Redeemer Presbyterian Church: Story Refresh
New Website | Copywriting | Banner Video | Core Photos
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Redeemer Presbyterian Church seeks to rest in God’s love, remind one another of his love, and reflect his love to friends and neighbors in Midtown Memphis. Since 2020, the church has grown over 150% and become a medium-sized congregation. As they’ve leaned into the neighborhood, friends and neighbors have leaned back into them.
But over the past several years Redeemer has lacked some of the basic tools to tell their story well, internally and externally. Bringing in a marketing agency wasn’t the answer because churches should never market themselves. What Redeemer needed was easy-to-use tools to tell their own story with simple authenticity.
After a few conversations to clarify challenges and needs, I suggested we start by making a new website and overhauling some of church’s language, creating a banner video for the homepage that accurately shows people what the church feels like, and capturing new photos that can be used for years to come.
New Website & Banner Video
Redeemer’s website was dated, felt very stark, and had become sprawling over time. There were a number of broken links, redundant and drawn-out language, dated photos, and published pages that were no longer being used. The SEO had never been fully set up either. I worked with the staff to update and better organize information for members and guests and introduced other colors found in the building and surrounding neighborhood, all to lean into the vibrant culture of a church that want to be In Midtown, For Midtown.
Old Website
New Website
The new website is much warmer and the banner video brings to life the vibrant culture of Redeemer. What visitors see online now better resembles what they will experience in person. Members can find important information much more easily now, too. It looks great on mobile, is SEO-friendly, and can be updated by the church staff with ease. This is what authentic storytelling is supposed to feel like.
A few more areas worth paying attention to are the Our Story, Sundays, and Event Registration pages.
New Core Photo Assets
Having a large and diverse photo library on hand for web, email, social media, and print materials can save significant time and money over the long haul. A lot of people today are over-emphasizing short-form vertical video because algorithms reward it. The downside of that approach is that their websites, email list, and print materials —that tend to be more effective at reaching your people where they are— become degraded and look less visually appealing.
Redeemer had a small and dated photo library, so I worked with the staff to make a list of needs before capturing Sunday activities, special events, small groups, facilities, and more. The photos cover a wide range and have a few different looks so they can be used across various forms of communication. Most are candid or more practical as that fits the vibe of Redeemer, and many can be used on their own or with copy laid on top. In total, I delivered nearly 800 edited photos, full and web-sized versions.
Combined together, these basic storytelling tools lay a solid foundation for Redeemer to better share who they are in a natural and authentic way over the next few years. It all cost a fraction of what an over-priced marketing agency would have charged the church, and the end result is more authentic as well.
If you find yourself in Midtown Memphis and are looking for a church to visit, I encourage you to drop into Redeemer one Sunday. Visitor details can be found here.
