No matter how many great features you have in a church app, that app is only beneficial if your congregation will use it. To get people excited about using the app and to see how it can benefit them, you’ll need to invest time in promoting it. Here are several simple ways to encourage your congregation to download and use your church app:
1) Make using the app part of the culture of your church
This means you’ll need to talk about it often and use it in a variety of ways. Weave using the app into the everyday fabric of engaging with your church.
- When receiving the offering, tell people how to quickly download and use the app to give.
- As you draw awareness to small groups, mention how easy it is to find and sign up for a small group using the app.
- Conduct live polls during a service to get people interacting with the message (plus it’s a fun way to encourage using the app).
- During the announcement time in a service, let people know they can find all the details in the bulletin on the church app.
- Mention your church app often on your social networks. As a part of our Custom Plan, we provide your ministry with a customized video, and sharable graphics to use and share on social media, and on your website. Here is an example video:
2) Use the app with your small groups
Provide content for small groups within the app. This could include a clip from a recent sermon, discussion questions, or other materials.
3) Drive event registration to the app
When promoting an event, direct people to register using the app. It’s better to get people to register right when they’re thinking about that event instead of waiting until they get home and are in front of their computer.
4) Provide a Bible reading plan through the app
If you’re doing a sermon series on a specific passage, you could point people to a reading plan in your app so they can follow along during the series.
5) Live stream services PLUS post sermon videos and/or podcasts on the app
When a family goes on vacation over the summer or mom is home with a sick child, having access to view the sermon on the app is a huge help.
People may want to watch a message again or listen to ones they missed while commuting. Make that easier to do through your church’s app.
As you can see, there are many ways to encourage your congregation to start using your church app right away. Make using the app part of the ebb and flow of engaging as part of the congregation. It’s a great tool – it just takes a bit of time and education to make people aware of its usefulness.