Article / Content Title:

Synopsis /  Author Bio

EJ Jolivet is a former Navy Journalist, radio news reporter and a plumber who has entered the new frontier, the internet, to blog on the intersection of faith and business at his blog brotobro.blogspot.com.

(subtitle)Marketing to Christians

(synopsis)If you want to reach these often neglected buyers you have to be familiar with the places where they hangout in large numbers. Targeting this market properly can transform any stumbling blocks that hinder your sales into stepping stones for selling success.

Author's Name

EJ Jolivet

Phone

713-259-5960

Web Site

www.brotobro.blogspot.com

Email

CLICK HERE

In today's economy marketing to Christians can change no-sales and slow sales into stellar sales. The household income in 2006 of just one segment of the Christian market , Evangelicals, was estimated at $2.1 trillion in the U.S. However, this important segment of the marketplace is selective about where they spend their dollars.

Businesses on the wrong side of moral issues, that they feel strongly about, can get hit with economic boycotts that can be more crippling than bad press. Savvy entrepreneurs value the faith-based market and know how, when and where to connect with and serve this pool of buyers.

If you want a share of the millions of dollars flowing through this important income stream each day, review these ideas on marketing to Christians.

5 Keys To The Christian Marketplace

Determine which groups within the niche are the best suited for your product or services.

Promote your products, message and branding in a way that speaks specifically to religious audiences.

The best place to reach each group can vary so choose your marketing channel, (i.e. radio, online, newsletters) based on the presence of the individual group.

The best products fill a need for one or more segments within the market.

Advertising strategies have to be tweaked for a Christian market.

How To Reach Faith-based Consumers

The Christian marketplace has a broad collection of customer profiles. Evangelicals, Southern Baptist, Pentecostals, Catholics are just a few of them. They’re several segments inside each of these groups, teens, Seniors, African Americans, are some a few that you may be familiar with, while Reformers and Apologist are some you may not know much about. They all share common needs and a Christian-centric ideology.

Determining which individual market segments need and will use your product is a very important first step.

Reaching faith-based consumers in the appropriate manner can make or break a promotion. Companies like Black Gospel Promo and Buzzplant focus many of their promotions solely on the faith-based markets. New web 2.0 methods such as E-Blast and video marketing are modern tools that work well for some but, not all Christians.

Christians consumers frequent malls, conferences and online in number greater than other segments of the population. Harness the power of joint ventures. Christian television, websites and radio stations are growing too, these hangouts and haunts are a favorite with religious teens, and make great places to promote your brand recognition to them.

Reach Out To African-American Christians

Savvy marketing makes an effort to cover the entire market without alienating the sub-groups. The Target Market News, reported how moms of color spoke out at a recent BlogHer conference warning mainstream marketers not to diss them. Liz Dwyer, from LosAngelista.com, "noted that black and Latina consumers know when they are being ignored. And they don't like it. Make sure that your marketing doesn't fall short when comes to connecting with them either.

Christian consumers spend lots of money on music, computer software, Christian video games, books, DVD's and other merchandise. The domestic sales of religious products are expected to reach $9.5 billion by 2010.

Using word of mouth , mainstream media and new-media, can create an effective strategy for marketing to Christians in a non-traditional way that will get them to buy your product or service and become evangelist your company.