Why is Effective Branding so Important for a Ministry?

When you see branding and ministry in the same sentence it can raise an eyebrow or two. However, take a moment to think about everything that the term “branding” can include. Some more obvious items are a logo, maybe a tagline or catchphrase, and an identifiable color or color scheme. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Don’t get me wrong, a logo, catchphrase/tagline, and color scheme are incredibly important, but those three elements could be used for many other things. They might be on an envelope when sending out news to your members, or on a tee-shirt for your annual VBS, apart of the header and/or footer for your monthly e-newsletter, used on the cover page for a printed bulletin, business cards or pamphlets,  a website, various social media accounts, or for the video introduction to a recording of a worship service. The list goes on and on.

Let Us Help You With Your Brand

Here at Worship Times our team has years of experience with graphic design, logo design, large-scale branding, professional photography, and more. We can take your ideas and transform them into branding that you can use on anything that you might need to distinguish yourself from fellow ministries.

We realize that starting a rebranding phase is time consuming and involves a lot of work. Let us handle the details big and small, so you can focus on your ministry. If you are looking to get started improving your ministry’s branding today, we do have some tips for you!

Okay, so what is the purpose of creating a brand?

Think about major brands you use or see in a day. For example, take Target. Almost anyone could see that infamous red bullseye from a mile away and almost instinctively know that a Target is near by. They might see a piece of mail sitting on their counter with that red bullseye and without reading any words know that they probably have some coupons from Target. Look at Nike. Millions of people wear the swish on their shirts and shoes everyday, and without saying a word everyone knows exactly what brand it is and the “status” that comes with wearing the Nike brand.

Goals of Any Type of Branding
Now, branding for a ministry is not the same as branding for a clothing line, obviously, but the principles and goals are the same.

• You want to distinguish yourself from those around you.
• You want a logo that is recognizable on a variety of vehicles of information.
• You want to make all of your branding connect to your company/organization/ministry’s history, mission, and future aspirations.
• You want your branding to be an investment that brings a new and excited audience to you and the work that you are doing.

Tips for Creating Effective Branding:

1. Make a Strong First Impression: A large part of any brand is the logo. Your logo is the first thing that many people see. Although humans say not to judge a book by its cover, we tend to do it anyways. It is important that your logo is clean and sleek while also being memorable to the individual. The best logos incorporate hidden pieces of information or meaning that one wouldn’t necessarily see until they take a closer look. Once they do see that hidden gem, so to speak, they will never forget it or your logo. The more time you can get a person to spend looking at your logo for fun, the more likely they are to tell someone else about it.
2. Use Color: Color is another important aspect to any brand. No one likes looking at a letter, website, ad, or anything else that is all black and white. A unique color or trio of colors can work in unison with any logo to make branding infinitely more effective. Just like anything in life, too much of a good thing can be bad. Try to limit your brand’s color scheme to two or three colors. Any fewer and your banding won’t be recognizable, and any more will prevent you from honing on your ministry’s character and instead of being recognizable your branding will just look very unappealing.
3. Keep it Simple: You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a fancy logo or to have someone tell you what color scheme you should use. The best people that know what is best for your ministry is you and your team! Your team knows your ministry’s history, accomplishments, and future aspirations. Sometimes, looking at oneself is the best solution. Ask your team for input, and don’t be afraid to make multiple versions and drafts. Here at Worship Times we don’t charge thousands of dollars and we take your information, your ideas, and create multiple real world concepts for you to choose from. Our team can work side by side with you to mix and match everything that you love and remove everything that you don’t until you have exactly what you were envisioning. Even better, we can offer you the personalized guidance and advice others glance over.
4. Tie Everything Together: Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent. The most important part of any branding is to tie all aspects of the brand together. If someone is reading an ad for your ministry online, it should contain design and branding similarities to your website. Your website should share similarities with your ad and the digital e-newsletter that you send out. Your digital e-newsletter should share aspects with the ad and website, and vice versa. Your audience should feel at home, no matter where they are reading your content. Once your brand can get the reader to notice this, they will appreciate the subtle ways you are making things as easy as possible for them.

Worship Times

Here at Worship Times we realize how overwhelming this entire process can be. More importantly, we realize that no brand is the same. Our team has a variety of backgrounds and skill sets to create a custom branding solution for you. Unlike other companies we don’t use a template solution, and instead work directly with you.

Let us take your dream logo or color and transform it into an effective brand to be used on your website, monthly e-newsletter campaigns, bulletins, video recordings and more!

Lovingly made by Worship Times, Websites for Ministries