Social Media for Churches

lauryn preston

Creating a church social media strategy can be overwhelming for church leaders. For around half of the pastors in the United States, the average work week lasts around 50 hours. And, for most pastors with this workload, having a solid social media presence isn’t at the top of their list of priorities. This doesn’t mean working on their church’s social media strategy isn’t important or even necessary. Navigating various social media platforms, for many church leaders can be a daunting task. When they log into their Facebook page, they are asked to “write something…”, and then, Twitter asks “what’s happening?” Many pastors genuinely want to interact with church members on social media platforms and work more on their church social media outreach, but between being overworked and the hurdles that come with creating a church social media strategy, the task just never happens. So, if you are struggling with developing your church’s social media presence, you aren’t alone. We understand how difficult creating a church social media strategy can be, but the good news is it doesn’t have to be!

Why Should You Have a Church Social Media Presence?

There are many scriptures that remind Christians that they are meant to spread the word!

Mark 16:15 says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Matthew 28:19 says, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” And, Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good news…“

And, there are so many more examples of this throughout the bible. Most pastors don’t disagree with the need to “spread the word.” However, doing so on a social media platform is where the area is gray.

Right now, at this point in our history, more people are present on social media platforms than ever before. Additionally, social media accounts have the tendency to bring out the worst in people. This isn’t limited to non-Christians, either.

So, if your church wants to reach the local community specifically those who are hurting, it needs to show up on social media.

Effective social media strategies for churches can help spread the gospel truth and encourage fellow Christians in their own walks of faith. The key is to keep things light, uplifting, and Spirit-led. Your social media posts should be more than an advertisement for your own church.

What Is the Best Church Social Media Strategy?

The best social media strategy is one that brings the most engagement while remaining positive. You want to create content that promotes church growth but also that encourages your target audience. Your posts should catch people’s eyes and encourage them to attend your worship services.

It’s best to think of your social media accounts as an extension of your church’s ministry. So, be dedicated to the cause. Post regularly, and interact with your church community, as well as the average person who interacts with your Facebook posts, YouTube videos, Tweets, etc.

Every like, follow, and comment represents a real person with a very real need to be closer to God!

Using Social Media Platforms for Ministry Outreach and Growth

If your church wants to use various social media platforms for discipleship and outreach, this can be done in many different ways. Teaching and ministering do not have to happen in person.

So, church pastors and ministry leaders should consider all social media accounts and online outlets as another avenue to deliver content–to deliver God’s word!

You can do this by creating blog posts, promoting church events, sharing personal stories, live streaming Sunday services, or simply by spending time communicating to those who need some uplifting!

The more you create content, the more followers your church’s social media accounts will have. Social media can be a powerful asset if used correctly. People are hurting and hungry to learn more about Jesus. Using social channels, you’re able to engage people, lead people, and connect with those that you may not have otherwise!

So, how do churches start ministry outreach on social media channels?

Prepare Your Church's Message for the Online Community

To start with a church social media strategy, you’ll first need to outline what you plan to say. Specifically, focus on the bigger topics that you plan to cover throughout the week.

When planning out what you are going to share on social media ahead of time, this will help you remain focused and keep you from posting similar stories on social media feeds day in and day out.

Here are a few ideas to consider sharing to boost social media engagement:

Upcoming church events
Scripture
Sermon series
Clips from your sermon
Quotes from other churches or theologians
Prayer requests
Praise reports
Faith-based articles
Volunteer stories & opportunities

Know Your Target Audience

Social media for churches requires the church leadership or social media team to be social and engage with social media users. Those in your community, both church members and non-members socialize with each other every day on most social media platforms. They’re sharing photos on any given platform, letting their friends and family know what they’re doing on different platforms, and so on and so forth.

When you create a church social media strategy, you need to promote content that will connect with members of your congregation, as well as those in your community. Some of your posts will connect both of these groups, and on other occasions, they may not. However, it’s important that your social media content calendar balances your social media outreach as equally as possible!

Determine How Much You Can Realistically Share

If your church doesn’t have a dedicated social media team, it may be time to delegate the social media strategy out to a few trustworthy church members.

Regardless of whether you are the pastor or someone tasked with creating your church’s social media strategy, you’ll need to take a step back and assess how much time you can realistically devote to creating and promoting your church’s social media calendar.

There are several church media resources, like Tithe.ly Media, that can help you significantly reduce the amount of time you’ll spend creating valuable content.

You should try to share on more established social media platforms before moving to newer social media platforms so that you can reach the largest amount of people.

