23 Advantages for Churches Using Social Media
A business web site (businessesgrow.com) recently published a list of 25 non-financial benefits of business blogging.
The list can be adapted to show the benefits of church blogging. Our list is a little shorter. We combined some things. Here goes:
- Create a database of answers.
Seekers and members ask the same questions over and over. The need to have ready answers for most Frequently Asked Questions inspired Luther’s Small Catechism. Archive your answers to the questions you hear most often. - Showcase your workers.
Shine the spotlight on your volunteers. It is likely to inspire and encourage others. - Integrate your message.
Your pastor and church leaders create content regularly when they preach and teach. Give their work broader reach. - Help search engines find your church.
A lively church blog will rank over those annoying listings by the internet version of the phone book yellow pages. - Tell your community why your congregation is different.
Make your ministry stand out. - Lay the foundation for other forms of communication.
If you have an active blog, it will be easy to create a newsletter or congregational report. Cut and paste! - Show your face.
Your blog will reveal your congregation’s personality. Potential visitors will feel like they know you before they cross the threshold. Be assured — visitors today look at web sites first! - Measure your vitality.
A church with an active blog is proving they are engaged in the community with relevant and purposeful activity. - Good public relations.
Churches always have trouble attracting the attention of the press. If your blog has good community content, your local papers will find you. - A quick and easy way to communicate with your current membership.
If your members subscribe to your blog, they will get an immediate notification of breaking news. No need for the phone chain. Just don’t abuse it if you want to keep your followers. - Engage your congregation.
This may take some patient nurturing, but your congregation’s blog can become a place for congregational interaction and provide valuable feedback to your leaders. - Ask questions.
How many vestry or council meetings are spent debating what the congregation wants? With a congregational blog, you can ask them. Pose a question two weeks before a meeting and see what people have to say. If you want to keep this a valuable tool, be prepared to listen to the answers and respond wisely. - Crisis management.
You do not have to rely on anyone else to supply facts about your ministry. You can tell your OWN story! When a controversial decision is reached, use your blog to help the disgruntled understand. If your denomination is in the news, add your slant to the public issue. - Forum for ideas.
Again, this will take some nurturing, but foster the sharing of mission ideas. If people know they can make a difference, they will speak up. Be prepared to respond to ideas. No one likes to put their thoughts on the line only to be ignored. - Give your leaders a platform.
If their ideas are good, they will catch the attention both within and outside your community. That’s giving your church new reach and authority! - Segmentation.
This is something we don’t think about in the church. We like to think of ourselves as being “one.” There are, however, sub-interests within any united congregation. With the internet you can address these without leaving anyone out. In the business world it’s called “market segmentation.” In the church, it might mean directing some blog posts or creating a separate page or category within your blog for singles, youth, church musicians, daycare parents or Sunday School teachers. - Identify advocates.
An active blog will create “fans.” It’s nice to have supporters and know who they are! - Inexpensive way to keep connected.
You can gently remind your audience of upcoming events without the time to make phone calls or incur the cost of sending letters or postcards. - Measure controversial issues.
Should you change the time of worship this summer? You can debate this in a vacuum OR poll your members on your blog. - Create a volume of work.
Your blog will create your congregation’s history. Take your posts and create a quarterly or annual report. Your loyal members are likely to purchase an “annual” if you make printed copies available and include lots of photos. - Network.
Your blog can help you find people with special skills for a variety of needs from programming to building maintenance. Vendors may even be willing to contribute or discount services if you give them a plug and a link on your blog. - Connect with people on an emotional level.
Most congregational publications are fairly dry. Blogs can come to life with good story-telling, photos and video. - Prove to your community that you understand today’s world.
08 Feb 2012
I recently started a blog for the church I serve as an attempt to engage the congregation during the week. While there has been some engagement, which you can see in the comments, it has been difficult to get a lot of support. We typically mention the blog every week, and have cards with the URL listed so people know where to go online. Have you had any success in building a congregational following before?
I’ve read that most people who comment on blogs are bloggers themselves. If the congregation has few, if any, bloggers, does that diminish the chances of people finding this a valuable way to spend their time during the week?
Thomas, somehow your comment passed my attention when originally posted. My apologies. I try to respond to all comments.
I have not chased the carrot of engagement in creating this blog, but it has attracted an audience none the less. Members read it. Only one member ever comments online, but the articles are often discussed after worship. I think faith issues are pretty personal and so people are guarded in their engagement.
We started the blog as a congregation when our denomination evicted us from our property three years ago. They had been after our property (a small church with an endowment in an increasingly upscale neighborhood) for a decade as their support was in serious decline. It’s been an ugly battle — still not won decisively by either side. The blog has successfully united the remnant and maintained our community through this difficult times. Surprisingly, we have had a world response. Our readership has grown slowly but steadily. Our involvement with our readers has grown at a faster pace. We now have 1200 readers each month and another 110 who follow daily by email feed or Facebook/LinkedIn. They often tell me that they broadcast links but they tend to do this by email as opposed to share buttons, so it is hard to measure. We have people who correspond with us weekly in several countries. So I can report that we have success in creating community. It is often a surprise just how that happens, but it has been very worthwhile and has changed and directed our ministry.
Again, I’m sorry for the delayed response. I don’t know how your comment slipped past me!
In the coming months I plan to be more intentional about integrating Facebook into the mix. I’m not a FB follower myself so I’ve neglected it, but that is about to change. I’ll be documenting results from that effort. We are also going to explore Kindle publishing.
I find this to be very helpful in our new community outreach, “No Family Left Behind.” Your blogs are certainly practical and useful. Thank you very much for sharing your vision to help churches be the source of faith building support they can be.