Effective branding for churches has never been more important. We live in a media-driven age where first impressions last and a church’s brand presence can literally be the difference someone coming to visit a church or not. A church ‘brand’ is so much more than just the logo. It’s also the language that is used, the visual look and feel around the logo, the kinds of photos used. Ultimately a successful church brand can be defined by the power and focus of the story you tell. Continue Reading…
I’ve been around Twitter and Facebook for quite a while now and more recently Instagram. If I could hit the rewind button on some of the things I’ve done really badly I would. I’ve seen many church leaders use social media really well. However some pastors and leaders have well, ahem, sucked at it to be honest (myself included at times). Some haven’t understood what social media really is and how to get maximum leverage from it.
Social media is a wonderful opportunity for church leaders, para-church leaders to build a platform of social influence that can extend well beyond the four walls of a Sunday experience. For example, it’s an opportunity for your congregations to see what you do beyond Sundays during the week. It is also a savvy way for your church to move beyond the corporate church Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts and put a human and personal touch to everything that is social about the mission and vision of your church. This is an exciting opportunity not just for your senior leader but your whole church staff in personalising your church’s social media influence.
If you are a church communications pro please pass these tips onto your church staff and leaders. Social media is simply the best way to extend and amplify your church’s voice.
I often wonder what other Communications Director’s work days look like. From chatting with a few of you they all seem different. Every Communications Director who serves in a church seems to have a different strength which helps shape their week. I thought I would share what my last week looked like. Continue Reading…
Facebook has gotten a lot of negative press around a recent change that they have made that will impact brands, non-profits and churches fan pages. Facebook has changed their EdgeRank algorithm so that posts are only seen by around 15% of your Facebook fan page followers. That’s right, only 15% down from a much higher percentage of the people will see your posts – unless you pay for the privilege. But it’s not all bad news. In fact I think there is a massive opportunity for churches and non-profits who are entrepreneurial in their social media strategy. Continue Reading…
Working in church communications is an honour and a privilege. Helping ministries and churches reach their full potential and communicate their vision or launch a new idea never gets old. In the day-to-day of being in the trenches of working in church communications it can be easy to have your head down just taking on every project that comes your way without asking probing and insightful questions. Continue Reading…
Everyone comes to the point where they need to rebrand. For some it has taken some time to “discover who they really are” and realise that their brand identity doesn’t fit their existing reality. For some others, you have literally outgrown the existing brand. You have grown, entered into different areas and your brand identity just isn’t you.
Each category both need to have a compelling and convincing answer to the follow question: Continue Reading…
This is a guest post from Richenda Vermeulen from ntegrity. Richenda is a social media diva who really knows social media. I met Richenda at a recent conference I attended where she was a keynote speaker on social media. I wrote some in-depth notes from Richenda’s Session’s on social media, well worth checking out.
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“We need a social media strategy.”
That’s the statement I most commonly hear from people after they’ve learned about my job as a full time social media director. And my response is usually: Continue Reading…
Are you a weekend hack copywriter like myself? Photo credit
I know I’m not very good at writing. Especially when I look around and read what others in the marketing and communication world such as Copyblogger, Men With Pens write. They wield their pens like Arnold Palmer ripping up the back nine holes at the Masters on the final day.
I know that in the harsh cold light of day I’m really like that amateur weekend golfer in their loud pants trying my utmost to bring my A-game like a pro does.
Here are seven tips that will improve your writing swing from a frustrated weekend hacker to someone who has the potential to play with the pros. Continue Reading…
I haven’t written a specific ‘How To’ post for a while. But having just been through the process again myself I thought it would be good to share some brief ideas about how to create your own church email newsletter (Bulletin). If budget is an issue you can actually create your email newsletter for free. Some of you have marketing budgets too which is fantastic and this post is just as relevant for you as I operate on a budget too. Email can be a great marketing tactic if done well, more on that later on. Continue Reading…
It takes a lifetime to build a brand’s reputation and only one tweet to destroy it. Continue Reading…
