Easter is coming! April 4th will be here before you know it and we have many elements that we are diligently planning for this year’s resurrection celebration. We will have our annual Egg Hunt – Helicopter style – on Saturday, March 27th. A Good Friday Night of Worship led by Pastor Tim will be held on April 2nd at 7pm. We will have four identical Easter Celebrations – April 3 @ 5pm; April 4 @ 8:30am; 10am; 11:30am. Easter will kick off a new 6-week message series entitled, “Face Your Fears!” During this series we will do a 6-week pilot of a Saturday night service each week (5pm). Also during this series you will need your cell phones in church in order to send text votes for what we are calling, “Survivor: Old Testament.” And sometime during this “Face Your Fears” series we should also be able to dedicate and open our new Café.
But now let me share with you our strategy for promoting all of this effectively. In the past we would pour our promotion monies into newspaper ads and direct mailings which are fine. But we changed our thinking on this last year realizing that the vast majority of first-time guests to our church come as a result of a personal invitation from someone who already attends. So, instead of spending our promotional monies on impersonal approaches, we decided to find ways to use those monies to better equip our own people to be able to invite those they know.
Last year we came up with the really cool coffee invitation that included a coupon inside of it for a free beverage at Sheetz. That was very effective and resulted in our largest Easter attendance ever here at Grace Church with nearly 2,400 people attending the four services.
So this year we have another idea along those lines. Here is what our promotional plan is that we feel will equip you to be able to invite people you know to Grace this Easter. We are having 1,000 yard signs (you know, like the election yard signs) made that simply have the words “FACE YOUR FEARS” on it along with a special website (for example: www.facefears.com – that is just an example and is not the real website). This will be a carefully designed website that will hook the viewer in and ultimately invite them to Easter weekend and our “Face Your Fears” series. We are asking every family from Grace to take a sign on Sunday, March 7th and put it in their front yard. If you own a business, take one for that yard as well.
Here is what we think will happen. When your neighbors see the sign in your yard they will most likely do one of two things. Either they will simply go to the website where they will get invited or they will ask you what the sign is all about and you will be able to invite them.
We also realize that the key to marketing is repetition. So it is our hope and prayer that as people drive around Lititz and the surrounding communities from March 7 through April 4th and see multiple FACE YOUR FEAR signs in people's yards and in front of businesses that curiosity will get the best of them and they too will visit this special website and get invited to Easter and the series.
We even think that many of you will be surprised when you drive through your own neighborhoods and see signs in the yards of your own neighbors that you had no clue attended here at Grace Church! So “Elect Easter” by being sure to get your yard sign on March 7th.
But now let me share with you our strategy for promoting all of this effectively. In the past we would pour our promotion monies into newspaper ads and direct mailings which are fine. But we changed our thinking on this last year realizing that the vast majority of first-time guests to our church come as a result of a personal invitation from someone who already attends. So, instead of spending our promotional monies on impersonal approaches, we decided to find ways to use those monies to better equip our own people to be able to invite those they know.
Last year we came up with the really cool coffee invitation that included a coupon inside of it for a free beverage at Sheetz. That was very effective and resulted in our largest Easter attendance ever here at Grace Church with nearly 2,400 people attending the four services.
So this year we have another idea along those lines. Here is what our promotional plan is that we feel will equip you to be able to invite people you know to Grace this Easter. We are having 1,000 yard signs (you know, like the election yard signs) made that simply have the words “FACE YOUR FEARS” on it along with a special website (for example: www.facefears.com – that is just an example and is not the real website). This will be a carefully designed website that will hook the viewer in and ultimately invite them to Easter weekend and our “Face Your Fears” series. We are asking every family from Grace to take a sign on Sunday, March 7th and put it in their front yard. If you own a business, take one for that yard as well.
Here is what we think will happen. When your neighbors see the sign in your yard they will most likely do one of two things. Either they will simply go to the website where they will get invited or they will ask you what the sign is all about and you will be able to invite them.
We also realize that the key to marketing is repetition. So it is our hope and prayer that as people drive around Lititz and the surrounding communities from March 7 through April 4th and see multiple FACE YOUR FEAR signs in people's yards and in front of businesses that curiosity will get the best of them and they too will visit this special website and get invited to Easter and the series.
We even think that many of you will be surprised when you drive through your own neighborhoods and see signs in the yards of your own neighbors that you had no clue attended here at Grace Church! So “Elect Easter” by being sure to get your yard sign on March 7th.
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