Your church has been producing online content for the past year due to the pandemic, or maybe even before then. It\u2019s possible that you now have a great foundation online and have gained some traction, but where do you go from here?<\/p>\n
The key to having a successful on-line ministry at your church isn\u2019t to receive more views or followers, but to engage<\/em>.<\/p>\n The goal of online engagement is to produce active members and encourage them to take steps of spiritual growth.<\/p>\n Most churches have strategies for engaging people in-person to lead them to transformation, but what about online?<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to share with you three strategies you can implement today to strengthen your online engagement.<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Personalize Your Posts\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It can be difficult to see transformation in any church without building trust. To non-church and even churchgoers, the church is largely viewed as a building and the pastor as a somewhat unrelatable figure. This can make the barrier to building meaningful relationships more difficult for churches.<\/p>\n However, social media has given churches a unique opportunity to allow people to see the church in a different light.<\/p>\n How can you do this?<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Create Wearable Content<\/strong><\/p>\n The correct term for social media would be \u201cshareable\u201d but here is why I chose the word \u201cwearable.\u201d<\/p>\n You wear brands, read books and listen to music because you relate to them and would likely recommend them to a friend. Hence, the need for your church to create content that others are willing to use and share.<\/p>\n According to Sproutsocial, \u201cPeople are 16x more likely to read a post from a friend than from a brand.\u201d<\/p>\n The church is spreading the greatest message in history and due to the over-saturated social platforms, attention is our most valuable commodity.<\/p>\n Remember, people are on social media to \u201cbe social,\u201d not necessarily to see what their local church is posting.<\/p>\n That is why the church must create content that makes people stop scrolling, engage and share with their friends.<\/p>\n How can you do this?<\/strong><\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Intentionally Provide Next Steps<\/strong><\/p>\n The best form of engagement is when someone takes the desired next step.<\/p>\n In-person, this might be filling out a welcome card, volunteering or getting baptized.<\/p>\n Online, this will be commenting, liking or sharing a post, filling out a digital connect card, following\/subscribing, planning a visit, signing up for an event, etc.<\/p>\n It should be clear in your post what next steps you want your audience to take.<\/p>\n Here are a few ways to clarify:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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