I was talking with a new client over the weekend about their new website. Quickly, the conversation took an obvious shift to social media. We set their site up to utilize some blogging software so that they can update information and keep their site current. I was also able to provide a couple ideas in addition to their site on how to utilize social media for their ministry.
1. Maintain the Conversation –
One thing I have found is that with smart phones and the like people are not checking facebook once a day, but rather, numerous times per hour. Stay in that conversation. Use Facebook and Twitter to keep your church members and visitors informed about what’s going on. Remind them of upcoming events, share relevant news stories, ask thought provoking questions. The key here is to be a participant in relevant conversation. You don’t have to over-spiritualize everything. Keep things fresh and fun.
2. Know your Demographic –
The church I was working with is in the town of one of the largest Universities in our state. They are meeting in a building at the University, and they were questioning whether or not to use Social Media. I encouraged them to rethink their position and almost consider social media above their website. College students are using social media as their tool for communication. Get into their circles and participate.
3. Live Updates –
One question I had from the group was how to keep people up to date about a motorcycle ministry. They wanted to inform people about upcoming group rides they were having which were at times spontaneous. I shared with them that Twitter and Facebook are a perfect outlet for this. One update to Twitter would notify all your followers of the news. This news could spread to their other friends and our evangelistic process has now gone viral…(interesting!)
4. Use Technology to you Advantage
There are many tools out that allow you to bundle your social media accounts to make things easier. When you use these tools to update your status or send a message, it automatically can send to numerous social media outlets simultaneously without having to login to each individually. For instance, I use TweetDeck. I have my Facebook, 2 Twitter Accounts and LinkedIn all setup in the program. When I update the message I can select any or all of those accounts to display the post. I type once, it shows up in 4 places. So Simple!
I realize there are several reservations to social media and I can understand both sides of the argument. We have a great advantage to spread our message by utilizing the technology that is available to us so we might as well take advantage. It doesn’t have to be a primary means of communication, but definitely makes the conversation easier and more convenient.
If you’d like to learn more about utilizing Social Media in your ministry. Email me and I’d be happy to share with you.
