Articles

Here’s a quick punch list of ideas to evaluate and improve your church or organization’s brand:

1. ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE.

• Who is target demographic?
• What do numbers show is your current reality?
• What is your aspiration?

2. COLLECT WEBSITE TRAFFIC DATA.

• Pore over Google analytics. What are most common pages and clicks, types of content used, routes, destinations?
• What are missing opportunities?

3. COLLECT VISITOR AND NEW MEMBER DATA.

• Same for new members. What are averages, high and low points, retention rates. The object is to look for trends.
• Why do people stay?
• Why do they leave?

4. CONDUCT A CONGREGATIONAL SURVEY.

• What are best things about church? Worst?
• What do people think about the church?
• What are signature ministries?
• What are ministries in need of development?

5. STUDY THE CAMPUS.

• If you were coming on campus for the first time, what makes the biggest impression, and why?
• Where is the brand from the exterior view? Is it obvious enough? Where can it be improved?
• What are existing channels for campus messaging? Missing any?
• Any presence of core values and stories that reflect brand visible on campus?

6. CLARIFY YOUR DENOMINATIONAL RELATIONSHIP.

• If your church is in a denomination, you have two (often competing) brands – the local church and the denomination. You need the local church brand to be more dominant, but from an audience awareness view, the denomination is probably more dominant.
• Decide what to do about this – build both? Lose the denomination? Marry the values?
• To members who love the denominational brand, conduct a survey: why?
• If you stick with the denominational brand, (re)define what it means in your context. This requires extensive storytelling.

7. LEARN YOUR FOUNDERS’ STORY.

• What did you do in the beginning?
• What were the big struggles and victories?
• Look for ways these stories can build the brand.

8. EXPLORE THE WHY.

• What’s the why for the church?
• Why do your leaders do what they do in ministry?
• What is your source of un-peace?
• Differentiate purpose statement versus marketing statement.

9. DEFINE “SUCCESS”.

• Large church staffs have a lot of assumptions about the Whys- a lot of different understandings about what it means to do church. Don’t allow assumptions, but clearly state what “success” looks like to create a clear sense of purpose.
• Ask, what does an image of a disciple look like at this church?
• Within specific ministry areas? Point to specific people and articulate why they’re an image of discipleship at your church.

10. DIG INTO VALUES.

• Are existing values ever used in decision-making? If not, they’re not good enough. Values should drive strategy.
• Do exec and/or staff exercises to deepen understanding of group values. I write more about values here.

11. CREATE A SET OF DELIVERABLES TO INCREASE CLARITY.

• Share your research results with staff and lay leadership.
• Tell core stories to the staff and to the congregation.
• Development brand guidebook.
• Tweak vision and values statements to reflect this research.