Social Media Reaches the Church

1. Social Media Reaches the Church Faye Hill, Certified Trainer

2. Social Media is the New Normal

3. Social Media is different than other media channels before it. Here it’s about relationships, recognition, engagement, value, and help. Where people are, is where the church should be!

4. Social Media is different than other media channels before it. Here it’s about relationships, recognition, engagement, value, and help. Where people are, is where the church should be!

5. Social Media: Statistics • Facebook has 905,000,000 users. One in every 9 people on earth is on FB • More than 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute • People spend 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook • 45 % of LinkedIn’s 150,000,000 professionals are the decision makers • The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females.

8. Why are Churches Using Social Media to Connect with Members? Technology is becoming an important — even necessary — tool to attract and keep members, to evangelize to outsiders and to spread a Christian viewpoint locally and globally. • It's easy and effortless, it doesn't take much money or manpower to implement or use it. • It's omnipresent, since it is so available and pervasive it isn't hard for people to miss the message. • It's variety, social media takes many different forms, words, audio and image. • It's viral, the beauty of social media is that your message can expand well beyond it's intended audience - therefore exposing and introducing new people to your cause and community.

9. How does social media improve the quality of your ministry ? • Communication • Connections • Call to Actions

10. The Value • Every visitor visits your site before they walk through your doors • Members stay connected during the week • Expands your community • Gives many ways to find you 

11. Churches Can Interact Better With the Target Audience • One of the greatest advantages of social media is that it helps you connect better with your prospective and current members. You can use this opportunity to build stronger relationships with your audience and promote your ministry in a more effective way. 

12. Is your page in order?What needs to be on your page?

13. #1 The Cover Photo is your biggest branding opportunity

14. #2 The Profile Picture- The hardest working image on Facebook

15. #3 Custom Tabs- Make sure you take advantage of these

16. Suggested Tab Topics:Youth ministry – Events, Photos, Dates & Times, Permission SlipsMusic ministry – Links to videos, where to find music online, events , rehearsal schedulesMinistry Events- Photos, suggestions, commentsPrayer – Prayer request, testimonials and praise reportsCommunity Outreach – Fund raisers, outings,

17. Once you have created a FB page, remember this: • Create a vanity URL once you have 25 likes • Put your Facebook link on your website with a social plug in that says “Like us on Facebook” • Add your Facebook link to all of your printed materials and your email signature • Don’t use your page just to broadcast. 20% of the time is about you…80% is about them • Always respond to comments • Use images, videos and inspirational quotes

18. FB Guidelines Example Welcome to the XYZ Church page! We hope that you will make connections, find and share information, and engage in conversations here.No personal infoBesides your name, please do not include personal information. This is a public website, and any information may be linked to your name and published on the Internet. No sellingPlease do not market your wares here, no matter how useful or wonderful.Be niceThis page should be a safe place to engage in conversation. Please remember that this page belongs to a Church, and think of it as a place for fellowship. Show tolerance for divergent opinions. No personal attacks or insults.

19. Guidelines Example By posting to this page, you agree to the guidelines outlined here. Although this page is monitored, we acknowledge that occasionally something inappropriate may find its way onto it. In most instances, we will send you a notice if we feel that there has been a violation of the guidelines. We reserve the right to remove inappropriate posts immediately. Subsequent violations can result in being blocked from this page without warning.  DisclaimerFacebook.com is owned by a third party unaffiliated with The XYZ Church; you use any third-party sites and materials at your own risk. The XYZ Church is not responsible for and does not endorse any content, advertising, products, advice, opinions, recommendations, terms of use or privacy policies, or other materials on or available from third parties, including Facebook. Any opinions expressed by Facebook fans are those of the persons submitting the comments and do not represent the views of the XYZ Church. The XYZ Church reserves the right to block any commenter who posts content, or whose Facebook page contains content, that is deemed inappropriate or offensive..

20. What is Edgerank? Did you know you reach only a fraction of your fanbase every time you post a branded message on Facebook? Whether your fans receive your content in their newsfeeds depends on a Facebook algorithm called EdgeRank • How often should I post? • What should I talk about? • When are my fans listening? • Best/Worst Stats • www.edgerankchecker.com

21. Facebook Insights

22. Five Best Practices for Your Churches Facebook Page • People want to show their personality and connect • The number one reason why people love Facebook is that it enables them to show their personality and connect with others. • Ask more engaging questions that allow folks to show their personality – preference-type questions, etc. • Conversely, make sure to respond and validate comments. When people gain feedback from their community they are more likely to share often and be open and honest.

23. Five Best Practices for Your Churches Facebook Page • More question marks than periods • Count your question mark to period ratio. Don’t just be a bull horn and wonder why folks aren’t responding. Think through subjects to talk about and questions to ask that are relevant and will engage folks to answer. • This one is always a big help to churches. The results are great over and over with this tip.

24. Five Best Practices for Your Churches Facebook Page • Spend time listening • Rejoice with folks, hurt with folks • It’s not always about what you have to say. • Recruit Volunteers • It’s a big job. Who can you recruit to help you post and respond? (sometimes these folks will be apparent based on their comment frequency and quality) • What specifically do you want them to post?

25. Five Best Practices for Your Churches Facebook Page • Hit these often • News and events • Bible verses – encouragement and relevant to your weekend teaching • Inspirational quotes – Check out goodreads.com/quotes Also, use quotes from the sermons. • Have fun. “Sorry the Falcons lost this weekend. We’ll have prayer counselors available today if you need them.”  • Highlight volunteers and encourage them, make them feel like rock stars, and ask others to volunteer. • Post photos and videos – sermons, events, Youtube clips from music videos • Link to other pages at your church • “Would you rather” type questions • Polls

26. Turning Members into Raving Fans • Give your page a human touchThe goal is to communicate with your members as though you were talking to your friends • Become a content machine Consistently create new content and mix up your media often • Cultivate engagement with two-way dialogue Wait for a few responses so you can engage in a conversation • Create consistent calls to action “go”, “give”, “pray”, “share”

28. PINTEREST Most church communications people that have thought about getting onto Pinterest haven’t really figured outwhat you’re supposed do on Pinterest if you are representing a church. Consider pinning these type of things: • Help prospective visitors figure out your church – Photos of church services to show your culture • Illustrate a dynamic church life - Events • Show your links to partner organizations  - Your Connections • Collect sermon / discipleship content - Books, Resources • Become the #1 advocate for living in your town  - Community

29. Mobile Texting

30. Mobile Apps Why on earth would a church need a Mobile Phone App? • Consider that there are 5.2 BILLION mobile phone users in the world today. What if you could easily connect to the thousands that live near your church for free? What if you could effortlessly send them invitations, sermons, announcements or other important information. Better still, what if you could instantly collect donations from them with one click from their cell phone or hand held device?

31. Custom QR CodesBlack & White QR Codes are now“Old School!”Before: After:

32. Time Allocation Anything worth having requires time! Social Media requires a lot of time to become successful. Don’t overlook the value of putting the time into it or finding someone to do it for you.

33. What Does the Future Hold? • Greater focus on mobile marketing • Geolocation integration • Peer recommendations • Improved management tools • Bigger budgets allocated to social media • Greater focus on relationships and storytelling • More even playing field among big and small organizations

34. The Future Holds…the end of business as usual!