As our world becomes more digital, churches have the opportunity to reach more people with the Gospel and engage more with their congregation outside of the four walls of the building.
Jumping into the world of social media can be intimidating, but we are here to provide you with information and resources that can help your church get the ball rolling!
YOUR AUDIENCE
First and foremost, you need to figure out your audience. As a church, you have two main audiences. One is members of your church and the other is the people in your area and even around the world that are lost or don’t have a church home.
Having a grasp on WHO you want to reach will help you establish the right content to post.
As a church, you want to present your social media content in a way that the lowest common denominator of your audience can understand.
What does that mean?
It may be easy to think that everyone around you understands words and phrases like “sanctification,” “washed by the blood” or “tithing.” However, people who have not grown up in church or have never heard the Gospel don’t understand “church-speak.”
This doesn’t mean we should water down our messages, but we should be aware and intentional about how we word things so everyone can understand.
After all, the ultimate goal is to give people the opportunity to hear and understand the Gospel.
YOUR PLATFORM
A plethora of social media platforms exist that you can choose from when starting out. Some things to keep in mind when choosing are age ranges/demographics, format of content/posts, and where you feel comfortable leaving your church’s digital footprint.
To reach your complete audience, I would recommend using multiple platforms and adjusting your content to fit each one.
Keep in mind when looking at this list that there are more than just these four platforms. The four listed are just more prominent right now!
Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform in the United States (according to Pew Research). This platform has a wide range of users, but it is generally used more by people ages 25 and up.
The platform gives users a variety of ways to interact with followers. Text posts, images, videos, and livestreams are all accepted on Facebook.
Facebook can also be connected to an Instagram account through Meta, which could make using both platforms simultaneously much easier.
Instagram is the next most popular social media platform. Most of its users are between the ages of 18 and 35.
This platform is all about images and videos—Specifically Reels (short videos with trendy, engaging elements).
X (formerly Twitter)
X was once a booming platform of limited character text-posts, images and videos. However, the platform grows less and less popular as time passes.
Most users are between the ages of 18 and 35.
TikTok
TikTok is a video sharing platform that continues to grow in popularity with teenagers and young adults. According to Pew Research, 62% of people ages 18-29 are on TikTok.
YOUR CONTENT
No matter the platform, originality and consistency are the keys to success!
All social media platforms have an algorithm. All of them value original/authentic content and consistent posting.
What does this mean?
If you frequently post web links on Facebook without any images or videos, the internal algorithm will limit how many people see those posts.
Users want to see candid moments and engaging content.
Photos and videos of church events and other things will always have more engagement than generic graphics with words on them.
The next most important thing is to be consistent.
This doesn’t mean to post something every hour. Posting at least once a day or even every other day helps to keep your content fresh in your followers’ feeds.
A sample schedule to help visualize how to run a consistent, engaging social media accounts can be downloaded here
YOUR SCHEDULE
We know it seems stressful to keep up with social media while also planning and preparing for church and other events. But it doesn’t have to be!
There are plenty of social media scheduling sites that use an online calendar to help make scheduling your social media posts on multiple platforms a breeze. There are even some that offer free versions, like Buffer.com.
Check out some of these sites and see if any work for you:
Loomly
Hootsuite
Later
Pallyy
