Whether a congregation gathers in a large urban church or a small neighborhood chapel, visual communications materials can help attendees find their destinations, aid the facility in operating efficiently, and provide greater visibility within the community. Signs and graphics are some of the most affordable and influential ways to promote a church\u2019s services and programs.<\/p>\n
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Signs have three general purposes: to direct, inform, and promote. Direction can be very helpful when church visitors (especially families with young children) are trying to get to the right place at the right time. Whether looking for the chapel, Sunday school classrooms, or the nursery, providing church-goers with clear, informative signs can help point them in the right direction quickly.<\/p>\n
Visual communications materials can also inform church goers about programs, and help promote volunteer opportunities or church book stores. They can also help bring in new community members. For example, consider a $2,000 monument sign outside a church where 5,000 cars pass each day. This sign will generate 105,000 impressions a month, or 1.26 million impressions a year. That kind of return on investment is hard to beat. Banners are also an ideal solution for churches to communicate with visitors. Full-color banners can easily be created, and combined with banner stands. They are easy to transport around the church or out to community events.<\/p>\n
Other ways to raise the visibility of a church include vehicle graphics, decals, and digital signs. Placing either permanent vehicle graphics or a vehicle magnet on a church van can be an effective communication strategy. As the van picks up elderly members for service or transports kids to a youth ministry service project, the vehicle will promote the church and increase name recognition. Visual communications experts estimate a vehicle graphic can generate up to 600 impressions for each mile driven.<\/p>\n
Vinyl decals are also a fun way to communicate. Tasteful graphics that blend with existing d\u00e9cor can be applied to walls, windows and even floors. For example, bright footsteps on the floor can lead children to the Sunday School room. Another alternative is digital signage, although this is more expensive up-front. Digital signage is a good solution to display rotating programs, schedules and announcements, as it can easily be updated on a computer. If a church currently prints a weekly bulletin, digital signage will be less expensive in the long run, and ad space can be sold just as easily in a digital format.<\/p>\n
The facility administrators and congregation members of any size or type of church will find that a well-planned signage program can reap many benefits. Proper use of signs and graphics can improve communication, both internally as well as externally.<\/p>\n