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Online Advertisement within Christian Media
Brenna Blakeney
School of Communication and Creative Arts, Liberty University
SCOM110: Media and Culture (D01)
Russel Jones
April 25, 2022
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Online Advertisements within Christian Media
Social media has become a massive contributor to the way people find out about events,
artists, books, and so much more. With this continuous development, there have been a lack of
growth within the online advertisements for different Christian medias, specifically musicians
and the church. The most common way to learn about a Christian event is to already be
connected into a “Christian community” that would promote similar events or artist to those that
already know about it. Today I am going to focus on how advertisements have changed over the
years and how Christian medias has been using it to grow in the number of people hearing or
finding them.
Growth of New Advertising
As mentioned before, advertising has grown drastically since its beginning with AT&T in
1994. In 1994 AT&T had put a web banner onto a website and it was clicked like crazy. Not
because a lot of people wanted something from the company, but because it was something
different that wasn’t seen before. The AT&T ad was a part of the “You Will” campaign basically
asking, “have you ever clicked your mouse here?” and in the end of the ad, you will (LaFrance).
These types of ads are not as popular as they first were and have since been “blocked” by most
browsers through ad blockers. Since then, companies have continuously found ways to keep their
advertisements on websites alive and well as well as finding new platforms to promote on. The
technology has grown tremendously since this first discovery. We can now see advertisements on
any form of media if it is connected to the internet.
Social Media
As mentioned before, social media has blown up massively ever since our technological
discoveries have grown. It is now possible for any company or person to promote themselves or
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their business by just paying a small fee. A recent study came out to discuss how the different
generations are using social media platforms to find products and brands. According to Doug
Gormon, he states “Promisingly, 26% of social media users say they tend to buy brands they see
advertised” (Gormon). This might not seem like a lot, however in the world of advertising that is
doing well. Generation Z and millennials tend to be the people that use social media the heaviest.
This gives them a higher chance to be the ones to see these ads that companies, and people are
putting out there.
Mobile Games
Advertisements can be seen on any platform that connects to the internet. A place has
been taken over by this has been mobile games. Mobile games have been advertised on multiple
platforms; however, they have taken over their own platform by advertising through their games.
The advertisements seen on mobile games are not like other ads seen on the other platforms.
These ads are meant to make the games themselves money through people paying to get rid of
the ads, like an ad blocker. Since the pandemic, mobile gaming has stepped up their ways when it
comes to advertising. It is a global phenomenon that has impacted how we receive information.
Mobile gaming has does extremely well at “targeting [their] advertising to [their] most relevant
audience” (Rosenfelder). After looking at all the way advertising has grown and how it is used,
lets focus on how Christian artist, companies, and churches use them.
How Christians Use Advertising
The way Christianity has been shared for the longest time by word of mouth. People can
often picture someone coming up to the doorstep and just asking if they know who Jesus is. The
way Christian share has changed since then (this way still happens but not as often) and has
taken a turn for the newer generation. A lot of churches, Christian companies, and artist have
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started to use different forms of advertisements to promote their desired product. Even though
they have been working on advertising more, there is still quite a few scenarios that it seems like
they are not using it to its full potential. On this note, we are going to look into how musicians
and churches have been using advertisements within their domains to help grow as people or
groups.
Advertising for Musicians
Christian musicians have been at a disadvantage when it comes to advertisement and
getting their music out into the world. Most Christian music tends to be played specifically on
other Christian radio stations or the listener choosing to listen to the music. This means that
unless the artist chooses to advertise on their own, their music will only be found through these
stations. Another thing with Christian radio stations is that most are listener funded, meaning that
the listeners donate money to keep the station going. This means that “songwriters receive far
less income than those in other genres” (Brokaw). When it comes to self-advertising, Christian
musicians have taken a major step up in advertising themselves on social media. A lot of
musicians have taken to Instagram to promote their music and just their everyday lives to get
more connected with their audience. For example, Hulvey is a Christian rapper that has grown a
lot over the years. On his Instagram he posts clips of his upcoming songs, where he is
performing next and even his vacation photos with his wife. People can find him for his music or
if his aesthetic matches what the viewer enjoys. There are not many other ways for artist to
stretch the area they go when it comes to advertising, yet it is a start.
Advertising for Churches
Just like musicians, churches have started to make their appearance on the different social
media platforms. Most churches have websites that their members know about to see the next
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event that they are planning; however, their websites have become a lot more important now that
churches are taking over the social media market. According to Josh Wilbur, “churches are losing
young people at a precipitous rate” (Wilbur). This is because of the generational gap that has
appeared with the growth of technology. This is what led to churches using social media to
promote their church. People have said that this is connected to the Great Commission from
Matthew 28 saying to “go and make disciples of all nations.” This can be included with those
that are scrolling. Church teams have started to notice how advertising can affect the number of
people that might come to an event and end up connected. A pastor in Ohio talked about how she
spent twenty dollars to promote an easter event at their church and about four hundred people
ended up coming. This was all thanks to one Facebook ad. It won’t work that way for all
churches, but it is a start into reaching out to the audience.
Conclusion
After looking at the ways that advertisement has changed Christian medias due to social
media, the future for Christian musicians, companies, and churches is looking up. Christians are
taking to social media to share their beliefs and make Him known. Meaning that the generational
gap is beginning to close. Even though there is so many ways advertising to help Christian media
to grow, the start is looking promising. So as shown above, the growth of advertisement within
social media has left an effect on the different Christian medias and how they continue to grow.
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References
Brokaw, J., & jgordon1. (2008, October 3). 3 things you need to know about Christian music
industry and the economy. Gospel Soundcheck. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/gospelsoundcheck/2008/10/3-things-you-need-to-
know-abou.html
Gorman, D. (2022, February 17). How effective is advertising on social media? GWI. Retrieved
April 25, 2022, from https://blog.gwi.com/trends/ads-on-social-media/
LaFrance, A. (2021, March 12). The first-ever banner ad on the web. The Atlantic. Retrieved
April 25, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/the-first-
ever-banner-ad-on-the-web/523728/
Rosenfelder, S. (2022, April 21). Why in-game mobile advertising has become the most effective
monetization strategyShan. AppsFlyer. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.appsflyer.com/blog/mobile-marketing/in-game-mobile-advertising/
Wilbur, J. (2019, September 13). Churches are using targeted ads to convert and recruit. Slate
Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://slate.com/technology/2019/09/churches-
social-media-personalized-targeted-ads-geofencing.html
