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1 Big Reason to use Facebook in Ministry

May 24, 2011 in Facebook, Social Media - General with 0 Comments

51% Americans on Facebook. Church Should use Social Media.

Why should your church or ministry use Social Media – Facebook especially?

Here’s why – According to Arbitron, Inc & Edison research 51% of Americans age 12 and over are on Facebook!! 51% have profiles on Facebook!

In 2008 that number was only 8%!

So if you are going to reach your community for Christ you need to be aware that you can reach half of them via Facebook. Who would not want to invest in that type of marketing and outreach effort?

If you:

  • Hold a church service …. 51% of the community will not come.
  • Knock on doors … You won’t get 51% to answer.
  • Make phone calls …. no way 51% will pick up (especially if you call the home phone which some people no longer have)

Invest some energy and resources in reaching that 51% (and growing) who will sit in their living room and let you speak into their lives … through Facebook!

Do you know some ways a church can use Facebook?

Leave your comments below….

Dominos. Social Media. Church.

May 20, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Dominos. Social Media. Church.

Most every church I know could learn something from Domino’s Pizza. Listen as Ramon shares how he uses Social Media to create buzz about his product and stores.

While you listen, think of ideas of how your church or ministry could use Social Media to create buzz about your church and the gospel.

Post your ideas below.

sme_bw2010_ramon_deleon_v2 from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

Social Media Monitoring for Church

May 18, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Image Courtesy of Salvatore Vuono

You have to check and monitor. When you set up your Social Media sites for your church (Facebook page, Twitter feed, blog, YouTube Channel, etc) you can not abandon them. One of your responsibilities of being in the community is to monitor and check if people are trying to connect with you and what they are saying.

 
Here are three things you should check for regularly:

1. Check for Complaints

I hope you don’t get any but why don’t we check to be sure. Monitor your Social Media platforms and make sure there isn’t a complaint lingering out there you need to deal with. If someone is disgruntled with your church or ministry they might jump on a Social Media platform to air their grievances. Respond quickly. Acknowledge publicly on the platform. Respond privately if possible. A statement like, “Hey Bob I’m really sorry you are upset about this issue. If you don’t mind I’m going to call you so that we can talk about this privately” is a great way to let people know you are dealing with the issue.

2. Check for Comments

Social Media is supposed to be a communication platform – if you aren’t communicating it reflects poorly on you or your ministry or church. You DO need to respond to people who make comments on posts or status updates. It’s not OK to ignore them. You don’t have to respond immediately, but you do need to set aside some time to respond and comment back in a timely manner.

3. Check for Questions

Sometimes people will ask you a question via Social Media. That’s OK – as long as you answer. If someone posts a question just make sure you or someone responds with the answer as soon as possible – especially if it is a time sensitive issue.

 

Social Media Monitoring is one of those things a church or ministry has to do in order to remain a viable member of the community.

 

The World has Changed. Has your church?

May 11, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Social Media and the Church

We do not live in the same world we did thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago. This planet we live on is changing. The way we live on this planet is changing. Right before our eyes our world is becoming smaller through digital technology.

So, we have to ask the question – is the church keeping up? Is the church leveraging all the social media and technology tools at our disposal to reach our world and community for Christ?

Consider these statistics from Hubspot:

  • 67% of B2C companies and 41% of B2B companies have acquired customers through FaceBook

  • 57% of businesses have acquired customers through their company blog

  • 42% of companies have acquired a customer through Twitter

  • The number of marketers who report that Facebook is “critical” or “important” to their business has increased to 83% in just two years

I know what you are saying – “Those are business statistics. We are a church. We do ministry we don’t sell products!”

If businesses are savvy enough to use social media to get more customers shouldn’t the church be savvy enough to reach more people with social media?

Shouldn’t we be better at it than they are?

Isn’t our message more important than theirs?

Your church being on social media platforms -and having a strategy with it – shouldn’t be an option - it is a necessity in this digital world!

The world has changed….has your church?

What are some ways you have seen social media used in ministry or church circles that have been effective? Leave your comments below.

