I have made many mistakes over the years in managing my church’s social media accounts, some of which have been embarrassing. One of the most embarrassing ones I made was when I neglected to check which account my phone app was on before I posted a rant about the Dallas Cowboys and how their most recent loss was the equivalent of “running over my heart with a lawnmower.” Thankfully, I deleted that off the church’s page before too many people saw it and pasted it to my personal account, where it should have been in the first place.
I consistently made the number one mistake churches make on social media and didn’t realize it.
For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why my church’s follower and subscriber growth rates were so flat. I posted regularly. I made sure posts were short and easy to understand. I even provided ways for people to get more information about the post. But I consistently made the number one mistake churches make on social media and didn’t realize it. I’m grateful for a “social media intervention” from two of our on-staff graphic designers who sat me down and explained things I wasn’t learning. These two ladies helped me realize that the number one mistake I repeatedly made was posting overly promotional content… otherwise known as the “church announcements.”
Every church needs to make announcements. I believe every church's creative and technical leaders know this all too well. But if we’re not careful, our social media posts will end up like the church announcements that are bland, monotonous, quickly looked over, and discarded by the people we’re trying to reach. Announcement posts on social media can also seem pushy and one-sided. This can foster a perception or even the reality that the church’s social accounts are another boring “church bulletin,” saying the same things over and over again.
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Know your audience and tailor content to fit their likes.
So, how do you solve the number one problem of overly promotional content that plagues so many churches' social media accounts? Get creative! It’s what we do best as church creative and technical leaders. Use the number one way to connect people to Christ and the church… evidence of a changed life.
Instead of posting the same announcement on social media that you post in the church bulletin, get creative by putting together short videos of people who have been changed through this ministry of the church in the past. Take short videos of parents with their kids who have loved Vacation Bible School and look forward to the event this year. Sit down in lawn chairs with a couple who have made friends at the annual Fourth of July church social and have seen their Bible study group be transformed by the relationships enriched over a picnic meal. Interview the man who took a week off of work to go on a mission trip to build a church for a rural community in Mexico. Capture him discussing how it changed his relationship with Christ for the better to be someone missionally living each day at home. Then, when people like and comment on these videos, interact with them.
Interacting with people is one of the most powerful ways to ensure your content will be seen by more followers who are more likely to share that content on their pages and accounts. Don’t be afraid to like and respond to comments and even answer questions that people post. Create a poll or Q&A to invite others to respond and share. Then, once an event, service, or ministry is completed, don’t forget to share quality pictures and videos using sound production principles that show changed lives and people smiling and participating together.
… don’t allow years of your church or ministry repeating the number one mistake to discourage you or even paralyze you…
Finally, know your audience and tailor content to fit their likes. If you see more comments, likes, and shares on pictures of people smiling and interacting in the hallways and on church grounds, ensure you’re posting these regularly. If you see that a short sermon recap video gets lots of views for the size of your followers and subscribers, make this a priority on your task list for Sunday or Monday. Maybe a short video you posted about how much someone enjoys bringing their family to Wednesday nights got views, likes, and comments. Post more content like that. Know your audience and what they like based on their engagement, and give them that content regularly. After a while, you’ll see positive stats on your social accounts and realize that you’re reaching more people for Christ.
Please don’t allow years of your church or ministry repeating the number one mistake to discourage you or even paralyze you from trying to improve your ministry’s reach. Make this change a matter of prayer. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and to be able to honor Him as you use your church’s social media platforms for the glory of Christ. Then, commit your plans to the Lord and trust Him to bring about success.
