message you’re sharing. 

What Are Plan a Visit Ads?

Plan a Visit ads are ads on Facebook and Instagram that invite viewers to your church’s weekly services. 

These ads typically consist of the following components:

• A video of a pastor or church leader personally inviting the viewer to church or still photography of the church service in action
• Text that invites the viewer to church and includes details about the church’s service times and locations
• A form for interested readers to provide personal information for follow-up (like a digital Connect Card)
• Follow-up emails, voicemail, and/or SMS in the days leading up to the service

These follow-up communications can be automated through a system like GraceLed Connections, or they can be handled directly by a member of church staff. 

We recommend updating the video, photography, and text every 1–2 months to keep your ads feeling fresh and relevant, but the form and follow-up systems can remain the same. 

Do Plan a Visit Ads Work?

For churches with limited budget and bandwidth, Plan a Visit ads can seem like a major investment. You have to get quality photography or video, write a script for the video and text for the ads, familiarize yourself with Meta’s ad management system, set up your follow-up communications—all before you spend a single dollar on getting your ads seen. 

So is it worth it?

We can’t speak for your church’s needs and budget, but we can share how Plan a Visit ads have worked for one of our clients. 

Over the course of 4 months of Plan a Visit ads, this client saw over 300 families respond to the ads with interest. Not all of them came through the doors, but many did! Some people started the Plan a Visit process, didn’t respond to the follow-up communications, but went on to attend weeks or months later. 

That’s hundreds of members of the community who might never have attended church if they hadn’t seen an ad on Facebook or Instagram inviting them to come. 

Plan a Visit ads have also helped this client rethink how they speak to all new guests, not just those who engage with the ads. Staff members and volunteers are more aware of concerns that new guests have (Where do I park? What do I wear? Will I get lost?) and can anticipate those questions before they’re asked. 

This church client has a better understanding of the barriers that may be keeping people in their community from attending, so they can work to remove those barriers. 

Conclusion

Plan a Visit ads are one of the most effective digital tools churches can use today to connect with members in their community and improve the new guest experience. If you’re ready to start using digital ads to share the good news of Jesus Christ, schedule a call! We’d love to learn how we at GraceLed can serve you as you make use of all the resources God has given us to reach new people.