We turned Luminex into a thought leader and go-to resource in the RCA community
Client
Luminex is the missional arm of the Synod of the Great Lakes Region, a regional judicatory body within the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Their mission is to start and strengthen churches through leadership development.
Problem
RCA churches weren’t aware of who Luminex was or what services they offered.
Goal
Establish Luminex as the thought leader for leadership development and as the preferred partner for RCA leaders in starting and strengthening churches.
Here’s the steps we took to establish Luminex as the thought leader for leadership development within their target audience.
STEP 1
Identify the Problem
Problem 1
They only delivered their services through in-person training.
Result
- They weren’t engaging with their audience regularly.
- Most of their audience wasn’t aware of them.
- Churches only sought Luminex out when they had a crisis; they didn’t view Luminex as a preventative resource.
Problem 2
They had a weak brand with no website.
Result
- No one thought of Luminex when they thought of leadership development.
- No one knew who Luminex was or what they did.
- The target audience didn’t know how Luminex could help them.
- Most of the audience had no reason to seek Luminex out.
Problem 3
Their staff was small.
Result
- They were limited in what they could do.
- No one was focused solely on marketing.
- They didn’t have the capacity for social media marketing or content marketing.
Problem 4
They were used to sharing their knowledge through speaking, not through writing
Result
- They were only able to reach the people they spoke to in person.
- Their natural communications skills weren’t being used to their full potential.
Problem 5
They had no way to repeatedly engage their audience.
Result
- They didn’t have a loyal, engaged following.
- They had no platform for directly communicating with their audience.
- Their name wasn’t recognized by their audience.
- They weren’t able to reach new people.
Problem 6
They didn’t have a comprehensive communications & marketing strategy.
Result
- Their digital communication was not amplifying their thought leadership.
- Their messaging wasn’t consistent.
- They weren’t leveraging the necessary strategies to grow their audience and engagement.
With their specific problems in mind, we could now find ways to solve them.
STEP 2
Create a Communications Strategy
Luminex clearly needed a repeatable way to engage with their target audience. Communicating with churches regularly would help Luminex develop a relationship with them, so they would eventually trust Luminex enough to ask for their help.
Luminex Mission
“Developing leaders to start and strengthen churches”
Our strategy consisted of four main goals:
Strategy 1
Strengthen the Luminex brand.
Tactics
- Establish Luminex as a thought leader in the minds of church leaders.
- Build awareness of the Luminex brand and their services.
Strategy 2
Transform Luminex to be more like a media company.
Tactics
- Model them after the Harvard Business Review.
- Help them engage their audience with video, audio and written content.
Strategy 3
Create reliable channels for sharing content and reaching their audience.
Tactics
- Establish and grow their email list.
- Establish and grow their social media assets.
Strategy 4
Use the staff’s natural communication strengths to engage their audience.
Tactics
- Create ways for them to use their gift for speaking to benefit a wider audience.
- Prevent them from having to write lengthy posts.
Once we nailed down our goals, we could take the practical steps necessary to make them happen.
STEP 3
Execute
Since so few people understood what Luminex was all about, our first step was to clarify and strengthen their brand. We started by developing a website for both the Luminex brand and the Great Lakes Region of the RCA.
WordPress Sites
We interviewed Luminex to help us decide how to build their content and how to design their site and Information Architecture. We then developed style tiles to show them what the site would look like.
Once approved, we began creating the actual site. We carefully moved through the phases of copywriting, design, development, optimization, and then, finally, the presentation.
Mission Statement Video
We created a mission statement video for Luminex’s homepage that would clearly express their mission and purpose. In this video, several of Luminex’s leaders shared what their missions statement meant, why it was important, and how they wanted to fulfill it. We placed this video on the homepage of their site.
Launched Blog
As part of our plan to help Luminex engage regularly with their audience, we added a page to their site where we could store all the content we would produce for them. We planned to add various forms of updates to this blog page.
Each Monday, we add a new written blog post. The Luminex staff takes turns writing the posts, and we add them to the site. This method allows the Luminex team to showcase their expertise and offer valuable content to their audience.
Launched Whiteboard Wednesdays
Another addition we made to the blog is a weekly video featuring a Luminex staff member teaching about a relevant Reformed topic. The speakers stand in front of a whiteboard and write on it in true teaching fashion.
This tool promotes them as thought leaders and once again provides their audience with helpful content. These videos highlight one of the Luminex staff’s greatest strengths—speaking—and allows them to share their knowledge in the way they are most comfortable with.
We post each weekly video to the blog as part of our mission to make Luminex more like a media company.
We record the videos and take care of both the pre- and post-production. We also transcribe the video and include the text for SEO purposes. Sometimes we show the text with the video or use it as the featured written blog post for the week.
Launched Luminex Podcast
Podcasts are our primary audio tool for producing Luminex’s content. To help establish them as a media company, we began producing weekly podcasts. Their team brings in guests and interviews them, while we take care of both the pre- and post-production and transcribe the audio.
These podcasts also provide another way for Luminex’s team to share their expertise through speaking, not writing.
Live Event Videos
Luminex still does in-person events, but now we record them to share with more people and expand their reach. We record, take care of post-production, and share the video with their audience.
Email Campaigns
We’ve worked to grow their email list and used it to share all of Luminex’s content—their blog posts, whiteboard wednesday’s, podcasts, and live events. With these emails, we can measure how many people open them, click the links, and other useful stats. From these metrics, we can continue updating and improving our campaigns.
Social Media
We use their social media as another main way to distribute their content. With regular posts and ads, we’ve been able to get their brand and content in front of more eyes and get more Facebook likes and Youtube subscribers.
STEP 4
Measure Results
We’ve worked with Luminex for a full year now, and the changes have been dramatic.
In the past year
Conclusion
It’s been our honor to partner with Luminex. They truly are thought leaders and have a wealth of knowledge to share. We’re just their force multiplier.
Once we recognized that the Luminex team’s natural strength is verbal communication, we thoroughly enjoyed finding ways to leverage that gift to help them produce content they actually enjoyed producing.
Because Luminex viewed us as a strategic partner and not just as a web design or content development team, we were able to envision and implement a successful strategy that has completely changed how Luminex is viewed in the Great Lakes Region.Their team is still small, but now it is mightier than ever. They can now reach a much broader audience and truly fulfill their mission statement.
We believe that Luminex will have a big impact in their denomination and in the whole world. And while we’re thrilled with the results we’ve seen so far, we‘re imagining even greater possibilities for the future.
We envision that, in the not too distant future, Luminex will be able to:
- Produce content for training more people in the church besides leaders.
- Find alternative revenue sources besides denominational funding.
- Hold regional events and national conferences.
And, of course, we envision that Luminex’s impact in their region and in the world will continue to thrive and grow.
Contact Us
Let’s Work Together
We helped Luminex. And we can help you too. If you’re interested in working with us, we’d love to hear all about your brand.
