We’ve all been there. We’ve watched the church down the street have huge social media numbers and a website that could power NASA. It’s easy to feel small in comparison of the number of large churches that are out there. If you’re not careful you can start question if you’re making any impact at all.
The problem with comparing yourself with the church down the street is that it sets unrealistic expectations on you and your church. Sure, the church next door has 5,000 Facebook likes, but there are lot factors that probably helped them get there. They might have full time person dedicated to social media or they might have spent money to buy “likes” (yes, you can do that and no it’s not recommended). In short, there are lot of factors to how a church might succeed using social media.
Instead of focusing on the what the church down the street is doing, take time to do an honest assessment of your church and it’s strengths. Yes, the church down the street may have “a lot going on”, but that can also be a disadvantage as well. Churches with large programs tend to push out a lot promotion for all of their programs. You however can be laser focused on a few things and promote them well.
You can also take the time to make sure that your social media channels are not only pushing the right content out, but there also listening as well. Listening is the key to great social media. Listening is the “social” part of social media. Focus on listening well and the size of Twitter follower count won’t really matter.
Trying to keep up with the church next door is a fool’s errand. God put you where you’re at for a purpose. Embrace that purpose and focus on what matters. Do that and then everything else will fall in it’s place.