Church Marketing – Facebook And Your Church – Is That A Good Thing?
If you are like most of the people who live on this Earth and have a limited amount of computer skills, you probably have a Facebook profile.
Facebook (FB) provides a great way to keep up with current friends, reconnect with old ones, and create new friends with the touch of a mouse. Setup is minimal and you’re literally in the social media mix in minutes.
Churches have a few more obstacles to overcome in creating a profile, but nothing that is onerous.
Your church’s Facebook page
There is a saying on the Internet; you don’t go where the traffic is. Come out in front of him. As a result of the popularity of Facebook, having your church on Facebook is a great way to get ahead of traffic.
Your FB page is different than your church website, although it is not a bad alternative. It’s a great way for your church to be actively involved on social media.
What are the benefits for your church?
FB will make your marketing efforts more effective. As such, whether people are full-time or part-time employees, volunteers, or running a ministry, they will have a greater stake than they currently have. But you know what? They will have a lot of fun with it too!
Because many people have their own Facebook pages, your non-Christian friends will see that they are attached to your church. The result is that they will get an idea and perhaps an enthusiasm about your church!
In this day of email overload, emails tend to get overlooked. Phone calls are not even an option. FB makes it easy for selected people to get up-to-the-minute on your event or what’s happening at your church. Truly a single source of information.
That sounds great, but I want my church to be good at this!
FB is like any application. The more you use it, the easier it becomes. But if you want to get the most out of your FB experience, here are a few things to consider:
Think of Facebook as Twitter or voting in Chicago.
Do it early and often! (It’s a joke on the subject of voting). The interest and therefore page views of returning visitors will increase in proportion to the number of updates you provide.
After all, if the site only updates once a week (or worse yet … once a month), then you haven’t really given anyone a reason to come back. (Keep this in mind with updating your Sunday services too … people like freshness!)
By getting church members to post to your page, you provide fresh content (which keeps people coming back and hopefully interested enough to come on Sunday) and also makes it more personal. As I mean, it begins (and in this case) maintains the relationship.
And that’s what people want these days. This is why Web 2.0 is so great! Your willingness to get personal makes both you and your church more humane, especially for those who are reluctant to become church goers. Basically it changes the way people see the church in general and their church in particular.
Does that mean you have to update regularly with events or photos?
Posting photos and videos gives a great perspective on your church and really adds a great benefit to members and visitors by letting people know what is going on. But are they mandatory? I do not believe it.
You can do something as simple as putting a motivational / inspirational quote, image, or video on your wall (don’t worry about that particular term, it will make sense soon). It really can be anything that reflects what is happening in your church (be it past or upcoming events)
Even if the minister or someone who leads a church ministry talks about something they are doing in the church, build enthusiasm. Michael Beckwith with his Agape Church does an amazing job on this. Take a look at their Facebook page to see what I mean.
What about maintenance? Do you have to be a geek?
All applications have become extremely easy to use in recent years. You really have nothing to worry about, because if you can move a mouse, you can update FB. And the best part is, anyone in your congregation can do it!
Whether you’re posting an event, what’s happening at your church, what’s happened, or want to keep up with your friends, the Facebook wall gives you the ability to do it all in one place. It gives any visitor the ability to see what has happened and what is the most current content. Posting updates regularly is critical to getting the word out.
It may be true, but I want to post photos and videos! It will be difficult?
If you know where to find the file on your computer or USB stick, you can easily post any of these.
Will they get more exposure for our church?
Absolutely! How much will depend on what you put in it. But it is a total advantage.
Twitter is great for pushing people to your site. So if you have a Twitter account and want to post a photo or video, FB is a great place to do it. Then send a tweet and get people to go to your Facebook page to see it.
And there are other cool features with the apps that can set your church apart and give it the attention it deserves.
The only downside to your church having a Facebook page is the failure to maintain it. Doing so will benefit you in ways you could never imagine.
