Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 In today's episode, we discuss eight church tagline mistakes. You need to avoid a church. Tagline is the very first part of the first impression you make on a visitor. It is the first thing someone will read on your church website and getting it right is a top priority. Join us as we share some of the biggest slogan mistakes we have seen, we hope this conversation helps your church reach more people.
Speaker 1 00:00:37 You're listening to the right podcast. The show dedicated to helping pastors and church leaders reach people the right way, hosted by me, Thomas Costello. And with me as always is my cohost Ian Hyatt. We're here to help your church see more visitors and grow well. Hey guys, welcome to
Speaker 0 00:01:06 The reach podcast episode number 23. Uh, I am your host Thomas Costello, and with me as always is my cohost Ian. Hi. Hey, how's it going? Thomas going good, Ian, how you doing man? Doing all right. The bread to Sonny's winter's day in Austin, Texas. Yeah, always that way in Honolulu. And we have a good, uh, a good topic for the folks today. I think too. So, um, I think it's one that we probably spend a lot of time talking about in some of our consulting calls. So, uh, the topic of the day is eight church tagline mistakes that you need to avoid. Um, why don't you share with people what we're talking about when we say, uh, a church tagline? Uh, what, what do we mean by that? Yeah, I guess one way to say it is, it's a it's messaging, it's a short kind of messaging.
Speaker 0 00:01:52 Uh, then you lead out with, uh, with your marketing, not just online, but, uh, with your marketing, it would be a short kind of a statement, uh, that, uh, uh, wealth that focuses on who you're trying to target, which is what we'll talk a lot about today. Yeah, absolutely. And we use them primarily in web development, although there are, you know, we certainly use them in all kinds of marketing, but this is usually that big statement that you make, right. When someone gets onto your church website uh it's uh, whether you have a video background or a big image or something like that, it's those, that short, pithy statement that happens there, uh, that, you know, it kind of makes that first impression on people. So, but it's, it's in places beyond just the website. So I'm sure, um, in your search engine marketing, if you're running the Google grant or you do any kind of search ads or your Facebook ads or whatever it would be, um, you probably have it on your bulletins. If you pass those out, you'll have this same kind of a slogan or a tagline in all of those places. And, uh, I can say that we, I don't know is that we see some mistakes there. Right? I think I would say that more often than not, we encounter ones that, uh, are, they're not terrible, but they probably have some, uh, they have some, some holes in them that need to hit all the tests I would say. Would you agree? Totally
Speaker 2 00:03:12 Agree. I see them on a daily basis.
Speaker 0 00:03:16 Yeah, absolutely. We do. So, yeah. So we're going to just kind of kick off. I want to say before we dig into deep, our heart in this is not to, uh, to wound or to make light up or make fun of, uh, I will be the first to admit that I have pastored churches where the tagline that I signed off on was probably it broke some of these rules here. Uh, so I'm not to say that I am perfect in this area. I just think we've learned a bunch about this. And so if your tagline is one of these, don't, don't think of it as a, something as a criticism, it's a, something, a place for improvement. We want to be helpful in this area and constructive. So we don't want to make light or hurting anybody's feelings with this, but, uh, it may stay a little bit, I know it struck me when I first heard these things too, so yeah, we think that's okay. Sometimes I
Speaker 2 00:04:03 Think we stung, we may have stung a pastor on a consultation the other day with it, but it was to help them. So we didn't hurt some after we made us a different recommendation. I did it got a little silent for a second.
Speaker 0 00:04:16 Yeah, that's exactly right. So let's, uh, let's kick it off here. So the first one, um, I'll say is that it's making your tagline, making it all about you making a church tagline, uh, totally about you and what your church is about. Uh, that's a mistake that we see quite often, I would say. Um, and I, I totally get this temptation is because we want to describe on our websites, what we're about as a church and who we are and what someone might like about our church. And an example of this is, uh, one of the taglines I see a lot is they'll say something like we are the church that cares, right? Where that, where that church, that cares, it's talking about who you are. And instead we have found that you'll get much better results and you'll get more interest from people if you make it about who the visitor is, who that person that's reading it.
