How To Use Social Media for Churches

Churches are using social media. Whether they are using it to communicate with each other, their church members or anyone else in the world is unclear. Social media is here to stay and if churches want to be effective in reaching people, they must use all tools available. You might be saying “but I don’t have money for this or time for it or expertise for it.” Just get started. The whole point of social media is that it is free and easy to use, but the benefits are great.

First, let’s understand what social media is. Then let’s look at why churches should be using it in their communication strategy. Finally, we will look at some ways to do this.

What is it?

Social media is, as defined by the Open Dictionary online, “the collection of web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into an interactive dialogue.” For purposes of church communication, we will limit our discussion to primarily three types: blogging, video sharing (YouTube), and social networks (Facebook).

Why should churches be using it?

Churches can use social media in many ways, but let’s mention the basics. These are: to inform, to connect, and to fundraise/share offerings.

To inform

Churches need to stay informed about what is happening in their community of faith. Whether they are using video sharing to interview members of the congregation or blogging to inform people about what is happening at their church, staying abreast on ministry activities can be very helpful. Some churches are using Twitter feeds (Twitter messages sent out via computer) to help create community excitement around upcoming events.

To connect

Social media is an effective way to connect with other like-minded people. It is faster than picking up the phone, but not so invasive as to be considered spamming. Churches can use social media to range widely for connecting purposes. Social media range from Twitter messaging (with random others) to Facebook posting (with friends and family).

To fundraise/share offering

Churches are using social media to fundraise. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are all used for this purpose. The key is not to get too pushy or overbearing with your audience. That’s why the connection piece of social media is so helpful. You can speak to your connections without being bound by typical giving times in worship services.

Now, with that groundwork laid, let’s look at how to do some of this.

Blogging

-Create your blog (WordPress, Blogger). If you are not web-savvy enough to do it yourself, contact someone who can help you.

-Put content on your blog regularly. That means once or twice a week. Consider having an editorial calendar for this purpose.

-Create categories on your blog to make it easier for people to find things later. For example, maybe your church is doing a series on Matthew. Then you could have categories called “Matthew 1”, “Matthew 2”, etc., with posts in those categories about that topic.

-Create a tag for your blog, i.e., worship or sermon. This helps people find you with search engines.

-Link frequently to other blogs/websites with good content, especially those targeted toward your audience. But don’t link to them constantly. Linking is a good way to show appreciation for that blog’s content.

-Make sure your blog shows up in search engines for your church’s name(s) and your pastor’s name. This is very important because that’s how people will find you when they are looking around online. They may not even know what to type in the search box, but if you show up with good content, they will click on you.

-If your church has multiple locations (or campuses), consider setting up a blog per location/campus. This is especially useful if those locations have different people preaching at different times, and they do not want to change the URL of the main church’s website.

YouTube

-Use YouTube to post videos, not for your entire sermon. Recorded sermons are fine, but are typically found elsewhere online (see below).

-Do live streaming of events, such as services or conferences with other churches. This is a great way to help others in their ministries.

-Create playlists for your videos. It is much more organized this way, and it makes it easier for people to find a certain video.

-Create a channel that relates to your church, NOT your pastor or discipleship group, etc.. The channel should be the whole church’s because you want as many people as possible to see what you are offering online.

-Get on YouTube’s suggested videos list. This is how people will find you! They search for something, click on a few results, and if one of those results are yours, they will watch it. If your video is on the front page of YouTube, more people are likely to see it in search results. Then they might click on it, and the cycle continues (and quickly).

-Consider uploading sermons that are not connected to your main church’s website. This will help people who do not live near you connect with you online.

-Do not make your videos private. That means they can only be viewed by people in certain circles (friends, family, etc.) or by people who have a certain code. This makes it so that no one can find your video online, and decreases the chances of you getting found.

-Put your videos on as many social media sites as possible (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest) with good descriptions. If possible, shorten long descriptions to make them more user-friendly.

-If you use Powerpoint for your sermons, consider uploading those slides to Imgur or Slideshare and embedding the presentation on your blog. This is a great way to re-visit content without having to re-create it yourself.

Wrapping up

The above are just some of the ways on how to use social media for churches. You can also utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc. There are also other options like using Spotify to share music. The best way to get started is by picking one platform that you can begin utilizing and then building from there.