 

Osama Death spreads like Twitter Wildfire – can the Gospel?

May 5, 2011 in Social Media - General, Twitter with 0 Comments

osama bin laden

If you stayed awake and are involved in Social Media you saw the event unfold right before your eyes. When the networks broke into regular programming a few minutes before 11 PM (East Coast) the Social Media landscape began to light up with the news. As a matter of fact, Twitter says it set an all time record for TPS (Tweets per second). According to Tech Crunch,

The event had the highest sustained rate of tweets ever according to Twitter, reaching 3,000 tweets per second between 10:45 and 2:20am, raking in 38.7 million tweets in 3 hours and 35 minutes. At its peak it averaged 3440 TPS from 10:45pm  to 12:30pm EST, at an average of 12,4 million tweets an hour. For comparison, this year’s Super Bowl had sustained 20 minutes at 3,000 TPS.

Imagine almost 40 million people proclaiming the death of a man in 3 1/2 hours. If you were watching live, or saw replays, of  the Mets/Phillies game it was great to see how the news was spreading from mobile device to mobile device right before our eyes.

Now, why can’t we get the Gospel out like that? If the news of someone’s death spread that quickly shouldn’t the news of a RISEN SAVIOR spread even faster!!

We are not speculating, we know, that news can spread that fast. What if the church Tweeted the gospel at the same rate? What if every 3 1/2 hours 37.5 million people read/heard the good news? That means with almost 7 billion people on the planet the whole world would hear in a little over 27 days!

   In less than a month the whole world could hear!

What about it? Tell me how your church or ministry is using Social Media to get the good news out to your community and the world.

Leave your comments below…..

How Social Media Helps in a Disaster

May 2, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Ringgold-Georgia-Tornado-April-27-2011

This past Wednesday night my area stayed wide awake well past midnight as we waited on news of tornadoes all around us. They struck below and above us – we were missed by less than 20 miles. But the news began to immediately pour in about the destruction in Ringgold, GA. While the news was occupied with keeping us updated on the weather, I turned to Twitter to get updates on the town that was hit so hard just above us.

I went to Twitter on my IPad and searched “ringgold” and here is what I was able to find:

  • a scanner feed from Emergency responders in the area I could listen to
  • pictures going up immediately
  • people saying they were OK
  • Tweets describing the devastation they were witnessing
  • (the next morning) how certain churches / groups were going to respond
  • and much more

For the first time in my area I was able to keep up to the minute on a tragedy just north of my home. After it was over CNN ran a story on how Facebook was helping in the aftermath:

A group on Facebook has created a page to try to link victims of Thursday’s tornadoes with photos, documents and other personal effects blown away in the storm.

The page, called “Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes,” lets members post photographs of things they’ve found, along with their e-mail addresses, in the hopes that items of value may be reunited with their owners.

The page was created Wednesday evening. As of Friday at 5:30 p.m., it had more than 50,000 “likes” and displayed more than 600 images of found items, including a child’s Raggedy Ann blanket; a Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, mortgage document; and an ultrasound image of a fetus.

The description of the page’s purpose is simple:

“Please post pictures or pictures of other items that were found as debris after the 4/27/2011 tornadoes,” it reads. “Please leave a brief description of how someone can find you if they identify pictures or items that belong to them.”

If Social Media can help out in that kind of tragedy, how ought the church be using it to make a difference in the lostness of the world?

How is your church using Social Media to fulfill Acts 1:8?

Fancy Buttons?

April 18, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Church. Social Media Buttons

Recently ABC News reported that President Obama was overheard complaining about the outdated technology at the White House.
He said:

“You know the Oval Office always thought I was going to have like real cool phones and stuff,” Obama said last night, “You know, we can’t get our phones to work!  I’m like ‘come on guys, I’m the president of the United States.’  Where’s the fancy buttons and stuff, and the big screen comes up? It doesn’t happen.”

Now Pastor, that has to make you feel better doesn’t it? If the Prez doesn’t have all the “fancy buttons” and he can run the country maybe there is hope for your church.

