When it comes to building an app, the concept of "if we build it they will come" doesn't hold true. With all of the content available at your audience's fingertips, it's impossible to be passive about your mobile strategy and be successful.
When you first made the decision to build an app for your organization, you likely had a vision and audience in mind, but it's easy to get lost along the way with competing priorities, limited resources, and maybe even slow adoption after launching your app. To help you make your app the best possible resource for your congregation, we've put together a few ideas to get you on the right track.
Let's ask a few questions that will serve as a framework so you can determine what success for your app would look like.
1. What content does your audience want to engage with?
We would suggest starting with three of the more popular features for churches and ministries, and then building from there based on who your audience is and what is relevant to them:
Media
Regardless of what elements you include in your weekly services, every church has media in some shape or form. Whether you have videos, music, or only record sermon audio, our unparalleled media experience will help you provide great content that your community can integrate into their daily lives.
It's easy to download for a later time, users can multitask and do other things on their phone while listening, and there's even a handy 30 second rewind and fast forward feature so listeners don't miss a word of your content.
Bible and Bible Reading Plans
The awesome thing about this feature is that your community can use it during the week, or directly in their app on Sunday morning.
Giving
Subsplash Giving is an incredibly easy mobile giving solution, and we are invested in making sure awareness and adoption is successful. Subsplash Giving enables you to have a welcome place for new donors to give, and provides opportunity for increased donations from existing donors.
Not all churches have the same resources available to them, but that doesn't have to limit how they can use their app, which leads us to our next important question...
2. What kind of bandwidth does your team have?
Whether you're running a lean staff of 3, or a large team of 100 we are committed to walking with you every step of the way and making your app a success! We have a whole team dedicated to that purpose. If you are looking for free resources to maximize your app, tips on how to organize your app, or technical questions, our App Specialist Team is willing and ready to take your call or answer your email!
Regardless of what your leadership team looks like, answering this question as it relates to your app is important in helping you determine what ongoing maintenance of your app might look like, which leads us to our last question...
3. What would it look like to scale your content?
As your church evolves over time, your content should change too. Maybe you want to expand into video or start including blog posts in your app. Making a plan for the future will set you up for success.
Get in touch with us if you have any questions about creating an app!