Church Brand Guide Podcast | Logo, Website, Video, And Design

In many churches, a lot is happening, but people don't know what those things are. An excellent opportunity to let people know what is happening at church is by making some announcements in the service. In this episode, we explore how to make service announcements well. 

A logo is an icon that represents what your church stands for. It is the first thing people see of your brand, and it needs to be appropriately designed for them. The logo is a cornerstone of the church's brand, and you must invest in a great, sticky design to cut through the noise. In this episode, we unpack how your church can be sure it has the right logo.

A successful website is always working for your church to get new guests to come to a service. It's like an employee working 24/7 to get new guests, so it must be built as a tool to help people make their first visit. We like using Wordpress to build websites for churches with Divi Builder installed to make the site easy to design and update. This podcast episode discusses the tools for building an effective church website for your church.

As creatives, we are asked to be an expert in an area of communications, but it can be a struggle to get your ideas implemented. In this episode, we help creatives with tips so they can add value to the church in their area of expertise. Michael and Denis have years of church communications experience and share their best insights.

Churches that understand how to properly use emails and text messages are the ones that see people join the church, join a group, and join a team. These tools are very effective in helping people take their next steps. The problem is most churches do this all wrong. This episode will guide you through producing emails and text messages that move people. 

We will dive into tactics for creating videos that tell the stories of your church. Telling stories is the key to cultivating champions in the church, and one of the most powerful tools to do this is a video showing the impact God has through the church. A brand champion participates at a high level to volunteer, give, and invite others to the church.

The website is the front door to your ministry, and you must have a clear strategy to see new guests to your weekend services. Listen to the podcast episode about building an attractive church website so you can easily apply the tips and see results. We share insights to help you adjust your current site or determine whether you need a new website. 

Denis Estimon is our guest, and he shares the most effective tool your church can use right now to reach people: Instagram Reels. The effectiveness of social media is constantly changing, but you can get ahead of the game by listening to this episode. Churches are typically behind in using new tools for reaching an audience. Don't be like most churches. 

While serving on a church staff in communications, Denis realized he could reach many people through "digital outreach." He was able to cut through the noise to grow the church. He saw how his marketing skills could share the church's ideas like wildfire. All he needed was to shift his mindset from marketing to outreach to be more authentic, resulting in being more effective.

A great church logo design will get you noticed. It relates to people in your community and creates a recognizable impression. As a communications director, you must invest in a well-designed logo, so your marketing is more effective. The logo is the tip of the iceberg when building a brand. It has to be right so you can put it on everything from signs, to printed materials, to digital media. A great logo helps your church to be sticky in the community so people will recognize you.

In this new podcast episode, you'll learn how I implemented a new brand for a church that has been around for decades in the Church of God in Christ denomination. Now they are growing in weekly attendance and church membership. Building a brand is a powerful tool a church can use to clearly and concisely communicate its benefits. Clarity is what cuts through the noise to reach people, letting them know the benefits of coming to church in a visually appealing way. Get inspired by this new brand for Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ that is helping them see new members.

You can leverage events to grow the church, just like we help Cornerstone Church do to see new families join the church every month. The key is to think about building your brand instead of just promoting an event. When you get this right, you'll have effective promotions to get new guests to come to the church. You will steward the church money well and be more creative in your marketing.  Many churches scramble to get promotions together at the last minute for an upcoming event, and they end up not seeing the results they want for the investment they make. The promotion package costs more money than it should and stresses everyone involved. With my "onramp" strategy, you can solve this problem to become a better steward of your time, creativity, and finances. 

In this new podcast episode, we look at eight tips for what makes a great church logo design, and you'll see the logo I created for Calvary Church, located in Pella, Iowa.  What is your logo saying about you? People judge a book by its cover, and your logo is the most seen part of your brand. The problem may be that your logo communicates that you are not relevant to your community. Get an updated logo that better relate to your audience and looks good in various forms of media. You will gain brand recognition in the community, so people know you exist. A good logo increases the effectiveness of your marketing efforts by making you appear relevant.

A great brand is built by asking great questions. I have a list of 20 questions that I ask my new clients to help me get up to speed with their current brand and the vision they have for the future. Once I have these answers, I can choose the right colors, fonts, and graphic treatments that represent the vision and then create a visual identity that aligns with the vision. This alignment builds a high level of trust in the brand that compels people to take their next steps with the church. 

You will get tips for creating a sub-brand as I share the example of branding a men's conference. Tip: Create sub-brands only for significant events that reach many people. Otherwise, use the church's brand standards (colors, fonts, etc.) to create smaller event promotions. Tip: Have a target audience avatar for the event, so you choose your design elements and messaging specifically for that person. Tip: Create a simple brand guide that defines color values, fonts, and a logo that is consistent across all media. Listen to learn more.  See the case study of the brand here: https://churchbrandguide.com/tip-for-creating-a-sub-brand-for-a-mens-event/

Since rebranding, True Life Church is seeing a great deal of momentum moving them toward growth. See the story of the True Life Church rebrand from First Assembly of Clay County. More people are attending the church on a regular basis. Pastor Billy knows the difference knowing God has made in his life to transform him from an addict to a provider of hope as a minister. He is passionate about helping others understand the truth of the Gospel so they too can live their best life. 

A fresh vision needed to be implemented at Legacy Church to take them from where they were to where they needed to be. Pastor John Dunn took over Legacy Church after the previous pastor built it 40 years. He changed the culture and has seen a growth of over 130% in attendance in 2021. Giving has increased by 300%, and this all happened during the pandemic. This episode will provide you with branding ideas as Pastor John shares his story of church growth.

Great brands reach people where they are and invite them in. Dain Jepson is the executive pastor of Montgomery Community Church, and he joins us to discuss how they are creating a brand to reach people as the dust settles on the pandemic. Dain gives insights on the branding process and how his team was able to come together to have meaningful discussions. He also shares the impact the new brand is having. This episode will help you understand what a good branding process looks like, so the results you get are excellent. For more resources go to churchbrandguide.com.

We discuss using some business tactics to reach people for ministry with Geno Guevara. This episode will open your mind to new possibilities for what is available to you as a ministry. We often get stuck in our own world, but the most significant innovations come from ideas outside our circle. Geno owns a martial arts business where he uses software to create sales funnels and automation to bring in new customers. He was inspired to use the same business tactics to reach people who are searching for answers online. Geno has a passion for ministry to millennials and wanted to reach them with the Gospel where they were. 

In this episode of the Church Brand Guide Podcast, our guest, Nick Agimudie, discusses how you can develop a culture of creativity in your church to attract creative people and keep innovating within the church. Many churches struggle with creativity. There is a tension between being genuine and innovating within the church. The result is that churches don't attract creative people, and they feel stuck doing things the way they have always been done.