Have you ever had that you moment where you’ve asked yourself, “Why aren’t more people seeing my content?” You plan, schedule, and research only to find that your social media content has fallen flat. Sure, it reached some people, but not the masses that you hoped for.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who’s felt that way. Most social media directors I know at some point go through moments like this. It’s frustrating and you can feel defeated, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
I want to introduce to you some small tactics that could significantly increase your church’s reach and get your content to reach more people. I’m not talking about paying for more likes or signing up for the latest social media network (you can read my thoughts about Snapchat right here). I’m referring to easy ways that any church can increase their reach on social media. Check out this list of ways you can increase your church’s online reach.
1. Tagging and Mentioning People
You want to make someone’s day on social media? Thank them. Take a moment and tag or mention someone on social media. Just a simple thanks or shout out can completely change their day.
It can also improve your church’s reach. When people begin to realize that your church’s social media is more than just announcements and instead is about people they’re more likely to share your content and interact with you.
2. Keep Your Posts In the Moment
The quickest way to kill your church’s reach? Automation. If a person realizes that all their doing is following a robot, then there’s a small chance they’ll ever interact with the content. The opposite is true as well. If your content is in-the-moment and timely then your audience will realize that real people are behind the scenes.
This is why I’m beginning to fall more in love with social networks like Snapchat and Instagram. They are really designed to be in the moment networks that require you to post in real time. This gives the audience the sense that they’re right there along with you during the entire event.
3. Use Video If You Can
In the past few years, we’ve watched images overtake text as the main way that people are using social media. With the rise of Instagram, Pinterest, and apps incorporating filters, we’re seeing social media networks become more image driven. However, I think fairly soon images will be overtaken by video.
However not just any video is trending, but short, sporadic video, videos that range from 6-15 seconds. Short bursts of video that capture brief moments, so the audience can get a small taste of what’s happening. Videos like these are on the rise with sites like Vine and Snapchat and will become more prevalent as social networks add these features in the coming years.
Now this is where you can church can improve your reach. Start using video now. Do you have an iPhone or smartphone? Well then that’s all you need to get started. [ctt tweet=”Your audience isn’t looking for a slick over-produced video. They want raw in-the-moment video with real people.” coverup=”sb0yU”]
4. Make it Universal
I like inside jokes. My wife and I have million of them between us, but remember they’re between us. They wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. Your church’s social media is very much the same way. If your content too specific to your audience you could end up losing potential visitors and new audience members.
For example, when you’re posting on social media try to avoid using theological terms that will leave your audience scratching their heads. Yes, you do eventually want your audience to learn what these terms mean, however you don’t need to have them jump into the deep end of your church’s lexicon.
When you post content that is mainly just for your audience, you can end up scaring off potential visitors. No one wants to feel like an outsider or even worse, stupid. There’s nothing inviting about tweeting about the “doctrine of the predestination of our eternal souls”.
5. Be Human
Your church’s social media channels should always have a human aspect to them. It’s easy to churn out announcements, quote scripture or live tweet a sermon. It’s much harder to make your content seem human.
The quickest way for your social media to have a human element is to seek out people and comment on their content. Don’t wait for them to come to you. You do this by setting up a geolocation search that lets you see which people around you are in need of prayer
Think about it. When is the last time an organization out of the blue asked how your day was going? It doesn’t happen every often and when it does it makes a human connection.
What do you to increase your church’s online reach? Click here to share below.