Creative Ways to Promote

See where new attendees are hearing about your VBS from and place more emphasis on those areas.

Track your VBS attendance. One of the best things I have ever done regarding promotion is to ask each year’s attendees how they heard about VBS. (If you are using the online registration form, you can customize this question, including fields that you currently advertise from.) It was evident that no one (for years) heard about our VBS from the newspaper ad we always put in the paper. Since it wasn’t an effective mode of promotion, we stopped placing the ad and were able to use those advertising dollars better. See where new attendees are hearing about your VBS from and place more emphasis on those areas.

Social media is your friend. Yep. You need to be on Facebook advertising your VBS—post from your church’s page. Invite congregation members to share that post on their pages. If your town has community groups (like yard sales or announcement pages), join those groups and promote your VBS there. Parents are looking for activities throughout the summer; one post might not catch their attention, so share, share, share!

Use your community. What is going on in your community before your VBS? Can you find ways to advertise and promote through those channels? Maybe your town has a big parade, and you can have a float in it and pass out flyers. Is there a park near your church where you could host a popsicles-in-the-park event, inviting families to attend? See what is happening in your community and find ways to promote there.

Plan promotions year-round. Lock in your VBS dates in advance. (Keeping it on the same week every year is great for this!) Advertise at your spring events and fall festivals. Advertising doesn’t have to happen just when registration is open in the two months leading up to VBS. Promote it year-round!

Word of mouth will likely be your biggest advertiser.

Remember to create a quality VBS people want to invite their friends to. Word of mouth will likely be your biggest advertiser. If you are consistently creating a wonderful VBS where boys and girls are safe, having fun, and experiencing spiritual growth, they will tell their friends and neighbors about it.

You can pay lots of money for targeted Facebook ads, create yard signs, mass-mail invitations, and more. But if you aren’t creating a VBS that people want to be at, all your promotion has been in vain. Pray over your VBS and ask God to send the right children and families, and pray that he will lead each and every detail. Create a VBS that children will want to attend and one that will grow God’s kingdom.