Research Made Simple

Slide 1: Helping your church or ministry share the good news in ways that get attention and invite response from the people you want to reach Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 2: Think like a Missionary • Imagine you are a missionary in a foreign country to an Unreached people group who has never heard the gospel. • The people don’t speak your language; have different culture traditions, theological backgrounds, technology, and other elements that make it a new environment for you. • What would be your first order of business as a new arriving missionary? Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 3: The Value of Research • Not “Unspiritual” • Moses sent out spies (Numbers 13:1-2, 17-20) • Jesus with Samaritan Woman (John 4) • Paul (Acts 17, Col. 4:5) Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 4: Do your homework! • Just as a missionary begins working in a new mission field with learning, you must begin your ministry the same way. • You must know the people you want to reach. You must become the expert on the people you want to reach. • “Know the people” means you need to identify the specific target audience you are intending to reach. Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 5: Short Cuts or Short Circuits? • Many try to find short-cuts in this process – Reading books – Visiting successful ministries in other states. • Caution: If you only rely on these books and ministries it can become dangerous – Books and other ministries can’t tell you enough about the needs of the specific people you want to reach. • You need to “write the book” on your target audience Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 6: Two kinds of Information you need about your people • Primary Information (original research) • Secondary Information (research developed by others) Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 9: Demographics • Median age • Population by Age • Household size • Education • Median Income • Population distribution by Income • Housing type • Median housing cost • Occupation • Population by ethnicity Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 10: Steps in Segmentation Step 2 Step 1 Step 3 Targeting Into Segments Total Market Broken down P1 1 2 3 P8 P8 P1 P2 P2 P8 P2 P8 P2 P1 P2 P6 P3 P3 P7 P3 P7 P3 P3 P2 P7 P8 Segment P6 P6 P5 P4 P5 P8 P5 “2” People Segment Total population Meaningful Individuals Segments Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 11: Where to look • Denominational offices • Government Offices (Chamber of commerce, economic development, small business development offices) • Libraries (public and universities) • Organizations (charities, advocacy groups) • Companies (banks, real estate agencies) • Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, newsletters) • Internet sources (use the ones that are more official) • Professional research organizations ( Clairitas, Scan US, Nielson, Gallup, Local companies) Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 12: A few terms • Demographics: Who are the people? information classified by sex, age, race, income, etc • Geographics: Where do the people live? State, city, region, urban, rural, • Psychographics: How do the people live? Their lifestyle, attitudes, values and shared cultural experiences of the members of the community • Religious Statistics: How many of the people are already actively involved in a church? Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 13: Have you reached your target? • If you reach your target, the people on the inside of your church will look demographically like the people in your target audience outside your church. • If your church is different, you are not reaching your community. Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 15: Why do you need primary research? • Not everything you need to know is available in research done by others • Much of the secondary information that is available is too general to put to good use. You need more refined information. • What is true in church growth and ministry planning books might not be true in your area • There could be unique opportunities you are missing because you are unaware of the needs Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 17: Two types of research: Quantitative Quantitative: Useful where numeric projections are needed. – For example: • 75% of the parents of preschoolers prefer to attend the late worship service. • 88% of the parents say security in the preschool program is unsatisfactory. • Quantitative research tools. – Surveys (web, mail, phone) Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 18: Survey Sampling • "The purpose of a sample survey is to obtain information from a few respondents in order to describe the characteristics of hundreds, thousands, even millions. • The sample is selected in such a way that is represents the entire population; that is, observations from the sample can be generalized to the larger group". Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 19: Calculating Sample Size +/- 5% +/- 3% +/- 10% Population Size 100 87 80 49 250 183 152 69 500 289 217 80 750 358 254 85 1,000 406 278 87 2,500 537 333 92 5,000 601 357 94 10,000 639 370 95 25,000 665 378 96 50,000 674 381 96 100,000 678 383 96 1,000,000 682 384 96 100,000,000 683 384 96 Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 20: Two types of research: Qualitative Qualitative: • Useful for exploring topics, testing ideas • Can not be projected to whole group • Qualitative research tools – Focus groups – In-depth interviews – Intentional Observation Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 21: All Surveys are Wrong It’s up to you to manage error! Four Types of Survey Error 3. Sample Error: Use Scientific Methods 4. Question Error: Write good Questions 5. Response Error: Get “Enough” Respondents 6. Reporting Error: Proper Calculations and Projections Look at the Amazingly Bad Survey! Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 22: Some things you can learn in surveys. • What People Are • What People Do • What People Know • What People Believe • What do People Like Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 23: 6 Ways to Get Primary Research 1. Have more intentional listening when you talk to people in your target audience both inside and outside the church. 2. Have regular marketing focus groups. Gather 6- 10 people in the audience into discussion groups 3. Build in feedback loops into every event or activity 4. Conduct print and online surveys 5. Talk about the feedback in your programming and planning 6. Allow for complaints and talk about them with your ministry team (Your critic is not your enemy!) Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 24: Great Ministry Marketers Use Original Research • Two examples – Bill Hybels “Unchurched Harry and Mary” – Rick Warren “Saddleback Sam” Each “wrote the book” on their people. They became experts on the people they wanted to reach. They did not stop when they had a bunch of secondary information. They both conducted original research. Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 25: Bill Hybels’ Questions • Do you actively attend a local church? • Why not? What is it that makes it difficult for you to attend? • If such a church existed that was not like this, would you be interested in attending? • If we start such a church, may we call you? Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 26: Rick Warren’s Questions • Are you an active member of a local church? • What is the greatest need in Saddleback Valley? • Why do you think most people don’t attend church? • If you were looking for a church, what kinds of things would you be looking for? • What advice would you give to me a Pastor of a new church? • What could I do for you? Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

Slide 27: Your own marketing playbook • Create a profile sketch of your target audience • Start a filing system to Marketin organize the information g you gather about your Playbook target audience • Consider conducting primary research to inform your ministry planning and outreach communications Copyright © 2004 Chris Forbes Ministry Marketing Coach, All rights reserved

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