Top 15 Social Media Network Tips for Churches;

Help your Messages Help the World!

By Thomas R. Reich

Social media network tips for churches can help you help the world.  How can your messages be more effective and reach more people in the social media network?  We researched and found some tips you may have heard of, but we believe this list will present tips that work for churches in a unique way.

1)      Follow the 70-20-10 rule:

A)     70% of the time it’s important to share content that adds value to the community as a whole.

B)     20% of the time engage your immediate church community and your cause with questions and advice.

C)     10% of the time blatantly self-promote your cause.

2)      Set goals and keep to strategies:

A)     Set aside time to manage your social media tools for churches, post at set times of the day and week and keep to that schedule

B)     Create a content calendar, decide what your over all message is and when it will be most effective and keep to that schedule

C)     Reach out to others in your church community by commenting, sharing and re-Tweeting, then ask them to do the same for your church and your social media network.

D)     Build awareness by encouraging relationships with the classic  media, actively engage with them, and even feature their content at times.

3)  Your churches  Social Media Networks can be an integral influence in your marketing strategy if you use those resources as they were intended, play by church social media rules.  Church social media networks can raise awareness, build loyalty, increase credibility, impact reputation, inform audiences, address concerns, influence media interest and strengthen relationships with supporters.  However, church social media networks do not work well as direct sales or direct donation request vehicles.

4)      Research others with a similar cause to yours; see what similar organizations are doing to get ideas for your organization.

5)      Get help – Find a professional organization you can trust that can help you with church  social media network, often re-inventing the wheel is more expensive than simply asking for a little help!

6)      Use the church social media tools that most benefit your church organization, we recommend:

A)     Facebook

B)     LinkedIn

C)     Twitter

D)     YouTube

E)      Website

F)      Blog

7)      Encourage your staff, volunteers and supporters to join each and every one of your church social media network nodes.  If they do not have, for instance, a Twitter account, hold a class on how to set up their own Twitter account.  This way your social media network is expanded to all your associates social media networks, and their friends become part of your church social media network.

8)      Reach out to Influencers – Start conversations with bloggers that support a similar cause to yours, see if they will include mention of your charity or your activities in their blog, offer to do the same for them.  Also, exchange information, follow each other, and add them to your church social media network.

9)      Provide relevant content – Only send tweets and messages that fit your cause, your church social media network should be exclusive to your cause, do not use your social media as a personal site.  Engage with content that will attract and retain fans, followers and supporters.

10)      Evolve – Change your strategy as social media and your organization changes.  Chat about the latest trends in your cause, your latest drive, something one of your volunteers has done that deserves mention.  Always be on the lookout for new trends and tips that can increase your social media network exposure.

11)      Be helpful – if a supporter or a new face asks a question or comments, respond quickly, and give thought to the answer.  Remember for everyone who sends a question, 100 probably thought about asking, and did not reply, they will read the answer carefully!   When people take the time to reach out and share, return the favor with a helpful and thoughtful response!

12)      Provide value – From the links and content you share, to the questions you ask of followers, always ask yourself “would this be something your supporters would find of value”.

13)      Don’t forget donations either – From time to time at appropriate junctures, like when others mention your good works, you may remind them of the need for donations and always provide a link to your donations page in your website and links to all of your church social media network nodes as well!

14)      Drive traffic to your official website – Helpful links placed in appropriate locations within blog posts, and occasionally in Tweets can drive quality potential donors to your official website where you can encourage donations more stringently.

15)      Use discussions and questions to learn more about your supporters, volunteers and donors – Remember, the more you know about your most supportive people the more they can help you to your goals and to build your church social media network and in so doing move closer to engaging in your cause!

Does having a better nonprofit social media network seem like it may help you?  We think it can, at ChurchNet USA we are here to help you help others!  We have a FREE Wednesday webinar this coming Wednesday March 21. 2012.  We will cover how to Get Maximum Publicity from your social Media Network.  I think you will enjoy this event and we invite you to attend, as always, FREE of charge!

Here at ChurchNet USA, we have helped over 12,000 people work with the modern tools of business and we can help with Nonprofit Social Media Network as well.  If you would like to talk about marketing your nonprofit, or any area of your day to day operations, please give us a call at 407.857.9002 or email us at info@bizcentralusa.com.