5 Do’s and 5 Don’ts of Church Communication During the Holidays
The holiday season is a perfect time for churches to connect with the congregation as well as potential first-time guests.
Thinking about shareable social media posts, I remembered a conversation I had. “Hey, do you remember Susan Branscombe from elementary school?”, I was asked recently by someone from my old neighborhood.
I couldn’t recall her. That’s not unusual since a few decades have gone by. They went on trying to get me to remember her. Only after several descriptions, I remembered she was in most of my elementary classes. Now I slightly remember the nice girl. But she really isn’t memorable.
However, if I’m asked about someone who got into trouble years ago, I’d remember them quite clearly. Everyone used to talk about their indiscretions. And we still might!
It’s the difference between likability and shareability.
Social mediums allow us to read/watch/see something and then 1) scroll past 2) like it, or 3) share it. As a church, which is the best? The answer is obviously the last.
Churches produce lots of announcements. When announced from the pulpit, we see people ignoring them, some nodding in favor, and some (rarely) who can hardly wait to tell others about it. You know, Pastor’s resignation or the cool outreach event that breaks your church norms.
We don’t want announcements, social media posts, or sermons to go unheard or ignored. We want them be liked. So we create ones that people nod and agree with. And then they forget them.
Stop it!
Facebook only shares your posts with less than 10% of the people following your page (about the same percentage paying attention during service announcement time?). They want you to pay to “boost” your post to “everyone”. But a “share” is a FREE way to gain more audience. Everyone who shares your post opens up their followers to the important church message.
What makes a post shareable? It’s not easy, but here are a few ideas:
Remember that everything changes for each social channel, each piece of content, and your particular audience. The only way to know what works for you? Keep track of your successes. And then stop creating boring posts. Leave that to the other churches.
The holiday season is a perfect time for churches to connect with the congregation as well as potential first-time guests.
The church branding essential for communication can be summed up in this fun phrase: matchy matchy. In fact, there are
Daily tasks become less special each time someone does them in succession. Doing something once a week can even become
Discover your thread®. Be Known for Something® relevant and needed. Pastor, control your church brand and be heard again.
– Discover Your Audience
– Build Your Brand
– Communicate & Be Heard
Communicate so your congregation & community pays attention to your website, social media, & email!
We'll never spam you. Unsubscribe anytime.