Speaker 0 00:05:06 So, uh, and this sounds kind of counterintuitive, I think, to some pastors is that, you know, cause I think our faith is as Christians, it's about making less of ourselves and more of other people. And so when we're telling people, it's what they're going to get out of it. A lot of times that kind of goes against what we're, what's ingrained in us, I would say, but just from a marketing perspective, making it about what the visitor is going to gain as a, as a result of visiting your church, that's, what's really important there. What would you say?
Speaker 2 00:05:35 And I think you're exactly right. I note for those of us in the faith and in ministry, you know, we, we know that it's, it's not about like, you know, what someone gains out of your church, it's, it's more about what they can end up doing, right? Them jumping in and serving, using their gifts for the body of Christ and all of that. But we got to remember that, you know, for, from a marketing standpoint, everyone always has that question. When they're looking into something for the first time, whether or not it's a church or even a product or whatever, doing your shopping around Christmas right now. Um, it it's, you know, what's in it for me. Um, you know, and, and everyone has that in their mind, even if it's not Christ-like, but it is going to be that first thing that's on everyone's mind like it or not.
Speaker 0 00:06:20 Yep, absolutely. Yeah. So, and I think that that's something that is really a marketing one. Oh one thing is that we, we tend to try to make ourselves the hero. Like we are the hero of the story and really from a marketing perspective, it's best when you're, you know, if you're running a business, your customer, or in the case of a church, your visitor, well really in case of a church, Jesus is the hero, right? So we don't want to get away. Jesus is the one who's, uh, who comes first and everything, but it's the, from a marketing perspective, making your visitor, the hero that they play, the important part of the story and the role of the church is kind of the guide in that relationship. I think that's what really is important. We've said it before. And, uh, we've read, uh, we've gone through books on this podcast and talked about, uh, the StoryBrand framework and how if you use the star Wars framework, uh, then the visitor, they would be Luke Skywalker, not the church, the church's role would be the obiwan role. Right. We're there as the, as the guide for people. So to help them find what, what God has for them in their lives or the Yoda. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, so that's it for number one, I go ahead. I'm sorry. You can go.
Speaker 2 00:07:30 No, no, that's it. That's it. And, and, and there was one other thing too, when you mentioned that, that specific one, uh, we are the church that cares not only like, does it maybe seem counterintuitive, you know, as far as, you know, because we know it's making it all about them and we, we want to, you know, it is about your church and a pastor might even be thinking, well, why isn't it? Why is it a bad thing to let them know that we're a church that cares? Um, you know, because that, and so we'll be talking a little bit about that too, is that even you, you might think that you have a tagline that like, is making it about who you're trying to reach, but it still is internal, even if you're not thinking of it. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:08:07 Yeah, yeah. That's a good point. Yeah. Why don't you hit number two for us?
Speaker 2 00:08:13 Yeah. So number two is using insider language. And so this is very easy. We've all, it's a trap that we can all easily fall into. We've all been guilty of it in ministry. Um, you know, churches, they have a lot of internal meetings that a lot of, you know, planning that they're doing to even reach people on the outside, but sometimes what we end up falling into the trap of is getting too internal with our language. Um, and to give an example, we came across this just the other day that, uh, the, the tagline no grow and go. Um, and so now that is very internal, even though a pastor might be thinking, like we just said, you know, well, it will be about them knowing God and, and growing, and then Dell be going, and yes. Yeah. That's the goal, right? That that's the goal, but that's not the goal for someone who's not yet a part of your church, right?
Speaker 0 00:09:12 Yeah. No, I think that, I want to be clear about this. Anything, any of these taglines we're going to talk about? We're not against them as just general statements. Like I think a church can certainly use this kind of terminology of no grow and go, or, uh, I know I pastored a church where it was love men to train and send. I think our main thing is it's probably just not a good way to lead. Guess it shouldn't be the first thing that you tell to someone who has no experience with your church. It's I think these are great things for maybe a, a membership class or some kind of assimilation process that you have, that you have these kind of three steps that your hope is to help people know God, and then grow to become more like Jesus, and then go out and make disciples.
