Rethinking the Way Churches Share The Great Controversy

For over 15 years, we’ve helped for-profit organizations use the most sophisticated tools and technologies available to help them grow. And now we’re helping churches do the same!

Today, let’s walk through how your church can rethink the way it shares The Great Controversy using a more modern—and more effective—approach.

First, let’s establish the High-Level Components of an Effective Outreach Strategy:

1. Goal / Desired Outcome
Establishing a goal or desired outcome from the start gets everyone on the same page and paints a picture for what you want to accomplish.

2. Budget
Establishing a budget determines how much you want to spend on this outreach strategy, so you don’t go too small or too big. You want to go big enough to make an impact but not too big where you get in trouble.

3. Offer
What is your offer? What will you provide someone who is interested?

4. Call to Action
What do you want someone who responds to do?

5. Follow-up Strategy
How will you follow up with someone after they’ve accepted your copy of The Great Controversy?

Here’s our scenario:

We are going to share The Great Controversy in your community.

Let’s model two approaches to this scenario: Traditional and Modern.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH

First, your church will mail books out to your community OR your church will have a special outreach where copies of the book are handed out in your community. Let’s say with your $700 budget, you can buy 350 copies of The Great Controversy in bulk for $2 each.

Now before we proceed, let’s be honest: Assumptions can get you into trouble sometimes, so you have to use them with caution. However, when used correctly, they can give you an incredible lens to look through and see potential outcomes you can deliver using different approaches.

So, let’s look at our Traditional approach through the lens of two assumptions.

Assumption #1
Pew Research Center reports: “24% of American adults say they have not read a book – in part or whole, in print or electronically or audibly in the past year.” And if the individual has a high school degree or less, it jumps to 37%.

So, Assumption #1 is no matter what, 24% of people you give The Great Controversy to may never read it.

Assumption #2
The Average U.S. Website Conversion rate is 2.86%. That means when someone visits a website, 2.86% decide to move forward (they fill out a form, make a purchase, etc.). So, for every 100 people who visit a website, about 3 of them actually do something.

In comparison, reading a book is a much bigger ask. But Assumption #2 is let’s assume 3% will actually invest the time to read The Great Controversy after you give it to them.

So, what does that look like for your church? Let’s look at the numbers:

Based on this model, your church reached 8 individuals for $700. The cost per outcome is $87.50.

MODERN APPROACH

Now let’s look at a Modern approach to this scenario. Using newer advertising methods, this approach allows you to reach thousands of individuals in your community and identify who actually has an interest in reading The Great Controversy before you give it to them.

This approach uses the $700 budget differently than the Traditional approach:

• Advertising: $580
• Copies of The Great Controversy: $120 (60 copies in bulk for $2 each)

Here are actual results we have achieved multiple times with this approach using Facebook ads in our community:

Based on this model, your church reached 58 individuals for $700. The cost per outcome is $12.07.

Let’s compare results from the Traditional approach and the Modern approach:

Think about it this way: Using the Modern approach, you virtually knocked on 8,000 doors in your community and asked if they’d like a copy of The Great Controversy. Just imagine if your church went out into the community and started knocking on doors, how long do you think it would take to knock on 8,000 doors? A long time!

With the Modern approach, you can use advertising to reach that many people much quicker and with the sole intent of finding which ones at that moment in time are ready and willing to engage with The Great Controversy.

When comparing the results, you can see the Modern approach is 725% more effective than the Traditional approach!

In addition to being far more effective, here are a few more reasons to consider rethinking your approach:

1. Your church will reach nearly 2,500% more people in your community than just handing books out to 350 people.
2. If done properly, these individuals will opt-in to receive future communications from your church, giving you the opportunity to reach out to them again and again and ask how their experience was with The Great Controversy.

So, are you willing to rethink your approach to evangelism? These modern tools are at your fingertips, and we are excited to get the word out and encourage churches to start doing this today. It’s never been easier. And it’s never been more attainable than it is right now.

If you’re new to Rethinking Evangelism, we’ve packaged up everything you need to take a similar approach in your community using Facebook. We’ve developed the strategy, the campaigns, the creative, the ad copy, the follow-up emails and more. You can purchase and download everything and start implementing it in your community today.

If you’re an existing Rethinking Evangelism customer, visit our Customer Knowledge Center to download these materials and content, and we’ll walk you through it, so you can start implementing it in your community today.

Or if you want to discuss an even broader perspective than simply giving away The Great Controversy, we’d love to have a conversation and help you rethink evangelism.