The iStrategy for Using Social Media in Your Church
I am asked almost daily, “how should we be using social media in our church?” Should we be on Facebook or Instagram or YouTube? Should we post pictures or stories or videos? The simple answer is start with a strategy and then use the platforms that help you get your message to your audience. Today’s blog post is going to talk about the strategy; to answer the “how should we be using social media in our church.”
We church folk, or at least us old ones, like a good, catchy formula to simplify strategies. One way to encapsulate the strategy for using social media in our vernacular is to call it an iStrategy: inform, interpret, and invite. Here is that iStrategy on how we use and plan our social media in a church setting. In my opinion, there are three purposes for using social media in business and I will translate them our use in the church:
Inform (Build brand awareness). In the church setting, this means showing people what we are all about. It is hard for people outside the church to understand the mysteries of the church, like faith in a Creator God, belief in Jesus as our Messiah, and eternal life, until they become an “insider.” What we have to do in social media to build awareness is to demonstrate how we live out these values and beliefs in the world. For example, sharing how we live this out in our worship, in our fellowship, in loving our neighbors. We build brand awareness by showing what these intangible values look like in action; by demonstrating who we are transparently and authentically. These posts are what some call showing the church in action or the life of the church pictures, either way they should paint a picture of who your church is for its people. PRO_TIP: help others see the church as a community of people that aren’t all the same, but are committed to being in community and mission with each other.
Interpret (Connect with your audience). This is where the Church should really shine versus our peers in the business world. We want new people to connect with our people, and connect with our mission. Think about it, we are much more likely to engage with a group of our peers in a community focused on Jesus than joining a mailing list for a community of robot vacuum cleaner owners. But we have to be intentional about giving people a way to connect with us, I call them connecting points. Examples would be sharing a clip from worship and inviting people to check us out online (or soon in-person). Or sharing some content that addresses a need people are feeling, like loneliness, hopelessness, depression, etc. and giving them a path to connect with the church. PRO-TIP: use the existing sermon series as a base for creating posts around the main ideas/themes of the sermons. Scriptures and sermon video clips are really good, but if we can translate these themes into the struggles that people are facing in their lives (like loneliness, etc) then we are truly connecting the Gospel with people that need to experience it!
Invite (Sell your product). This is much easier for our friends in the business world because they have a tangible product or service with specific features and benefits at a pre-arranged price. But, if we are doing a good job as Church social media pros in above items #1 and #2, then we are helping people experience and see a tangible faith through the people, life, and activities of your church. But, where we drop the ball as a church is not giving our audience a clear call to action in our media. PRO-TIP: Not only invite them to experience online worship, but give them the link and a reason to click on it. Give them an ebook to help them overcome hopelessness (coming soon) in exchange for their email address so a conversation can be started. If someone is struggling with loneliness and they are interested in a small group, make sure they have a way to get connected, even through a social media post.
And another point, this strategy can help you connect/re-connect with your people that may be long-time visitors (or even members) that haven’t really engaged with the calling in their life and how it relates to the mission of the church. The real pro tip here is that social media posts are a great beginning but they are really useless unless they have a purpose. Give your audience a way to connect, learn more, and get involved (which in their lives means find community, hope, and love through a relationship with Jesus and his people).