Every industry has its trends, and churches are no exception. As 2018 has gotten well underway, there are a few trends we're seeing in church signs across the country. If you're trying to keep your church's signage relevant during the upcoming warm months when you'll have plenty of passersby paying attention to what you have to say, keep these tips in mind.
1. Advertising Ongoing Giving and Goodness
This year, look for churches to revert from one-time messages to series that reflect the true nature of giving and goodness. A culture of generosity and kindness can't be created within your organization on a single Sunday; instead of focusing on single-use sentences, opt for phrases that lead into each other from week to week. This will entice engagement from your audience and create conversation within your church's walls.
2. Tying Stewardship Calendars to Signage
Although you probably welcome financial gifts any time of year, there's a certain strategy involved with actually askingfor stewardship contributions. In 2018, church signs will reflect this strategic approach to stewardship, bringing with them the due diligence of church leaders and volunteers as they work to incorporate timing and proper approaches into the funding schedule.
Sign messages will entice congregants to give at specific intervals of the year, ensuring they don't overlap with other pivotal times for the church. Stewardship signage can easily be tied with Biblical quotes and changed regularly to capture constant attention. Need some ideas about how to create year-round planning schedules for your stewardship program? Everence offers a year-round congregational stewardship manual that you may be able to use for your own church.
3. Allowing Little Things to Grow Bigger
In this year of strategic planning, it's all about starting small and growing over time. Expect to see church messages that start with a simple message that gains traction over time. Are you featuring a sermon series? Your church sign can elude to the theme of your series at first, building up to bigger and bolder statements as the weeks move on until you, eventually, post a message that's backed by pivotal importance to your foundation.
4. Embracing Outdoor LED Signs
People in today's world understand technology, and they're attracted to dynamic pictures and images that envelope the mind. 2018's church signs will be backed by impeccable LED technology that allows messages to be changed on a whim or at a moment's notice. Thanks to energy-saving technology and top-of-the-line graphics, churches will further embrace the incredible opportunities available to them by way of outdoor LED signs.
5. Sharing in Social Media
Now that Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are normal parts of people's everyday lives, churches will continue to look for kitschy sayings that catch attention. It's all about creating captions that capture attention and become shareable in the social media space.
6. Inviting Visitors and Member Guests
In this world, people are busy. They're shuffling kids from here to there, meeting deadlines, and cleaning house - all in one fell swoop. They don't necessarily have time to make it to Sunday services, but they may want to attend church. This year, it's all about catering to your congregants. Make time for people who may not be able to attend your services during regular hours by offering up a few off-hours meeting times. Be sure to advertise these meetings on your outdoor sign to achieve maximum exposure and attendance to your off-hours events.
7. Advertising
Advertising isn't only for businesses; in fact, there are a lot of benefits churches can reap when they use their outdoor sign real estate to promote local companies. For starters, digital signs are incredibly flexible, meaning you can change the messaging at a moment's notice. This means you can tout your church's upcoming events alongside advertisements that thank your area supporters. Did a local print shop contribute to your church softball team's uniforms? They deserve some accolades! Are you appreciative of all the great customer service your local credit union has given you? Thank them on your sign so the whole world can see.
Besides in-kind advertising, there's a monetary benefit that can be obtained by offering advertising space on your church sign. If you truly want to reap positive ROI from your investment in a sign, consider selling ad space to area vendors. Even an infrequent advertisement can go a long way in terms of subsidizing your congregants' tithings with income that can help make your church stronger.
8. Embracing New Technology
Many churches still use outdated LED technology. Yesterday's digital signs offered monochrome displays that didn't offer much in the way of creative abilities. They were difficult to work with and provided significant limitations to the graphics that could be displayed. Not only that, but churches in remote areas may still be using slow dial-up services that inhibit church leaders' abilities to update their signage even further. In 2018, churches will be looking for a way to transform their outdated signage, bringing it up to date with large, full-color displays, which deliver small pixel pitches and breathtaking, attention-getting graphics.
9. Getting into the Cloud
With today's technology, church leaders are afforded the ability to connect to their signage at any time, from any place. Cloud-based content and data storage allows an easy transition from one message to the next, enabling church leaders greater flexibility as they plan their communication strategies.
10. Integrating Social Media into Church Signs
Increasing engagement in a church setting can be difficult, but church leaders who embrace today's technological trends are seeing an increase of people in their pews. If you're looking for ways to integrate social media into your church's signage, consider:
- Creating a hashtag for a sermon series, fundraising event, or other specific situation going on in your church, and promote your social hashtag on your sign;
- Sharing awesome tweets and comments that arise as a result of your hashtag;
- Providing up-to-the-minute progress regarding fundraising goals, attendance, and any progress you're making toward specified goals.
Church signs are no longer static; they're dynamic pieces of congregational engagement. When used correctly, you can boost your church's brand and bring new faces to your services.
Stewart Signs has been in business since 1968. For 50 years, we've been following trends, advising clients, and making messages matter for our clients. If you're ready to make the world aware of God's word in a whole new way, reach out to our team to learn how our church signs can transform your services.
