1. Social Media:
TGIF
Thomas G. James
Resource Manager
Lewis Center for Church Leadership

2. Outline
• Why Social Media?
• Facebook, Twitter & others
• Which Social Media platforms fit my needs
best?
– P.O.S.T. Strategy

3. Consider Marketing Stats
• Using Statistics from BrandON
– BrandON! marketing.technology is a marketing
and strategy firm focusing on integrating the
latest technology and social media

4. http://www.theconversationprism.com/

5. Facebook
Groups vs. Fan Pages

14. Fan Pages: What to share
• Upcoming events
• Follow up from past events
• Share stories about people who are involved
in Christian Education
• Tag photos of past events

15. Group Pages: What to share
• Upcoming events
• Follow up from past events
• Share stories about people who are involved
in Christian Education
• Tag photos of past events
• Facilitate conversation
• Prayer requests / Life changes

16. Facebook Study Groups
• Create a new group online
– Example:

17. Twitter
growing your follower list

18. Grow Your Twitter Audience
• Follow other people / people in your church
• Use #hashtags
• Use @replies
• Learn how to use the search function
– #stumin
– #collegemin
– #cmconnect
– #fammin

19. Grow Your Twitter Audience
• Shorten your tweets
– 140 characters is allowed maximum, try 100
– Allow for hashtags and RT information
• Share spiritual practices
– Don’t ask for long, drawn out disciplines
• Set a schedule
– Don’t become addicted, pace yourself
– Allow for emergency news, but find a common time
for tweeting – people will learn your schedule

20. Grow Your Twitter Audience
• Be conversational
– Ask questions – provoke responses

21. Patch
free advertising
local news

22. What is Patch?
•A community-specific news and information
platform providing local coverage for individual
towns and communities
•Helps users learn about and participate in
what’s going on in their community
• news and events
• photos and videos from around town
• local businesses information
• Discussion forums
• Announcements, photos, and reviews

25. Social Media
• General Rules
– UPDATES
– Not a Personal Account
– Spice up your FB / Twitter pages
• Pagemodo
• TwitBacks, FreeTwitterDesigner
– Logo and/or people … not church buildings

26. Social Media Strategy
• What do you currently have in place?
• P.O.S.T. Method
– People
– Objectives
– Strategy
– Technology

27. People
• Who is your audience – what are their
capabilities?
– What are the best modes of communication?
– When is the best time of day to communicate?
– Different forms of communication will reach
different groups of people.
• Who will be executing the plan?
– Who will be sending out messages?
– Who will NOT be sending out messages?

28. Objectives
• What are you trying to accomplish?
– Are you creating a platform to listen or to
converse?
– Is your social media usage for evangelizing or
energizing?
• How will you measure success?
– First, establish an objective
– Second, determine how you will measure success

29. Strategy (or Next Steps)
• How will relationships inside and outside the
church change by using social media?
– What aspects of your church’s culture does social
media challenge?
• Budget
• Staff / volunteers
• Existing structures and processes
• Imagine the end point, and allow that to
determine where to begin.

30. Technology
• Your social media strategy is not A technology.
– Facebook, Twitter, blogs, email, website … these
are tools to help your ministry succeed in carrying
out your strategy
• Once you have determined your people, your
objectives and your strategy, choose your
technology
• Continue to learn how social media is
changing, and adapt your use accordingly

31. Questions
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