Churches can harness the power of social media to reach both members and nonmembers, taking advantage of social media’s ability to engage with people and allow them to share information. Knowing the kinds of posts that increase engagement can help your church develop a stronger social media campaign.
Here are five kinds of posts churches can use to increase engagement for followers:
Promote an Event
You have events scheduled that are designed to help your congregation. Make it easy for your members to get the word out about your events (i.e. internal classes, special events, and community events) and reach as many people as possible with a shareable graphic or video that includes the event title, date, time, and location. If registration is required, provide a link that makes event registration simple. When posting this sort of promotional material, be careful not to bombard followers; a good ratio is one promotional post for every four posts.
Develop Interactive Posts
Create posts that encourage people to share stories and opinions. People want to know you value their input. Ask questions to increase engagement and create a sense of community. Some examples of questions include the following:
- How can we pray for you?
- What is your favorite Christmas song? (Then give them choices for answers.)
- Or ask a lighthearted question about their weekend plans.
When asking questions, it’s important to answer any responses. If you have trouble getting anyone to answer, recruit a volunteer to get the conversation started.
Share Images
Images catch people’s attention and encourage them to stop scrolling and engage. Since the Bible is our ultimate source of inspiration, create images with Bible verses on them. You can also share images with a quote from Sunday’s sermon. Or share photos of things that are happening behind-the-scenes such as the setup for an event or volunteers gathered around the check-in table or praying together before serving.
Focus on Teams
Your church is comprised of many people who play their part to create the whole. Highlight individual ministries in your church. Spotlight a volunteer in the children’s ministry. Allow your members to get to know others in the congregation to create a deeper sense of connection and involvement.
Create Videos
Videos are increasingly popular as evidenced by the rise of YouTube. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in early 2019, 73 percent of adults in the U.S. use YouTube, making it the top social media platform. Reach YouTube users by posting a clip of Sunday’s sermon or a fun interview with your pastor. Invite people to attend church or become a volunteer. You can also share a short video to explain a church term or share a member’s testimony.
Once you increase engagement, you can point them to lead forms that feed right into your church management software (ChMS), like FellowshipOne, which will give you an even more direct way to interact with your followers. Click here to schedule a free demo of how you can enter people into your ChMS directly from any lead form.
The right kind of social media posts are one more way to increase your church members’ engagement. Are you promoting events in a way that makes it easy for your members to share? Are you creating posts that create interaction and build community? Do you post images and videos? Do you share about various ministries throughout the church? Creating these kinds of posts will help you deepen your relationships with your members and increase engagement.