So what do you do if your church is behind the times?

Add one Fancy Button at a time.

Don’t get stressed out by all you need to get done and all you need to update – just tackle one update at a time and before you know it you will be the pastor of a church of shiny new buttons!

Question: What is the one area in media or technology or Social Media your church needs to update the most? Leave your answer in the comments below.

Does your Church have a Front Door?

April 11, 2011 in Social Media - General with 4 Comments

front-door

 

Is your church taking full advantage of the Digital world we live in?

 

Some would say that we do not have to use the internet to reach people. We can do it the “old fashion” way – however  you may define it. Here is the problem with that line of thinking – it ignores a great tool God has given us and it creates a “me centric” mentality. YOU want to do it the old ways so that is the only way it is going to get done.

Consider these statistics:

According to Pew Research 78% of Internet users conduct product research online. And, 79% of adults use the Internet.

The church’s “front door” is no longer the literal front door – it is your web page ~ Facebook page ~ blog ~ YouTube channel or Twitter feed.

How does that translate to the church? It means people are checking you out online before they come to be your guest!

The church’s “front door” is no longer the literal front door – it is your web page ~ Facebook page ~ blog ~ YouTube channel or Twitter feed.

If you aren’t doing digital well then you may be turning people away who need to hear the saving message of the Gospel!

Leave it Blank

March 31, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

Blank Box

 

 

Social Media is a great tool to connect with others. The ability to instantly speak to hundreds, and even thousands, of people is amazing.

But, it does bring with it a warning.

Sometimes you don’t need to say it.

Sometimes you don’t need to say it.

If you’ve been on Social Media long enough you’ve seen the meltdowns, rants, and complaints

  • The wife letting her husband (who is not on Facebook) “have it”
  • The employee telling his boss off
  • The teenager griping about their parents
  • The young adult chronicling their emotional breakdown – hour by hour
  • The middle school kid talking about another middle school kid

All Social Media does is reveal who you really are – so be careful!

Social Media outlets are not the place to:

  • Say something negative about your spouse
  • Unload on the deacons
  • Tell the church how bad they are
  • Vaguely (and poorly) leave a “message” to the member who will “know who they are”

You may be tempted – but don’t do it – You will regret it!! Avoid the temptation to put anything negative out – it is not worth it and it could probably be classified as “unchristian”.
Set your phone/computer/device down and walk away.

Sometimes, the best you can do is just leave your status blank.

4 Ways for the Pastor to get on the Digital train

March 21, 2011 in Social Media - General with 0 Comments

speeding train

Pastors can be slow adopters to change. We love to tell our congregations they need to change, but we don’t like it! There are a lot of guys who are behind when it comes to Social Media, technology and ministry. If that’s you, here are 4 quick tips to get you started on the right track:

1. Jump in Somewhere

You may be facing decision paralysis. Which Social Media platform do I start with? Facebook? Twitter? Linkedin? YouTube? My suggestion would be Facebook but that’s up to you. I remember when I bought my first laptop computer years ago. I kept going by the store and talking to the salesman. I told him I was afraid to buy because as soon as I did something new would come out. He said, “It will. But you have to get started somewhere!” I bought that day.

2. Watch Others

Whatever platform you chose start watching people you want to emulate and how they enteract on the platform. I used to do this when I was a young preacher. I would listen to someone else preach and pick out some things he did well that I wanted to incorporate into my ministry and notice things he didn’t do well and make a mental note not to copy that aspect. You can do the same in the digital world. Learn from those who have been doing it a while and who are good at it.

We love to tell our congregations they need to change, but we don’t like it!

3. Google It

There is so much free advice out there if you get hung up on how to do something then use google. You’ll be surprised at the answers you can find when you learn to phrase a question correctly to find an answer.

4. Ask Me

I’d be glad to help. You can Twitter or Facebook message me or email me. All of those buttons are on my home page at the top of my blog.

I look forward to hearing from you when you jump on the Digital Express!

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