Social Media

Social media’s influence continues to grow and church communicators should stay sharp about the latest trends and tools. Instagram is at the top of the list of current influencers. Its unprecedented growth of over 800 million active monthly users continues to make it a dominant force and an app that church communicators and pastors should consider using. Need more reasons?

Social media is a tool. It is a neutral device that can be used for good or ill depending on the person wielding it. Unfortunately, we are more often interested in the negative stories about social media: how Facebook leads to divorce, how teens use Snapchat to send inappropriate pictures, and how trolls harass people on Twitter.

If you want to extend your church’s reach, you need to go where people are. In this day and age, that means getting comfortable with the world of social media. Adults spend an average of five-and-a-half hours per week engaging on social media. That number has jumped by 36% since 2015.

Graphics design and social media go hand-in-hand. For the church communicator and pastor who need to have all social media channels firing at all times, knowing what sized images and graphics to use both for personal accounts as well as for church social media channels is very important to appear professional and engaged. 

Twitter search is a virtually unknown tool by many with the Church. If your desire is to connect organically via social media to know what's going on in your community, or to reach out to seekers right under your nose, using Twitter search can help point your church social media efforts in the right direction. 

Social media is both a blessing and a curse. If you've spoken with anyone recently about Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, I'm sure you've...

In the old days, churches used to buy time on a local TV or radio stations to extend their reach electronically but today, that's happening more often through the Internet with live streaming services. TV, radio, and Internet services cost money and for many churches, the cost prevents them from broadcasting their service. Facebook Live now makes this more accessible to a large potential audience of viewers. In many cases, users can do so for free or for a fraction of the cost of the expensive Internet church streaming services springing up all over the place.

Some days, scrolling through your Facebook feed can feel more like a 'choose your own adventure book' than a chance to catch up with friends. Think about the last time you stumbled on a weird 'Sponsored Post,' and asked, "Why am I seeing this?" Quickly you realize the amount of money wasted on Facebook ads is amazing.