Choose a Social Media Sharing Service

One perk of managing a church social media strategy is that you don’t have to share multiple updates throughout the day. There are several low-cost services that allow you to “set and forget.”

For example, if you want to start off with Twitter, you can look into free tweet schedulers to get you started.

At Kiopi, we offer several social media management subscription plans starting at $25/per month. We also offer a free 14-day trial so that you can make sure Kiopi is right for your church before you actually sign up!

Unlike other platforms in our industry, Kiopi’s social media posting service tool allows you to share on Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, Instagram accounts, and Google Business accounts. Sharing content to your church’s Google Business page will help increase engagement on your church’s website. It will also encourage Google to show your church when community members are searching for local churches, which could lead to a higher attendance in your worship services.

All of Kiopi’s plans include our social media calendar tool, the best social media scheduler tool, advanced analytics, and a link shortener.

Create Your Church Social Media Calendar

The easiest way to ensure you have the best social media strategy is to create a social calendar. Using Kiopi’s social media content calendar, you’re able to make sure that your church’s social media audience receives consistent, organized, quality content.

Kiopi’s social content calendar helps you plan social posts, track those social media posts, and coordinate your efforts with other members of your church. Kiopi’s calendar option can also show you the overview of your church’s scheduled posts, the social media platform or platforms on which the post is scheduled, and the exact time and date it will be posted.

Using a social calendar, like the one provided by Kiopi, you’re able to see which areas of your church’s social media strategy are lacking and could use more content. For example, if you want to balance your social media outreach efforts with posts that appeal to most of your church members, non-church members in the community, and both, Kiopi’s social calendar can help with that!

Use Data and Analytics From Your Church's Social Media Accounts to Increase Engagement

While the social media goals for most churches will be fairly similar, you’ll want to ask yourself what your specific goal is for each particular platform. Who is your church primarily trying to reach–members that regularly attend church services, members that aren’t in attendance regularly, the community, the lost around the world?

Kiopi’s social media data and analytics platform will help you see how your church’s social media content resonates with your target audience. Because Kiopi was developed by advanced marketers, we made sure that we provided many tools to help our users get more engagement.

With Kiopi’s analytics, you’re able to determine the best time of day to post on each social media platform, what types of posts get the most engagement, whether you should post for special events one week or one month in advance, etc.

This is what we call “social listening.”

Additionally, if your church is running paid ads for its Facebook page, Instagram account, or Twitter Account, our data and analytics dashboard can provide an in-depth visual content representation of that, as well. We also show your Google Business analytics on that same page!

If you choose not to invest in paid media advertising, consider conducting a little social listening for yourself using Kiopi’s social listening tools. Many churches have a very different view of how social media for churches should operate. Look at other churches on social media. See what their church and community members share the most!

Don’t go down any rabbit holes, but see what members of your church share! Do they post more video content, photos, or written content? While most of your members won’t publish based on a social media strategy, seeing what is shared more often will help determine how your church can reach more people on social media sites.

Social Media Strategy for Churches FAQ

What Should You Post on a Church Social Media?

Social media content comes in many forms, but most of the time, images and videos will catch your audience’s eyes as they scroll through their news feeds. One of the major benefits of using video content is that your social media audience will be able to see your disposition–your face and body language. While you can write posts on behalf of your church all day, social media posts seem a little warmer when you can hear a person’s voice.

At the same time, you shouldn’t ever underestimate the value of a well-written devotional or encouraging words that are Spirit-led.

Don’t overthink it. Bathe it in prayer and trust that God’s Word is sufficient.

How Does Social Media Affect the Church?

Social media can have negative consequences for individuals, so you should never use your church’s Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter account, YouTube account, etc. as strictly an endorsement. Instead, use these social media platforms to engage with the church congregation, as well as members of your community.

As long as God is the center of every social media post you create, He can use it to draw people to Himself.

How Can Churches Use a Social Media Strategy Effectively?

The goal of having a social media presence is to use it as an extension of your church’s ministry. Use the social media outlets available to you as a vehicle to extend your reach and engage with the community. If at some point, you see that some piece of your overall social media strategy is leading you or others away from your church’s mission, abandon this part as soon as possible. You are called to reach the lost, not to get a trophy for social media engagement.

How Do I Market My Church on Social Media Channels?

If your church isn’t using paid social media ads, you should consider using them. These are great ways to reach a target demographic. At the same time, things tend to go viral when they resonate with a large group or meet a need that’s heartfelt. You want to ensure that your social media content is engaging, but you also want always to make sure that God is the hero of the story, not your church. Always focus on Christ and lifting him up, and your community will recognize that your church is a place that truly puts God first.

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