Monday, February 11, 2008

Follow-up to Blue Tooth, Location-Based, Mobile Ministry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

In my last post I mentioned the incredible potential of Blue Tooth marketing. Again, the range of at least one low-cost device is purported to be 900 feet (600 feet from dongle to phones)!

As you consider Blue Tooth broadcasting (for which the Spirit-led possibilities for helping people know and grow in Christ are pretty much endless), please be sure of the following:

1) Supplemental signage is key. Don't just broadcast into oblivion; put notice of Blue Tooth alerts on your church sign and on billboards. Also put adverts in your church bulletin. And if you use video monitors to show the worship service, add a small graphic letting folks know about your Blue Tooth content. Such signage will also help you reach folks who've turned off their Blue Tooth devices, who obviously would not otherwise be reached by your Blue Toothing.

2) Less is more. Even though Blue Tooth is opt-in, don't just constantly stream a thousand different ads to see what sticks. Certainly some experimentation will help refine your messaging, but don't go nuts. Whether you're a church or parachurch ministry, keeping it to simple ministry info and interest surveys is probably best.

3) Keep file sizes to 10K or less (unless you're located in Europe or Japan). Most phones simply can't process big files efficiently, thus your latest super cool church video will just be annoying and likely off-putting. A slick graphic with links will fit within a 10K limit.

Alright, I can't resist giving you a couple more Blue Tooth ministry ideas...

1) Set up a short-range (150 feet) Blue Tooth dongle in your Sunday school/education wing. Broadcast a simple listing of the various classes available with links to more info.

2) Youth/college events. I know, I know youth and college are worlds apart. But they use Blue Tooth like it's hardwired into them (HA!), therefore Blue Toothing them should work better than other groups. Send out evangelistic info, news of upcoming Bible studies/discipleship opportunities, and a calendar of upcoming events.

3) PRAYER!!!! Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul commanded, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," (Eph. 6:18). Send out Blue Tooth invites to submit prayer needs to everyone who walks through your doors and to your community. The goal is not to let folks know that the "great genie in the sky" is now granting wishes. Rather, we're proactively fulfilling the Spirit's exhortation to pray at all times for the saints and we're presenting God as sovereign, able, and loving to the lost. Praying for lost and found according to God's will is absolutely biblical and I quite frankly can't think of many better ways to use Blue Tooth than to efficiently collect prayer needs.

Nuff said for now. Feedback?

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