MESSAGE

COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO PROMOTING FALL RETREAT.

This seems obvious and it is. However we often have blindspots in our communication. For example, you could describe a Fall Retreat as, "It's like a road trip with your best friends" or "It's like camping with 100 people" or "You get Bible teaching and worship and the outdoors..." While each of these may be true, they are not a helpful message.

CONSIDER WHO YOU ARE COMMUNICATING WITH.

What is their context? What are their hopes, fears...?

Consider your average freshmen. They don't know a lot of people yet, maybe they have 2 friends in Cru and they're staying around to check it out. If you call this a road trip with best friends, they are likely to think, "Everyone who's going already know each other and I'll feel like an outsider." They have misunderstood the nature of a Fall Retreat and this is why it's not a helpful message.

MAKE YOUR MESSAGE ACCESSIBLE.

Think about what your want your audience to understand about Fall Retreat, now consider how to speak in a way where they will hear that.

Here's a short cut. Adapt the Cru Winter Conference language for Fall Retreat. When describing CruWC we say, "It's a place where you can connect with God and others, where you can discover and take a next step in your spiritual journey."

I would adjust it to, "Fall Retreat is a place where you can connect with God and others, where you can take a next step in your spiritual journey no matter where you're at right now." To a believer this can be understood that "they will grow in their faith and deepen their relationship with God." To a seeker this can be understood, "I'll make some friends and I can keep checking this Jesus thing out."

This may seems small and maybe even unnecessary, but that's why it's so important. We don't realize that we naturally talk in a way that makes sense to ourselves and thus are easily misunderstood by others. Crafting and adjusting your message to be accessible to your whole audience will be key to effective promotion.

MAKE YOUR COMMUNICATION HELPFUL

Do students recognize value in your communication?

Maybe post about Fall Retreat lists top five ways to meet new friends your first semester (and Fall Retreat is one of them). Do you communicate things like "what to pack" and "how to find a ride"? These are specific to Fall Retreat but are still in a posture of helping.

I KNOW WHAT TO PROMOTE, BUT HOW DO I PROMOTE?

Take a look at some promo strategies.