Every church wants to make an impact in the lives of their church members and in the community. The way churches go about tackling this task is vital to the success of any church.
One way they can do this is through the use of social media.
Although social media cannot be the hands and feet that physically help people, it can be the tool that calls the hands and feet to action, and the tool that people use to answer the needs they see.
One advantage of social media is that when used effectively, it’s a tool that can reach people in all different walks of life. Knowing the average ages of users on each social media platform will help any church communicator know who will likely respond to what content.
For example, if your members range in ages 40-60 years old, Facebook will be the most used social media platform. Now if your average members age range from 18-35, Twitter and Instagram will be your best choice as most users in this age range use these two platforms.
Let’s break down how to use social media strategically for each platform.
Facebook users typically want content that directly affects them, no matter the length of the post. They don’t want content that is simply promoting a church, but rather specific content they feel they can relate to. Oftentimes when a church or ministry promotes themselves too much, users are quick to unfollow them because that’s not the content they can relate with. However, creating content that has quotes from the Sunday sermon that directly speaks to people’s lives could impact volumes.
To create and increase engagement with content on Facebook, develop posts that ask questions correlating with previous content you posted. Did you already post content containing information about fasting? Then create an additional post asking people what they typically fast from. Food? Internet? Their phone?
These engagement pieces should make the user take your information, apply it to their lives and create an internal response that they use to respond to your engagement strategy.
Here’s a few Facebook accounts that are doing awesome at connecting with their followers!
Instagram is all about the visual appeal. The photos are going to catch people’s eyes much more effectively than the caption will. Even on the stories section of Instagram, the photos are what tells the story, not the written copy itself.
One key way for your church to utilize this is through sharing the culture of your church in pictures. Show pictures of what is going on at your church. Share a volunteer spotlight picture alongside a description of what the individual did. There are many ways to show people who you are, and Instagram is a great way to do that!
Instagram engagement is unique in that you simply have to double tap a picture or click the heart to like it. Instagram has made it easy for people to simply tell you they’ve seen your content. But, to increase comments and further interaction, pose questions on topics that get the most likes. Create Instagram stories that connect your followers to your content. Start creating live stories that share your churches heart and messages each week. The more opportunities you offer people to engage with you, the better.
Need an idea on Instagram accounts to follow? Here’s three to get you started!
Twitter followers want something that is not only relatable to them, but also something that is quick and easy to glean from. Twitter has limited characters so being strategic with your content is key. You can even create links to your Sunday sermons with a short call out about the topic you discussed.
Using strategic hashtags will also help expand your church’s reach. Don’t know what hashtags to use? Spend some time following other successful Twitter accounts that have the same message as your church. What hashtags do they use? What hashtags can you come up with that might be applicable? Incorporate as many as possible into each post.
Engagement for Twitter is important and easy to use. Including photos, videos and other multimedia with your post will also help increase your engagement. You want people to interact with you in as many ways as possible, and using valuable graphics alongside each post will help. Creating content that people can respond to or retweet is also a key piece in increasing engagement.
Follow these Twitter accounts to get you started in the right way of thinking!
Social Media Must-Have's
With any social media account, there needs to be ways to show that interacting online is valuable to you and your church. Here are some sure fire ways that will make sure the impact you're making online is reaching the people you have set out to reach:
- Define goals
- Set your target audience
- Do your research with like minded successful social accounts for each platform
- Be consistent
- Engage with those engaging with you
- Use analytics
Did you know you can connect your social media accounts directly to your Ekklesia360 website? Check out our Social Media Management feature today!