Speaker 0 00:09:53 We totally buy into that, but it's just not something that belongs as the first impression on your website, because it takes a little bit of explanation. And it's kind of like that trap that we get into, of using Christianese or using insider language. I know we see this all the time on websites where a ministry might have a name that doesn't really correspond. So people might put if their neighbor, their, uh, their youth ministry is, um, fire squad or something like that. If you just put a fire squad link on there, that's internal, nobody knows what fire squad is, unless they've been a part of your church for awhile. And I just see us doing those kinds of things with taglines is a, is, uh, is something we have to watch out for, I would say.
Speaker 2 00:10:32 Yeah. And, uh, and, and if it's someone who doesn't know Jesus altogether, that stumbles upon your website and they see fire squad, they might be thinking, Oh my gosh, they're either going to line me up and shoot me, uh, or they're going to let me know that I'm going to hell fire. Fire can mean something different in the, uh, the mind of the nonbeliever
Speaker 0 00:10:51 Want to be on that fire squad. That's for sure. So that's it. So let me hit number three. Um, I've seen this quite a bit is, uh, using just a Bible verse as your tagline. And I don't mean to minimize Bible verses every single one of them is profitable and good for us. And it's just probably, uh, it's probably not a great thing to use as a tagline, certainly on your website or just for everything you might do as a church. Uh, I know that we kind of broke this one at a church that I pastored our main tagline on our website was, uh, it was from Hebrews 13, eight, which says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. And our tagline was Jesus yesterday, today and forever. And we had some thoughts as to why we were doing that. And in hindsight, I think we could have done something that was more productive in that area. But, um, another example would be, I've seen this on a church recently. It just says I can do all things through Christ. So I've take on Philippians four 13. It's not that we don't agree with that. That's absolutely. It's, it's scripture, it's God breathed. And we were the first to sign on for that. It's just a great tagline for a church, and it's not the kind of thing that we want to communicate to our visitors the first time they encounter us. I think
Speaker 2 00:12:02 I would say, yeah, because I think, you know, let's just say it's a Christian who's on your website. Someone already is following God. And, and, uh, they, they know what that means. Right. But it, they know it's a Bible verse, uh, and they, they probably have applied that to their lives, but it's still not making it about them. It's still, you know, it's, it's still kind of internal, uh, in a way. And then for the unchurched person, well, they also come to a church. If they come to a church website, they're going to expect to, to see Bible, uh, you know, language and that type of thing. But it's still not about them either. They're not in there yet. They haven't done all things through him yet. Uh, so yeah, I think that that's, uh, you want to put yourself in the place of each one of those people that you're targeting.
Speaker 2 00:12:46 Yep. That's exactly right. Yep. Good. Yeah. How about number four? Um, this one, uh, here's a good one making it just your service times. Um, I know that. And, and, and just so you know, the, the, the mistake here, it's, you know, it's kind of a noble one, if you will, uh, uh, we've known for a while that that is content, uh, that people do want to get quickly when they come to a church website. It's very important. You want to make that clear years ago. Uh, you know, there were a number of different, you know, web experts that put out articles about this, because it was lacking on church websites. It was so hard for people to find service. And so we know it needs to be highly visible, but again, it's just, uh, uh, it, it really, that makes it internal too. Cause it's just already assuming someone's ready to show up, uh, you know, on a Sunday or whenever your service is, um, without, before kind of meeting their needs and making it about them is what I want.
Speaker 0 00:13:47 Yeah. So, you know, you and I are in agreement that you should have your service times on the homepage of your website. That should be something that everybody is able to see. It's easy to find. Um, I think the mistake that makes is it, like you were saying, it does assume that they're already wanting to be a part of what you're doing there. Uh, and I think that the other error is that it kind of makes the centerpiece of the church, the Sunday service, right? It makes that, and every single one of us who's pastoring a church, we all are fighting that battle of saying that we're more than just what happens for that one hour on Sunday. We're more than what happens inside of our walls. Here. We are bigger. We're about what's happening in our community. We're about making an impact where it's about what's happening in homes and we're part of a community that's happening here. So I think it just, it puts too much emphasis on the Sunday morning experience and not enough emphasis on what the church does outside of that. And I think that's something that you're missing a big opportunity if that's the main focus of what you have on that, on your homepage, or this is your general tagline.
