Mustardseed Media Inc.

Church Marketing Sucks.There. I said it. Now lets talk about why. “Branding” gets a bad rap in the church community. A fear spread rapidly that if you give yourself a unified look and image, you’re automatically “just like a corporation”. Years of this philosophy have put churches and ministries decades behind in the competition for the American attention span. Churches don’t identify themselves clearly or professionally, so they’re ignored, or at worst, ridiculed. In this media-saturated culture, we must brand or be irrelevant. I choose branding.

A Unified look

So, what is branding and how does it work? Well, I’ve found I could write a book on this topic but let’s keep it short and sweet.

• Colors: Choose 2-3 colors that identify something about you and stick with them. Maybe you live in an area where the environment is important to people…so you choose green and brown (grass and earth). Maybe your church focuses on an immigrating Mexican population? How about green, red and white, reflecting the colors of Mexico? Whatever you choose, pick 2-3 colors and stick with them.
• Fonts: It’s tempting to use one of those fonts pre-installed on your computer, but don’t do it. 100 million other people have those same fonts on their computer, and after seeing them in every PowerPoint presentation they watch, they won’t be interested if your church name is the same font. Head out to CompUSA or search the internet for font packs. You can get them cheap, and they’ll do you a world of good. Also, don’t represent yourself with a decorative, cursive, or other hard to read font. It’s not fancy or fun…it’s just hard to read. So, stay simple.

  So,find a font that is simple yet unique. Type your church name in that font, make the letters one of your chosen colors (you’ve got 2 picked out, right?) and you’re done. Simple logo created.

Usage

So, where do you use this unified look? Everywhere. You don’t want people to get confused about who you are. Use your colors and font on everything you do. Use them on your website, your business cards, your sign, your community mailings and posters. It will get boring to you, but that’s ok. It won’t get boring to someone looking for a church…it will be clear and consistent.

The Tools

Ok, so now you’ve got your colors and a simple logo. How do you put this stuff together? There’s the easy way and the right way. Help me turn this giant ship around and become one of the few churches doing things the right way…

• Software: Microsoft doesn’t make design software. I know, I know…you already have Publisher installed on your computer. But, I plead with you, don’t use it!! Not a single professional designer ever opens or even installs Publisher. Instead start getting familiar with a company called Adobe. Products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are made by Adobe and are professional quality design products. What’s that? You don’t have a professional quality budget? That’s ok. Start with Adobe’s consumer program called “Photoshop Elements”. You can do just about anything you need to with this program and you can pick it up for well under $100.
• Send someone to a class: So, your secretary says “I can’t learn Photoshop!” Yes, she can! Check out your local community college and encourage someone to attend a Photoshop class. You’d be amazed at how much your church’s image will improve.
• Clip Art: PLEASE, stop using clip art! Instead, pick up a package of images at your local computer store that includes art called “Photo Objects”. A company called Hemera puts out lots of packages and they’re not expensive. Use those instead of that nasty, 2nd-grade-looking clipart.

Resources

Ok, so you’re at the end of this article, and you’re thinking: Easy for you to say, but I just don’t have the time to learn all this stuff. Well, let me help you out by giving you a couple of resources to make your life easier:

• Church Marketing Sucks.com: A whole website dedicated to the issue of bad church marketing. Lots of tips and thoughts on how to do a lot with the resources you have: http://churchmarketingsucks.com
• Da Font: Fonts. Glorious free fonts. Check out this website that offers hundreds of free fonts for your logos. Free is a beautiful word: http://www.dafont.com/en/
• Use your local library! Libraries were always devoid of anything new or relevant in the media/design department. But, these days, they’re much better. You can learn everything to become a design and marketing expert by heading to your library and getting how-to books on Photoshop, Web-design, or general marketing and advertising concepts.

Church Marketing doesn’t have to suck. It’s all up to you. Take a bit of time to educate yourself. Go to the library or bookstore and read up. The future image of the church is in your hands.