Church Marketing: How to localize your story

When I was a newspaper reporter in southwest Missouri, I was often told to “localize the story.”

In our newsroom, that meant taking a national story written by the Associated Press and finding a local angle.

Why did we do that? Why didn’t we simply run the AP story “as is” and let it stand alone?

Because we wanted our readers to relate to the story.

We wanted our readers to see their neighbors’ faces in our photos and hear from the people in their community and learn how a national or international story could affect them in southwest Missouri.

There’s something powerful about a story that comes from people you know.

How does that pertain to church marketing?

Yesterday in our life group (Sunday School class) a friend shared a testimony about the moment Christ became real to her. It was an incredible story which had me on the verge of tears.

In less than five minutes, this friend was able to share with us an unscripted account of how the God of the universe reached out to her with love and grace and revealed to her how special she was in His eyes.

She localized the story.

She showed how the Almighty God cared for her and loved her with a love that only He can provide.

It was simple.

It was powerful.

Yes, God is huge and mysterious and incomprehensible.

But he is also loving and caring and supportive — and always accessible to us.

And most of us have testimonies of God’s love for us, and we have salvation stories to tell.

So let’s do what we’re called to do and share those stories.

Have you written your testimony and shared your story? You can share your story today!

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