In this blog, we’ll show you how anyone can use texting to reach their specific goals this Christmas season. Whether it’s coordinating volunteers, inviting your congregation, or getting your community to show up for Christmas service, you can use the Gloo+ texting feature to maximize your efforts and put together an engaging Christmas for your people. 

3 Steps to Christmas Texting Success 

Follow these three steps and you’ll put together a Christmas texting program that accomplishes your goals and reduces stress. 

Step 1: Determine Your Goal

First, you have to determine your church's goals for the season. Here we’ve outlined some of the most common goals churches on Gloo have for the Christmas texting programs.  

• Maximizing Christmas Service & Event Attendance
• Recruit and Coordinate Volunteers
• Promoting Christmas Giving & Generosity
• More Guest Engagement
• Increase Prayer in Your Town or City
• Invite People from Your Community to Attend an Event or Service
• Following Up with New Visitors

Once you’ve identified your goals, you can move to the next steps of planning your Christmas texting campaigns: determining the audience and crafting your message.

Step 2: Identify Specific Audiences & Groups

Now that you have your goals identified, you need to figure out who needs to receive texts in order for you to reach your goal. Your message might only be relevant to certain groups, or you might want to customize how you share your church-wide messages with different audiences. Here we break groups into two main categories: people you already know, and people you don’t know….yet. 

For even more group ideas, check out The Ultimate List of Groups.

People You Already Know

There are probably already groups in your church that you can think of off the top of your head, but the more segmented your audience is, the easier it will be to communicate with them in the way they prefer. 

Here are a few ideas: 

• All Current Congregants
• Small Groups
• New Congregants
• People with Children
• Previous Event Attendees
• Volunteers
• Givers

People You Don’t Know Yet

This part is harder, but certainly not impossible! The easiest way to do it is to get your phone number in front of as many new people as possible. That means make sure you have calls-to-action clearly displayed for anyone who might encounter them, asking them to text in. 

Many churches even turn their number into a QR code so that it’s easy to scan and send a text.  Put your QR code on flyers, signs, and banners around your neighborhood and your church entrance. Ask congregants to share it. 

These are some groups you can try to reach through this strategy: 

• Community

• Neighbors and new movers
• Friends and family
• Co-workers
• New Visitors

Step 3: Craft Your Texting Campaign

The next (and final) step is to craft your texting campaign! You put your goals and audience together in order to create messages to include in your campaign to be successful. 

Goals + Groups = Campaign

With your main groups identified, think about what will resonate most with each one, as it pertains to your goals. This will put structure into your campaign before you begin writing the specific messages that will need to go out. 

For example:

• If your goal is High Attendance, you might consider running an Event Reminder Campaign. Regular Congregants and Small Groups will receive reminders for events, inspirational devotionals, or a weekly reflection to help prepare for Christmas. Keeping the invites and reminders going out at regular intervals will increase the hype for upcoming events and keep your regulars showing up in high numbers.
  
  
• If your goal is More Giving, you can run a Holiday Generosity Campaign. You’ll reach out to past givers and existing congregants with high engagement, where you share stories that illustrate the impact of each gift (and include a call-to-action with a link for easy online giving), which will inspire and encourage givers in your community.
  
  
• If you want More Engagement, you’ll want a campaign that keeps people engaging and growing in their faith throughout the Christmas season. A Weekly Advent Reflection Campaign, where you send out short devotions or prayers leading up to Christmas, will help congregants prepare spiritually and keep people growing in their faith even when they aren’t physically in a pew. 

Putting It Together 

In this chart, you can visualize the alignment between your goal, your group, and the texts you’ll need to send. Here are some common examples of goals, groups, and sample texts that will be included in your campaign.

Your campaign will consist of more than one text, and probably more than one group. But with this chart, you can see the way these items all connect together for your campaign. 

Practical Tips 

Time to write the messages you’ll be sending out to your groups. To ensure your texts make a strong impression, keep these tips in mind:

• Keep It Short and Personal: Warm, concise messages have the biggest impact. Aim for a friendly tone that feels like it’s coming from a friend (which it is) rather than a cold machine.
  
  
• Clear Calls to Action (CTAs): Each text should have a clear purpose, with actionable CTAs, like “Join us at…” or “Let us know you’re coming.”
  
  
• Focus on Building Anticipation: Campaigns that start by building excitement often see high engagement. For example, weekly Advent countdowns or teaser texts can create a sense of anticipation and keep people looking forward to each message.
  
  
• Highlight Community Connection: Emphasize the idea of coming together, as this is often what people seek most during the holiday season. Successful campaigns often share specific ways the congregation can get involved, from volunteering to community events. Inviting people to “be part of something special” can be very meaningful.
  
  

Bonus: Take Your Texting Game to the Next Level

Here are some pro tips when you’re crafting your texts for your campaign—keeping these things in mind can help you level up and multiply your success this Christmas. 

Frequency

You have to determine the frequency at which these groups are going to receive texts. Finding the right frequency for your texts is key to keeping your audience engaged without overwhelming them. Here are some best practices to consider when planning your Christmas messaging schedule:

• Build Consistency Without Overloading
• Ramp Up as Christmas Approaches
• Make Each Message Purposeful

The goal is to use frequency as a way to build excitement, so by the time Christmas arrives, your community is ready and excited to join in the celebration.

Texting Style

What style of texting is going to resonate with your audience while also getting your message across? 

Your texting style should resonate with your audience and be consistent with your church’s tone. It should be true to the identity of your church and leadership, because that’s what your people really look forward to: a personal connection with the church leaders they trust and respect. 

Types of Texts

There are actually quite a lot of options for the types of texts you’re sending, in addition to your typical, basic text. Each has their own place. 

Basic Texts: The classic text message is direct, simple, and effective. Ideal for reminders, quick updates, or event RSVPs, basic texts are highly readable and easy to respond to, making them a reliable way to reach everyone on your list without added frills.

Video Messaging: Gloo’s Video Messaging feature lets you send personalized video messages directly to congregants, adding a personal touch that goes beyond words. 

Polls: Polls allow you to gather real-time feedback and foster engagement by inviting people to share their opinions. People get excited when they know their opinion is directly being heard and taken into consideration.

A combination of these text formats over the course of your Christmas campaign can keep things engaging and exciting. 

Measure Success

Tracking the success of your campaign allows you to see the impact of your efforts and learn what resonates most with your community. 

When measuring success, focus on key metrics that reflect engagement and interest. Consider tracking:

• Prayer Requests and Responses: Increased engagement in prayer requests can indicate a strengthened connection with your congregation.
  
  
• Text Interactions and Response Rates: High response rates to polls, RSVPs, or questions show that people are actively engaging with your messages.
  
  
• Event Attendance: Compare attendance numbers with past events to see how well your texts drew people in.
  
  

Anyone Can Be a Christmas Engagement Pro Thanks to Texting

With this roadmap to success, your Christmas texting campaign can have a powerful impact, reaching beyond simple invitations to create meaningful connections. By strategically engaging your congregation and extending invitations to the wider community, you can make this holiday season one of increased attendance, deeper engagement, and a stronger church community. Let this be the season where your messages make a lasting difference.

We want to make sure you have all the tools you need to run a perfect Christmas texting campaign, no matter what your goal is, so for a limited time, we're excited to offer you 40% of Gloo+. Sign up before Christmas to claim this awesome deal!