Parent Communication Strategies that Work
This is often such a hard conversation. Your emails go unopened, your text messages go unanswered, and events go without RSVPs because no one is reading the communication.
Nearly 90% of millennials are social-media users, compared with 76% of Gen X-ers and 59% of baby boomers, according to market-research firm eMarketer.
Parent communication is a lot like marketing. It is a totally different muscle than ministry. At the bottom line, it is crafting your message in a way that is inviting and relatable.
Parents Need 3 types of communication:
Storytelling
Equipping
Encouraging
These 3-part communication pillars will show your families that you are more than just an announcement board (and you want to be more of an announcement board).
Each of these communication strategies can be done at a large scale, a small scale, or a personal scale.
STORYTELLING
This type of communication is relational — and its whole purpose is to help parents see that they are not alone in their humanity.
Sundays can often feel robotic. You show up, drop your kids off, go to service, pick them up, and leave. But then a family walks in that disrupts the status quo. Maybe they have no idea where to go. They've never dropped their child off anywhere before. Their kids don't have shoes. Their kids are nervous and struggling to adjust. You know these families — and yet, the moment they walk in, they can feel like a specimen under a microscope. Out of place. Abnormal.
When you share a story, it makes the human-ness of people feel less abnormal and more normal.
A pastor here in town often shares his testimony with newcomers. He came to Christ as a college student and walked into a Bible study for the first time without knowing where to find the book of Jonah. He shares that story because it helps people realize: he's normal. He was once right where they are.
I share stories of my own kids escaping the classroom and having hard Sundays — because it helps parents see that being on staff doesn't mean my kids are perfect. We're all figuring this out together.
Your emails, instagram content, and announcements should tell stories.
EQUIPPING:
This is the coach role. Think training, think practice, think skill-building.
My daughter is playing softball right now. Her coaches run skills training where the girls split into groups and practice the specific skills needed for the game. The coaches are there offering tips and tricks, correcting form, and giving the girls multiple opportunities to try again.
Equipping communication looks a lot like that.
Hey Families — say this prayer together this week.
Simple. Specific. Actionable. That one prompt is helping them practice the skill of praying together as a family.
Here's the reality: the majority of your families are not ready for a full discipleship strategy quite yet — just like my daughter isn't quite ready to play competitive softball with her new team. That's okay. That's what practice is for. Your job is to be the coach: showing up, offering the right prompt at the right time, and giving families room to try again.
ENCOURAGING
Cheer them on.
When their family wins, you win.
Send texts that are full of encouragement. Invite your volunteers to encourage parents during check out. Encourage parents in the hallway, through social media, and in emails. There should always be a point in your communication where you say, “You got this. You’re doing a great job. I’m here for you.”
When all three pillars are implemented, you’ve shown your parents that you are more than events, you are more than asking them to serve, and you are more than a simple announcement board. These pillars help you communicate that you are with them and journeying alongside them as they disciple their kids.