Speaker 2 00:14:48 Yep, absolutely. That's good. Once you get the next one.
Speaker 0 00:14:52 Yep. Number five. Uh, it's making it all about theology, making it all about theology. I think this goes back to just making you approachable. I think it's important that your church is something that just about any person feels like they can come out. So one that I saw recently, it was find redemption in Jesus Christ. So totally agree with that statement. Every person on earth, he's a find redemption in Jesus Christ. I think it's a valuable and noble effort. I understand the church's heart as to why they're saying it. I even know why they want to lead with that, because that is one of it is the most important thing for every person to come to terms with is finding that redemption in Jesus Christ. However, I just think that it's probably not a great way to lead and grab someone's attention. I think that is, you know, there's been volumes of sermons that have been preached on that topic. Redemption is a big theological word and not that people can't understand it, but it probably just takes some unpacking about what we mean when we say redemption and how do I find redemption in Jesus Christ? And what does that mean for me? And how do I take that step? And there are so many other questions that come with that, uh, that I think it just leaves a lot. Uh, it just leaves a missed opportunity, I think, uh, where you could give more explanation.
Speaker 2 00:16:07 Yeah. And I think now, like you said, I mean, that's something, it takes some thought to that, right? And, and, and you have a matter of seconds to engage someone online, especially if we're talking about from your website and they're not ready to think through that yet. They're there to kind of get a feel for things really, and really quickly, they need to know how they're going to be benefited and what's the next step for them. They're not ready for that step yet to think through, that's going to, that's going to come whenever they get into a small group and find out that they need to be redeemed or something like that. So again, it's, it's a great thing. It's great theology, but it's not good to lead out with.
Speaker 0 00:16:42 Yeah. Yeah. I just think that it's something that we, we want something that is approachable and I think it makes sense to 99% of the population, the first time that they ever see it, it would resonate and say yes, because you know, the gospel is for everybody. It's something that we want to make it simple enough that anybody can understand it and giving someone a little taste of what they will find in your church. Uh, I think that's something that you need to be focused on and, you know, trying to avoid some of those deeper theological topics. Not that you don't talk about them just don't lead with them, that's it? Right. It's kinda like if you were to, to go on a first date and start talking about how many kids, uh, somebody wants on your first date with a girl, just getting into those deep relational topics, you know, it's been better saved for, you know, date number 17 or something like that.
Speaker 2 00:17:31 Yeah, no, that's a good, that's a good example. That's good. Well, good. I'll hit, uh, I'll hit number six here. Um, and that's using your mission statement. Okay. So every church virtually every church I've come across has, um, has a mission statement. Okay. And that's, that's good. That's your, uh, obviously that's, that's critical that your mission has to deal with, with the, uh, people that you're trying to reach. Um, it has to do with that. Uh, and, uh, so we, we get that, but that again is still something that you don't want to lead out to, uh, someone as far as, when they're making a decision to check you out further right away. And, uh, why don't you hit the, the most popular one? I think that we've seen, uh, and, uh,
Speaker 0 00:18:15 Probably one out of one out of five churches probably wouldn't say love, God, love people, you know, so they'll go say it in different terms and nothing wrong with that. As a mission statement, you know, it's kind of your, I think that every church is kind of in that state, we all want to do that. We want to love God and love people and do what Jesus commanded us as the first and second commandment. So, yeah, but those things, uh, I think that it, I think one of the issues is it doesn't really distinguish you from every other church that uses that exact same statement. I think it's something that is, um, you probably could spend some more time putting some thought into it. Uh, not that again, not that this isn't valuable or not, that that statement is untrue. Uh, but just that, I think that God probably has a more unique assignment and a unique calling and probably unique verbiage for every church that's out there. Right.
