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Using Display Products in Churches

Josh Axelberd - Displayit.com

Growing churches across the country are looking for ways to effectively communicate with the large numbers of members and visitors that are attending each week. It becomes especially difficult to deliver messages to visitors or regular attendees who may not be plugged into traditional sources of church information. Pastors and church leaders must develop new and effective ways to deliver messages to visitors while they are on church campus and it is a challenge to communicate with so many people in such a small period of time.

This challenge is very similar to the task faced by organizations that attend trade shows. Trade show exhibitors must create displays that allow them to quickly communicate their message with attendees. Studies show that exhibitors have about 3 seconds to get the attention of show visitors. We believe the lessons that apply to creating great trade show displays, can also be used to help create displays that will allow church leaders to communicate more effectively with campus visitors. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of portable display products in the church environment.

Create a simple message

When creating a graphic or "visual" for your display you want to make sure you are expressing a simple message and limiting the amount of copy on the display. Remember, you only have 3 seconds to gain your visitors attention, so they must be able to look at your display and quickly understand what you are trying to communicate. When using portable display products such as table top displays, table covers, banner stands, graphic backwalls, you need to limit your "visual" to a logo or simple large graphic, and very simple tag line. It is recommended that you save the finer details of your message for brochures, flyers, etc.

Limit Clutter

It is great to have a great display and graphic, but if your display area is filled with other messages and items, the impact of your display will be lost. It is recommended that you limit your display area to only the items that you have created and designed to communicate a particular message. "Homemade" elements can become a distraction and will take away from the style and feel that you spent considerable money and time to create. In a church, you have many people and ministries trying to communicate a message and you will receive pressure to try and overload a display area with many different messages. This will only distract from the overall display. If you want your display to be most effective, work hard to maintain a clean, simple "clutter free" design area.

Select the right hardware

There is a wide variety of products that are used for displaying graphic messages in either trade show, event, or even church environments. It is important to make sure you have the right display product for the job. You need to ask yourself a number of questions before you begin the process of selecting a display product.

First, what is your budget. Trade show display hardware is expensive because the products fill a niche role. However, there are plenty of products that can be purchased on a tight budget and they are out there. Take the time to make sure you set a budget that you are comfortable with. If you are patient during the selection process, you will find the product that will fit your budget.

Second, ask yourself what you will need the hardware to do. Do you need this display to be highly mobile, will it be outside a lot, will you change the graphics on it frequently? There are number of new products that allow graphics to be easily changed and also products that can be used outdoors.

In addition, there are many different levels of graphic production, so if you are not going to be using a graphic more than once you can select from less expensive production methods.

For a list of some of our most popular display options for churches visit our recommendation page for Church Displays.

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