Church leaders should be tuned in and aware that most of the world spends a good proportion of their day on social media. That includes first and second world economies. Social media should be a church leader’s dream come true. There has been no other communications channel in history where your church is just one click away from being noticed by your broader community without you having to direct mail them or spend huge amounts of money on advertising.
Being one click away doesn’t mean that churches use social media well. In fact, I see many churches make common mistakes. Here are just seven that I see regularly.
Use social media to broadcast
Church leaders can treat their social channels like a TV channel. They think that whatever they say, people will listen and engage with their content. That is called mainstream media. Social media is called social media for a reason. To be social! I know that is stating the obvious, but it’s true. What I see is churches using social media more like a megaphone than a telephone. They use it to talk at people rather than talk with people.
Need translating
Do you think about the audience you are creating your content for? Is your language accessible to the friends of your fans who don’t attend church? Or do they need to be an insider to understand what you are saying.
No strategy
Time and time again, I see a lack of strategy. Churches just post stuff about irrelevant and uninteresting information that makes me yawn. What would it look like if your church had an intentional strategy of reaching your neighborhood on social media? What would your content look like then?
Being negative
Some churches use social media to tell the world what they are against, not what they are for. They present themselves as against culture and pretty much anything else that comes across their line of sight. I’m not saying there aren’t things to stand against, but imagine a world where your congregation’s friends knew what you were for rather than just what you were against.
