Here are some tips for developing a social media strategy for your church:
Define your goals
Each channel of communication that you use should have a clear purpose. Many churches use social media as a way to communicate with their congregation and don’t see social media as a way to reach out to people in the community. A starting point for this might be to create a Facebook Group for your church members and attenders to join and then use this as your way to communicate to them directly. That frees up your main social media feed to be used to reach out to people who may not already be connected with your church.5
Identify your target audience
Once you decide to use the power of social media to reach your community, now you get to learn the ropes on creating an “Audience Profile” to begin to narrow down the possible people who will begin to see your content in their feed. In most urban areas, there are tens of thousands if not more who might be eligible to see your post, but you can begin to filter down by things like geography, gender, interests, and more to shrink your possible audience. You might think that is counter-intuitive, but trust me… this is a strategy that works!
Choose the right platforms
Different social media platforms have different audiences and features. For example, Facebook is great for connecting with Boomers and GenX, Instagram is better suited for reaching Millennials, and SnapChat and TikTok are best for GenZ. Don’t be overwhelmed by these options! Embrace the differences of these platforms and just do what you can on the platform which will have the best reach for your audience.
Create engaging content
Create and share content that is interesting and engaging to your audience AND that fits the ethos of the social media platform you are posting the content on. Not all content works on all platforms, so don’t make the mistake of posting the same thing on all of the platforms and hope that it works. Content creation takes time, planning and effort, so make sure you have a pipeline in place to make content a regular part of your workflow.
Encourage engagement
Social media is a two-way platform designed for communication and not just blasting out information. The best social media strategy will always include content that gives people a chance to respond, ask questions, offer a different thought or challenge the content. Don’t be afraid of this! Answer questions and respond in a timely way. Don’t delete comments unless they are blatant trolling or misinformation. Instead engage in a loving way and create space for interaction both online and perhaps in person.
Utilize paid promotion
Paid promotion is a great way to increase your audience reach. The days of using social media as a “free” way to communicate are largely gone, and so while you can gain traction and have organic reach with your audience, sometimes you need to pay to boost or take out an ad. Here is the good news: it does not take a lot of money to reach a lot of people on social media. It is still one of the most cost effective means of advertising out there.
Measure and adjust
Don’t just make content and hope that it is working. Find ways to keep track of your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. Use social media analytics tools to track your engagement and reach.