Speaker 2 00:19:04 And I, I think that it, the word that comes to mind for me is that that's pretty generic. And, and again, it's scriptural, it's, it's a beautiful thing. We love where yeah. At a loving God, we're going to love others. Right. We know that. Um, and, but, uh, it's been so used to, uh, just kind of like the, the, the statement I've seen in sometimes tagline, God loves you. And so do we, you know, it's right up there. There's another one, but, uh, uh, yeah. And it, it's just, it's, it's, it's very generic. And, and I don't, I think that it, because it's so generic and it's, and I think even talking about like the unchurched person's mindset, that's almost too generic for them. They're like, I think in my mind, well, duh, we know you're all about loving God and others. You should be if you're a church. Right. But yeah. So that's, I think that's the take on it too.
Speaker 0 00:19:49 So, yeah. And I think the other error that I see with this is that, so if it's not something simple, like love, God love people. Um, most churches have that, and then they have like an expanded version of their mission statement. But again, I think this goes back to number one, we were talking about, which is it, it makes it all about you. It makes it about what we're about when it's putting your mission statement forward. Again, mission statements are valuable, use them, but when it's what you lead with, I think it, uh, it kind of puts the focus on what we as a church are about and not what you will experience. If you, uh, if you join us on a Sunday or you become a part of what we're doing here at our church, it's about what the visitor is going to experience.
Speaker 0 00:20:28 That should be the goal with all of that. So I think that's, what's important, but, uh, number seven, uh, is using just a greeting. I see this maybe not on, I see this on a bulletin's website that churches will hand out. I see it on church websites where the greeting is just something like welcome, or we're glad you're. Yeah. Which I think it just leaves a lot of opportunity to tell a story better about who you are as a church, because you are more than just an invitation or a welcome, or a salutation. Your church is more than just that there. So I see that one quite a bit. I think it it's, um, trying to establish just some kind of, uh, a friendly tone and invite somewhat in, but I think you're wasting an opportunity on your website specifically, if you're not putting something that gets a little bit more detail about what the visitor is going to get, and you just focus on a, a greeting in that area. So let's say you.
Speaker 2 00:21:21 Yeah. And I think it's good. I don't know if we've given a good example of when I, what comes to mind to me right now is that we've been talking about not using cer certain, uh, slogans or catchphrases here. But, uh, I know we work with the church that I think has a really good one that, that is really focused on, on people outside of the church, specifically people that are in need of God. And it's, uh, it's something along these lines. If I don't botch it and having them don't have it in front of me, but it's life is complicated. You want to get it right. And we're just here to help. Uh, and, uh, and, and I've, I've always loved that one because it really does. It focuses on them and, and it's, it's biblical, right? It's, we're, we're here to help you find Jesus. He's the one, obviously to help you get, uh, fix your life. Um, but, uh, so I think that's a good example. Something completely opposite of what we're talking about as far as just a greeting. Um, so
Speaker 0 00:22:15 Yeah, I want to share, I think, um, I want to jump your church, I think has a great one, too. I was looking at it just today. It says a church in Austin, Texas, where you can connect with your destiny. You know, that, that, that was a really great, a great slogan. Uh, you guys have a celebration church there in Texas, you know, it says, uh, just really it's, it's about the visitor, right? It's about where they can connect with their destiny. It's something that really stands out that way. So, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:22:41 And I think they, yeah, I know I was just going to say with that. I think, I think, you know, when we thought of that, it's everyone connects to every, everyone, destiny is a cool word, right. Even to someone who's unchurched, right. Everyone that resonates with everyone, everyone knows they are, or at least hopes that they find their destiny in life. Right. And that could be that that's anyone. So, uh, that's, that's what went behind that a bit. Um, so yeah, we liked that one and it's working
Speaker 0 00:23:08 Well. Yep. Cool. Do you have a number eight there to share with us
