Social media provides a unique opportunity to reach your community with news about events happening in and through your local church. If you’ve not been leveraging social media, let me share three simple ways you can use this valuable tool to enlarge the ministry of your church.
1. Use paid ads
In our context, paid ads on Facebook have taken the place of costly newspaper and radio ads. We used to spend several hundred dollars for well-placed ads in our local newspaper and some spots on a couple of radio stations. We primarily run ads for our Fall Festival in October, Vacation Bible School in the summer, and our Christmas services.
Paid ads on Facebook will allow you to select your target audience and select a maximum amount to spend each day. They can serve as an effective way to let your community know about key events throughout the year.
2. Promote on local buy, sell, and trade pages
Alamogordo, New Mexico, is a city of around 32,000 people. There are eight buy, sell, and trade pages for Alamogordo and the surrounding area. One of these has more than 20,000 members. Thankfully, they allow local organizations to promote their events and activities. We use these pages extensively to inform the community about events we have coming up.
These types of pages also provide a unique opportunity to connect with your community. Once a month or so, I will make a simple post asking how I can pray for folks. I invite them to either comment on the post or to contact me through Facebook Messenger. I have received multiple responses every time I’ve posted. This also allows an opportunity to follow up with those who contact you to check on the situations they mention.
3. Ask good questions
This works for your personal page, as well as your church’s page. More than likely, you have friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter who are a part of your local community but who are not involved in your church. The same probably also is true of your church’s social media pages. If you can engage your followers by asking good questions, that can lead to some great follow-up conversations.
While social media is certainly not the be-all and end-all for engaging your community, it can be an effective tool to reach those who otherwise might never come through the doors of your church. Use it!,
Published July 25, 2018
