Social Media Strategies for Churches & Pastors to Connect with the Community

Connecting with the community on social media is one of the best ways to engage current members and attract new ones. Social media enables you to keep members informed while continuously promoting your church and your programs. If you can create valuable content, your members will share it on their own social media channels, which will greatly expand your reach.

However, finding new and efficient ways to connect with the community can be challenging. There are always new social media channels cropping up and it’s difficult to know which ones are worth your time. Plus, how do you make sure your message stands out above the noise?

Here are three tips that can help your church or other religious organization create valuable content for social media.

Define your starting line

Whether you have a budget or not, it is important to define the “starting line” of this race that is social media marketing for churches. If you don’t have a budget, don’t worry! You can supplement the lack of budget by being more creative with your posting strategies. Putting more work in telling the story and making your point will increase the odds in your favor of going viral and attracting more followers to your congregation.

If you have a social media budget, explore strategies boosting certain social posts, with that budget, to grow your followers, engage your followers, or increase worship attendance. Time is just as important to budget as your money, if not more! Define when you will work on your social media posts, how many you will post monthly, and where you’ll work on them. Once you define this, stick to that no matter what comes up.

Understand the finish line

With budget being your starting line of the race, your goals are the finish line of social media marketing for churches. Sit down and make what are called SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Each time you make a social post ask yourself these questions:

• What am I specifically trying to achieve with this post? Is it to gain followers, engagement, or grow my worship attendance?
• How will I measure the success of this social post? Will you focus on increasing your virtual worship service attendance or increasing an in-person fundraiser event attendance?
• What is truly achievable with this social media post? Tempering your expectations is important because most of your posts will not go viral, but some will if you plan correctly.
• It’s important to know how measured outcomes relate to your overall goals. Getting more Direct or Personal Messages from a post would be relevant because it shows that people are engaged in your content and want more! However, getting one bad comment on a post doesn’t mean the post was unsuccessful.
• Your goal should be time-bound and have a due date. Maybe you want to get your first 100 followers within 3 months, or you want 10,000 by the end of the year. Having a due date will allow you to track your efforts and show your success to your superiors and supporters of your goal.

Get creative

Videos have a lot of pull these days. Simply posting one on social media and your website can give people of faith something to share online that could brighten someone’s day. It’s also an engaging way for people to learn more about your church and your values.

It’s become popular for churches to film video sermons and post short video clips, or even offer complete live streams of services sometimes. This is great content for your members to share with friends, and it can also be a good way for people to hear your weekly message even if they cannot physically attend a service. Videos can make your church feel much more accessible and relatable.

Another idea growing in popularity is having a pastoral blog. These can expand upon the weekly message and provide members with valuable resources. It’s also a great way to let your congregation know about upcoming events and keep them abreast of news in the community.

The last social media strategy for churches is trend jacking. Like a journalist or reporter, you can take current events that are trending on social media and give your commentary and “take” on the situation at hand. From the lighthearted humor of funny cat videos to more serious thoughts about how we can help others negatively impacted by current events, trend jacking is a great way to help your members apply scriptural teachings to modern life. It also offers fresh ways to be creative on a budget and support your congregation’s faith.