Speaker 2 00:23:11 Number eight last and not li uh, but not least is, uh, using just a call to action and that's it just you one call to action, you know, so, and, and a lot of church websites we've seen this either be I'm new is the called action, you know, and that's good. You want that link on there? Uh, it could be to plan a visit, uh, or more recently, uh, the example I think we, you and I came up with here is watch online. Now we've seen that obviously, uh, you know, it's very easy for churches, uh, in this pandemic to just, you know, come up with that one right off the bat. Right. When opted to that make sense, you do want to make sure that obviously if you're, if no, one's physically coming to your church, and even if people are physically coming, there's still going to be many that don't and online services are an absolute, huge thing now. Um, but you don't want to just, you know, default to that or just one, a one called action. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:24:10 Exactly. Um, is this kind of similar to the one that I think that was where you just put your service times, it's kind of it's, what is that one thing I want them to do? And it makes that main service, the main thing for you and you're right. So in this coronavirus season that we're in, uh, we have seen so many churches and really it's sad. There was lots of them that we had a walked through crafting a really great slogan with them or a really great tagline. And then they just covered it up and put in a, uh, a watch live, or a watch online kind of a button on there, like a big call to action that says that, and we're not against the button, you know, have a button on that main area that gives people a chance to watch, uh, sermons and services, those kinds of things. But when that's all you're saying, just because you want to make sure nobody misses that, I think it's a little bit internally focused because you're focusing on your members and where they're going to connect with you. And it really just makes that one main thing. It makes your service, the main thing, that video piece of content. And you have to be more than that. I would say, right.
Speaker 2 00:25:11 People looking for more than that too. I mean, even if they're coming there and they, they will, uh, watch a message more than likely if they're interested in your church, but they're looking for other content to, uh, and to get dive in deeper, even if they can't do that in person.
Speaker 0 00:25:26 Yep. So make that watch online button obvious and visible. We don't want people to miss it just don't make it. The only thing you say and the main thing someone's going to encounter on their website when they first get on there. So I want to leave our audience with this, to here. Um, uh, our big encouragement, I think, in all of this, and I know this has been, uh, uh, we've been hitting the mistakes that people make more. We tried to give a couple of examples of great ones. Here's the thing I want to encourage people with is that this is worth your time. This is something that, uh, you probably ought to invest a few hours of time. Uh, maybe some people, uh, some of your team there, you want to probably get some people together and really think through how are we going to say this?
Speaker 0 00:26:05 Because I think this is the, if your website is the first impression most people have of your church, the, the slogan or the tagline you have, when someone first gets on there, that is the first part of the first impression that's what's right, is going to take about two seconds for them to read. And it'll set the tone for their entire relationship with your church going forward. So I just want to encourage people. I feel like there sometimes, and I get this temptation, I've been there to not really do the work or spend the time or build the team to have some of these conversations around a tagline for your church, but I really think it's worth it. And it's something that every church ought to invest some time really praying and thinking about. And now, you know, you and I can both say we are not these big committee type people.
Speaker 0 00:26:50 We're not from those kinds of backgrounds. We're not saying build a team and do a research project that takes 18 months to think of this. You know, that's not what we're about, but I just do think it is worth someone's time or your church's time to be able to do this. So what do you think? I, I completely agree. And, uh, cause again, we all want to our end goal as pastors and ministry leaders, uh, and as a church is to reach people. Um, and it's it's to, to reach people that need God. So, uh, so I think if that, that makes it, that definitely makes it worth it worth exploring and praying through and figuring out. So that's good stuff. Yeah. That's good. Well, good. We'll leave it at that for today. Uh, we want to just thank you guys for, uh, being a part of our, our audience here and being a part of our reach, right family with this podcast here. It's great having you guys. And, uh, if this has been something that's been a benefit to you, it means a lot to us. If you rate and review the podcast you like and subscribe and share and comment and do all those things, uh, if you have any other topics you want to make sure that we discuss, you can let us know in the comments down below on this here. Uh, but that's it for this week and we'll catch you guys next week.
Speaker 1 00:28:01 Thanks for listening to the reach right podcast. We hope this episode will help you reach people the right way, looking for more resources for your church. Check us out online at reach, right studios.com. If this episode has been helpful to you, it would mean the world to us. If you would rate, review and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening. And we'll see you next week.
