I’m not sure why the church struggles with social media so much. It seems like our leaders, the congregation, and even communication teams have problems when it comes to being social on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The church, of all places, should understand what it means to be social since the definition of “church” is the collective group of believers! Fellowship and community should come naturally, but we all know it doesn’t.
If you’re struggling with social media (not a lot of followers and/or engagement is low without many likes, shares, or comments), take a look through your recent posts and I’m guessing you’ll see these 4 reasons (be sure to fix them!):
- Make it about you and not them. Do all your posts assume people care about you a lot? Are most of the pronouns personal? Does everything feel like it’s from your vantage point? Stop! That’s like engaging in a conversation where the other person drones on and on about themself. It’s boring and you start to avoid that person. Much like people avoid the social feed that’s similar. Instead, turn the tables and make it interesting to the person reading your post. And if you don’t think it can be, consider not posting about it.
- Not making your posts entertaining enough. Once you have “them” in mind, consider how they could view your posts as entertainment. People tend to go to social media when they’re bored (that’s when you do, don’t you?) and they’re looking mainly for entertainment to pass their time. Give it to them! And they’ll start to anticipate your posts rather than hiding them. If you can’t do entertainment all the time, they’re also looking for interesting facts or stories. Inspirational testimonies should flow from a Church’s social media!
- Your posts are too random. We all prefer focus and stereotyping. For example, you go to a restaurant because you know what foods they do well. That’s why a place known for it’s amazing fried chicken shouldn’t try to do steaks as well. Assess your posts and do “something” well. That thread unifies in the minds of people browsing what you’re known for. Then they’ll start to appreciate you for a particular benefit and pursue you!
- People know you for too much promotion. Stop promoting and advertising! Sure, the occasional ad is fine, but many of our church feeds have become a constant barrage of ministry event invitations. Instead, consider how to add entertainment value to them (i.e. have a short video testimonial about someone’s life being changed because they attended last year. Have it end with them mentioning that they wouldn’t miss the event this year. The value of that engagement and third-party endorsement is worth the additional work of producing the video!)
