Meet Pastor Pete. He's a minister with a communication problem.

His church is planning an event designed to reach out to people who don't attend church. Since he never studied advertising or marketing, he's not sure he knows the best strategy for getting his church's message out into the public square. But he has a pretty good idea about what he's going to do anyway. It is what he does - more or less - for almost every special event in his church:

* Give the event a catchy name
* Develop a logo or other graphic design to give the event more eye appeal
* Print an invitation card or develop a flyer to give away and/or mail out to people who live in the    neighborhoods around the church
* Make announcements in the church worship service, encouraging members to invite their friends
* Give out invitation cards, door hangers or yard signs to promote the event
* Post an announcement on the church sign
* Put the information in the church newsletter
* Send out e-mail announcements
* Mail reminder cards or letters and call the leading members in the church, mobilizing them to get the    word out
* Post information about the event on the church's Web site
* Send a news release in hopes of getting a mention in the town newspaper and other media
* Look into buying an advertisement in the newspaper, getting a radio spot, or even trying television    commercials
* Consider leasing a billboard to advertise the program

Pastor Pete has seen these tactics work before, so he feels confident in his approach. But he also knows that sometimes it doesn't work. He can't quite figure out what's "missing" when it doesn't work and what is "there" when it does. All he knows is to pray and do what he feels he should do to promote this event.

Ministry leaders find themselves in Pastor Pete's shoes several times a year. Most churches have tried the ideas listed above. Pete has a lot of great ideas about promotion, but churches like his that use ideas like those above are seeing diminishing results from their efforts. Tactics that used to work are no longer as effective. Something is broken somewhere! Ministry leaders wonder, like Pastor Pete does, "What's happening?"

The reason churches are seeing decreased results is because it really is getting tougher out there. There is an amazing increase in the amount of media in even the smallest communities. Secular advertisers are overshadowing ministry communications and making it tougher to reach people. The advent of desktop publishing and the Internet has turned anyone with a computer into a marketing force.

Our Media-Saturated Age
Each day, Americans experience attempts to persuade them to pay attention from the efforts of national and local advertising campaigns in direct mail, billboards, radio spots, television commercials, print and the Internet - information overload is our daily experience. Media researchers estimate the average American is exposed to 1,500 to 3,500 attempts to get his attention every day.

Considering the number of marketing messages already cluttering the public square, how can your church, with your limited budget, get people's attention? Ministries need to market themselves - not just promote events - if they are going to have an impact in their communities these days.

Ministry leaders need to know how to add effectiveness to their outreach efforts. Promotional tactics that worked only a few short years ago no longer have the impact they had before.

Here are 15 ways to improve your ministry communications.

1. Put more effort and thought into your communication planning.
Take it slower and be more methodical when planning your communications. Too often, the promotion of church events and activities is treated almost as an afterthought. Churches often needlessly find themselves in a flurry of last-minute activity when doing ministry promotion. It is hard to plan creative and effective media in a rush.

2. Define what you want to accomplish with your promotional efforts.
Direct your promotional strategy toward achieving your ministry goals. When planning ministry communication, revisit your church's vision, mission and core values statements. If you don't have these, think prayerfully about the direction and priorities of your church and write them down, along with some goals for achieving them. Many times, marketing and advertising efforts fail because ministry leaders don't have specific communication goals in mind.

3. Advertise who you really are, not who you are not.
Just because you have stock images of young families with children in your ads doesn't mean you can reach those kind of people. If people respond to advertising that seems to imply your church has a large children's ministry and find your church really only has a couple of struggling children's classes, they will feel misled and will not want to return to your church.

4. Fix what is broken in your church.
Make sure you do everything you can to make a good impression with first-time guests. That means you may have to clean up your act. Make sure your church is healthy, friendly, clean and running smoothly. Recruit outside people who can be "secret seekers" and attend your church to report back about their experiences. You may find small improvements you can make that can help you better connect with people who respond to your promotional efforts.

5. Do your homework before you launch any kind of advertising outreach.
Just as a missionary begins work in a mission field by learning the language, customs and lifestyles of the people he wants to reach, begin your outreach with learning. Carefully study the demographics of your community. Do original research by observing your community, talking to unchurched people, hosting discussion groups and even conducting your own surveys.

6. Have a consistent look in your communication media.
Integrate the design of your media. Too much variation in your look can dilute your effectiveness. Have one logo, consistently use the same type fonts, and design all your media to have a similar look. Using the same look in your media establishes recognition when people see your materials out in the community. By not changing your look often, you become more easily recognizable.

7. Try to reach fewer people more times.
No medium reaches everyone. When you use advertising, limit the number of people you try to reach - so you reach a smaller group more times. Instead placing one large ad in the newspaper, try a smaller, less expensive one that runs more frequently. The practice of limiting your media reach so you can increase your frequency is sound marketing strategy in any context.

8. Don't talk about yourself so much; start talking to the audience.
Most church media talks mostly about the great things the church is doing. But people who are not active in church are more interested in how attending the church might benefit them. Instead of saying, "First Church has a world-class children's program," say "You'll appreciate the character-building children's ministry at First Church."

9. Highlight life-application benefits when you write promotional copy.
Since you are talking to the audience, and not about yourself, take the next step and think about how the programs or events might have some benefit for the people you want to reach. A good, ministry-minded way to think about this is to consider the life application the program will provide. For example, "Your kids will love our easy-to-understand and fun Bible learning programs."

10. Pay attention to details.
As you are developing your promotional campaign, make sure you don't overlook the small things. For example, if your brochure or advertisement requests people to call or contact your church, brief the people who answer the phones on the details of the promotion. If you ask people to fill out a guest registration/communication card in your church services, be sure to provide pens.

11. Reduce the number of things you promote.
If a church is promoting too many things, it can intimidate new people. Try not to clutter your church communications with too much information. Have a plan for prioritizing what appears in your bulletin, newsletter and home page of your Web site. An easy rule of thumb is if it affects the entire church, it should be in the spotlight. Use sub pages on your Web site, e-mail and phone calls for smaller promotions.

12. Become a media-savvy advertising customer.
When you buy advertising space, remember you are paying for eyes and/or ears. Only buy media that reach your targeted audience. Resist the temptation to use a medium because you prefer it; advertise in the media used by the people you want to reach. For example, the religion page of the newspaper might not reach the men you want to reach; try advertising in the sports section.

13. Send newsworthy news releases.
When you send out news releases, think like a reporter and make your release newsworthy. One church that was putting on a play, with a story line that included characters killed in a drunken driving accident, used their promotion and advertising program to also raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. The church play was featured in the newspaper and on the evening news because of that angle.

14. Reach out to the people you have already reached.
Researchers tell us that the overwhelming majority of Americans have attended a church before. If only churches could do a better job of ministering to and discipling the people they have already reached, we could change our country. Learn to segment your church membership database so you can minister to lapsed members and attendees more effectively.

15. Plan your events and activities wisely.
Focus your promotional efforts during times when people are most likely to think about church. Christmas and Easter are very popular times for outreach. But civil holidays are great times for reaching out, too. Mother's Day, the Super Bowl and even the Fourth of July can be great times to offer special programs designed for newcomers. Try joining the annual public events of your community. Your church can make many new contacts with unchurched people at secular events.

Chris Forbes is the founder of MinistryMarketingCoach.com and has been in ministry since 1989, serving as an international missionary, strategy leader, media strategist and marketplace researcher.