Sometimes a church will spend lots of time and money to get a brand established — they create a name, put a tag line with it that makes a great promise. They build the brand name awareness into their church culture and do the right things to ensure the fit with their core values. They do this to make sure they can honestly deliver what the brand promises. They even wrangle over the colors to make sure they are right and reinforce the name and tag line. They launch a big branding announcement with a buzz and soon it begins to work. Time to relax right? Far from it. The best branding is an ongoing unified effort that should never stop.
Even the most popular brand in the world can be killed. It can be done deliberately or mistakenly. Below are the most common mistakes that kill brands. Memorize all ten and if you catch yourself doing any of them, turn it around fast.
10. Inconsistent Identity
A church must use the same name, logo and tag line in every contact inside and outside the church. The church name on the sign out front must match what is on your business card and website. How the phone is answered is important and every way a prospect might hear about you should be consistent. Consistent means go wide with your efforts. Branding won’t be achieved if you choose to use only one or two marketing avenues to get the word out. (like a church sign, or newspaper ad) Your prospect must hear and see all your name, logo, tag line and colors consistently over and over and over in many different ways before you are imprinted on their mind map.
9. Poor Visuals (or no visuals)
If you want your church name to pop into someone's mind be aware that pictures are more sticky than words. We think in pictures. Have a consistent visual picture and logo that comes to represent your church. For instance when you see the golden arches you know you can get that same consistent hamburger and fries (although we hope your not the golden arches church). Create a strong visual image (logo, color scheme, etc.) and make it known.
8. Not Communicating Your Brand to Your Internal Audience
Think of your attendees as potentially walking, talking billboards. Pump them up about the name, logo and tag line - train them to be community ambassadors in spreading the essence of who your church is. Equip them with the proper tools to do it right.
7. Failure to Track Branding Efforts
Every time someone calls your church, the person on the phone should gently probe for how they came call your church (saw your ad on TV or received a postcard in the mail, invited by a friend, attended a previous event, etc.). Check your web hits. Who's visiting, what pages are they looking at, etc. Record the answers and keep a master list. This data should direct future marketing.
6. Not Using Existing Attendees and Visitors for Branding
The best marketing tool in your arsenal is WOM (word of mouth advertising). Ask your members, attendees and visitors if they will join you in getting the word out — ask for their opinion about your services, events or seminars; ask them what they think your church’s greatest strength is — and ask if you can quote them in brochure or ad.
5. Letting Your Promotional Materials Get Stale
Many churches make this marketing mistake but it’s particularly true for small churches. They decide to have a brochure and pay for design and then order 10,000 copies which takes them seven years to use up — but they refuse to get a new brochure until all those are gone! Order smaller amounts and re-do them more frequently (even if much of the same information is used with new graphics). Don't use the same newspaper ad or worship shell for three years — when your materials are stale, people ignore them and tune out your message.
4. Failing to Focus Branding on Your Core Service
Your core service should be changing lives (if it's not, you're at the wrong website). If you want your branding to be successful, let people know about changed lives. This is why Blockbuster stayed #1 in their field. Their core service is renting movie videos/DVD. They also rent video games, sell candy and have a line or merchandise that goes with the movies (Scoobie-Doo Video can be purchased and so can a stuffed Scoobie-Doo dog). But their marketing is mainly about renting movies -- not candy and popcorn sales.
3. Not Have a Tagline That is Believable
If you go to J.C. Penny's three times and each time could not find what you are looking for, then you aren't going to believe their tag line: It's all inside. If the tag line doesn't match the reality experienced at your church, they will not believe it and they will kill your marketing efforts with negative word-of-mouth comments.
2. Continuing to Use a Weak Brand
If you've never had a professionally produced logo or website, you're hurting your perception in the community. A good logo design can last 10 years or longer. A good website should have the ability to be "freshened up" at least every 3 years or so. Strong signs of a weak brand are:
- No one can remember your logo and image.
- You can’t define in one sentence your brand.
- You can’t define what differentiates you from other churches in the area.
- Your brand has no vision, mission or values at all.
- If someone knows your church, they know about it because of you and not because of the brand.
1. Not Knowing Where Successful Branding Starts
Successful branding starts inside your church. Only people with intimate experience truly know the essence or personality of your church. Only you and your internal audience deliver the message. Talk to your attendees often. Only you can insure consistency in use of name, logo, and tag line. Successful branding starts inside your church — it's nurtured there and you can take all the credit for it's success — we provide the tools and tell you precisely how to use them for the most successful branding. We accept no limits and invite you to imagine no limits to making your brand known in your community and beyond. |
The Top 10 Ways to Ruin Your Brand