5 Easy Ways to Market Church Events
5 Easy Ways to Market Church Events:
1- Make a Banner: Banners are inexpensive ways to promote an event at your church. I make lots of banners for 
area churches of all denominations and many times I will donate my time to install them if they are reasonably close to my shop in Staunton, Virginia. I make simple banners in my shop using pre-cut and hemmed rolled one-sided banner stock material, a white 13 oz. material that has a glossy sheen. I design the banner layouts on my computer design software and use a vinyl-cutting machine to cut the graphics that I later apply to the blank, white banner. The banners come with pre-spaced grommets that allow for hanging on poles with hooks or attaching to walls and other flat surfaces with screws and fender washers. For more detailed banners or ones with more than one or two colors, I send them off for digital printing. In my small shop, banners may take longer 
to complete than some of the other shops in my area. If people are in a big hurry, I usually suggest they contact “All Phase Graphics” in Staunton, or “Viking Forge Design” in Waynesboro. Both these shops have in-house digital printers and may produce banners faster than what I can do. If you plan ahead, it takes about 1-2 weeks to get a banner order out during normal production levels at my shop.
2- Use a Marquee Sign: I often sell church signs that have a marquee sign component. A manual marquee is a sign that has tracks for changeable letters and churches can create and display custom messages advertising upcoming events to the public. The proper letter heights for your site can be calculated by considering 
viewing distance and speed limit. Most letters are in the 3″-8″ range for the church marquees I have made, and the letters are typically black on a white background. A church situated on a high-traffic highway may be more inclined to invest in an electronic marquee which has many advantages over the manual marquee signs that I can produce in my shop. I recommend churches interested in electronic signs contact “Holiday Signs” in Chester, VA.
3- Use Memorial Bricks to Fund a Comprehensive Marketing Campaign: I sold a sign to a Baptist church a few years ago by recommending they conduct a fundraising campaign first by selling memorial bricks. These are engraved bricks that can honor living or deceased church members and friends and are set in a foundation at the base of the church sign, or anywhere on the church campus where people can appreciate the memorialized members.
The church raised enough money to purchase a new sign and they had a friend lay the brick at its base. Money raised this way could also be used for a comprehensive marketing campaign for a church event or events.
4- Make a Yard Sign: Churches can use the yard-type signs used by realtors and contractors to post information about upcoming events. These signs are generally smaller than banners, so they would be most effective for churches in residential areas versus those on main highways. I would suggest investing in a metal sign with a metal frame and utilize rider panels to gain more space for the message. If you’re on a tight budget, you can also use corrugated plastic material for the signs and these can be installed in the ground using inexpensive wire stakes. But remember this important rule: you get what you pay for!
5- Use a “Burma Shave” Series of Signs: If you have enough road space, you might consider designing a message that you can write over a series of yard signs. This type of set-up is always more effective in grabbing attention to your event!
Contact Mark Hackley, Augusta Sign Company, 540-943-9818