Something that fascinates me these days is how churches are using modern marketing tools in ministry. Most churches have a website and an email newsletter, and that gets you a lot of bang for your buck. Pixels are cheap, after all. But professionally printed material is still very much a part of the budget. One economical way our church “markets” events is with large banners. We’ve come a long way from hand-drawn signage on butcher paper. Our church has a good graphic designer on staff – in fact, before Hurricane Katrina he worked for me and I was sorry to lose him – and our banners look great. When you don’t want to punch holes in your walls – or you can’t, because you’re at a different location like a retreat center – these banner stands are ideal.
It’s not just marketing for an event beforehand – putting a banner in the church lobby. I recently served at a church retreat. We used large banners at the event to decorate the retreat center. It was a great way to temporarily “brand” the place with our logo, make our members feel comfortable in a strange environment, and to draw traffic to certain areas like the book sale table.
How does your church market?
I like banner stands, but I have to ask if they are absolutely necessary. I have been going on various blogs asking similar questions so that I can make sure I am doing right by the Kingdom.
Why spend the money on a banner stands? I’m trying to develop strategies to help churches to be good stewards when it comes to marketing. I want to give good marketing advice that is inline with the word of God and Christian principles. Am I being a purist or a Christian zealot? I really don’t know, but I do know that I apply a similar results oriented thought process with my business clients.
So my real question is, does banner stands add anything besides a good feeling for the flock, a brand impression, or a way to say we’re as good as the world, do they bring value to the Kingdom and what is the value? Is there something else the money could have been spent on, the poor, a mission abroad…? I’m not saying banners don’t have a use because I am sure they can provide some type of value. I just want to know what value you see in them. I’m looking for opinions and various points of view on church marketing so I can better consult churches.
Anyway, I look forward to your response.
I’m not a big fan of “keeping up with the Joneses” especially with tithe money. But on the flip side, churches contain both unbelievers and Christians at varying levels of maturity. I’m willing to cater to a certain level of material focus for their sake – along the lines of ‘being all things to all people’ though I’m taking Paul somewhat out of context there. I see it as grease for the wheels; my church supports an orphanage in Mexico and does a LOT of mission work both locally and overseas. That is made possible by a large, growing congregation who have a variety of motives for attending and are at different levels of understanding of their obligations as Christians. Would scotch tape, butcher paper, and markers perform the same function as a professionally printed banner? Sure. But the “low rent” look will drive some people away. I want those unbelievers and Christians who are still in the milk stage of the faith to stick around until they are ready for meat – when that sort of thing won’t matter anymore. Mind you, I’m not talking about using tithe money to buy the pastor a new Mercedes every year just for appearance’ sake. I’m talking about a few hundred bucks – a very tiny percentage of the overall budget – for nicely done marketing materials. So up to a point, I definitely do think it’s worth it.
I too would endorse that the small amount of cost is well worth the impression that it makes. The culture we live in is a marketing driven culture. The church does not have to “compete” but I think God wants us to represent Him with excellence. The more clearly and professionally we can communicate the better it is for connecting people to God.
Churches have to brand themselves as well. These types of banners are great ways to help focus people on the event or whatever at hand. Part of the marketing is just to emphasize the importance it has to the church as a whole. It creates an impression that this particular thing is important to the mission/vision of the church. The more you can rally people behind these things the better…I think.
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