The rise of social media has provided powerful communication today for churches. Not only is social media a great way to communicate with those already engaged and attending your church, but it provides a wonderful opportunity for churches to engage with people who rarely, if ever, step foot in a church building.
Here are some of today's most popular social media platforms and tips for their use:
Church Website:
- should be visually appealing and easy to navigate
- landing page should be designed for those seeking a church (including nonbelievers), not for those who already attend your church
Pastoral / Church Blog:
- great resource to share devotional thoughts, address trending issues, prepare members for upcoming sermons, and expand upon recent sermons
Facebook (public page):
- posts are visible to the public
- useful for reaching those who do not already attend your church
- great way to announce upcoming church events, sermons, share Bible verses, etc.
Facebook (closed/private groups):
- posts can only be seen by members of the group
- useful to communicate prayer requests/praises and announce church events
to people who already go to your church
- specific groups within the church can have their own Facebook group (ex. Prayer Team, Youth Group, etc.)
YouTube:
- great place to share videos of worship service, announcement videos, pre-sermon videos, devotional messages, etc.
- allows people to "experience" your church before attending in person
Podcasts (iTunes, PodDirectory, etc):
- useful for sharing sermon audio recordings and devotional messages
Instant Messaging (Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc.):
- useful for group discussion and communication (such as sharing prayer requests)
Twitter:
- designed for short posts of 140 characters or less
LinkedIn:
- great for sharing job openings and networking
Google Plus,
Instagram, and
Pinterest are other useful social media sites.
Buffer (
www.buffer.com) is a very helpful, inexpensive social medial management tool that allows you to schedule and post to multiple social media sites at once.
