Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 If your church is doing the same thing on social media today that you were doing five years ago, chances are your social media presence is pretty stale. In this conversation. We're gonna teach you how to fix that. Let's do this. You are listening to the Reach right podcast, the show dedicated to helping your church reach more people and grow. Hey guys, I'm Thomas.
Speaker 1 00:00:23 And I'm Ian.
Speaker 0 00:00:24 And today we're talking about how to refresh your church's social media strategy. If it's tired and stale. We're gonna be digging into some of that. Uh, should be a good, uh, conversation. Uh, and yeah, looking forward to digging in.
Speaker 1 00:00:36 Yeah, absolutely. We got some interesting feedback here lately that, uh, well, here's what we heard. We said we've, this person shared, we've received feedback that our church's social media presence is outdated and not very engaging. What can we do <laugh> to get things back on track and start reaching people again?
Speaker 0 00:00:57 Boy, tell us how you really feel. Right? Let's, I knows. Let's, uh, that's
Speaker 1 00:01:00 So you need that candid cri critique, right? So <laugh>,
Speaker 0 00:01:04 I I would say that this church, it's gonna be good for them to hear that. Yeah. I, I would want to hear that if everybody is bored by whatever we're putting out there and Yeah. You know, the, the reason I'd say, let's start with that, um, before we get into, we have four prescriptions, I guess, of things we can do to, to fix that. But before we get into that, I think the reason this usually happens is because you're doing the same thing that you've always been doing. Uh, and I don't know, I started using social media at my church, uh, when I was pastoring. I planted a church and then I was, I don't remember if we used it much. You and I planted a church in 2007. Yeah. And I don't know if we had social media accounts for restoration community back then. Um, I don't think we really did. This is like right when
Speaker 1 00:01:50 Facebook
Speaker 0 00:01:51 We started, right? Yeah, it was, yeah. So it wasn't MySpace days, but it was early
Speaker 1 00:01:55 And we were talking about our church on our own, uh, fa Facebook profile. So yeah,
Speaker 0 00:02:00 So that's one thing. And then I pastored a church, uh, you know, 2013 to 2019, I was pastoring a medium sized church. And we definitely had Facebook and Instagram pages and Twitter pages and all that kind of stuff. But here's what I would say is that if I was doing the same thing today that I was doing in 2013, um, it would be totally stale. Cuz that stuff does not work at all anymore. No. Even the stuff that we did in 2019, like pre pandemic stuff, right? That doesn't really work anymore today. So that's probably the root cause of the staleness that people are experiencing in your social media there. Yeah. Um, I dunno, any other root causes or any, anything else that makes it feel stale you can think of? I, again, before we get into the, the solutions,
Speaker 1 00:02:44 Any other than you doing the same things that you did, you know, you know, years ago, I think it's just, yeah, getting in a pattern, getting complacent with it, right? That's easy to do it. Uh, you know, we're just gonna post a, a devotion, a thought for the day or a, or a Bible verse or a here's our next event. You know, those typical things can just easily get on repeat. So it's good to, to kind of, you know, wake up and say, okay, yeah, we've been doing this for a long time, so, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:03:10 Totally. Well, let's dig into 'em, I guess some of the answers here. Um, so I think the first one, uh, and this goes along with what we were just saying, uh, is that you need to embrace short form vertical videos. And so by that, if you don't know what that means, I'm talking about TikTok, Instagram reels, Facebook reels, YouTube shorts. Yeah. Uh, those four channels, um, are the ones, and I, I think there will be more, you know, so if you're watching this Yeah. A few months in the future, I am hearing with great confidence that Twitter will be launching theirs very soon. Um, so let me give like a, a bit of a snapshot of what's happened with social media over the last, well, I guess we'll go back 10 years or so. You, you look back 10 years ago, social media was primarily text-based.
Speaker 0 00:03:53 Uh, so as people talking about what their thoughts sharing news articles or links, but it was mostly text. And then Instagram comes around and changes everything and makes it more image based. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and images become what's really important. And then it starts to shift probably about five or six years ago to being more video based. So Instagram starts having short videos and those things, and that became the standard. And then now we're in the middle and maybe even in the late season of short form vertical video. So videos where you don't have to turn your phone sideways, but you can hold it upright and actually watch what's happening there. And it's, uh, TikTok, again, Instagram reels, Facebook reels, and YouTube shorts. These channels are really paramount right now. So if you are not using these, and if you're not producing content, I would say that's native for these, so it is in vertical format there, then you are missing a huge opportunity.
Speaker 0 00:04:51 And yeah, the pushback I hear from a lot of churches on this is, well, you know, we don't really know that, like, we want to be a TikTok kind of a church. Right? And, you know, I, there's so, I've heard so many stories about the terrible things that are on TikTok and Right. Isn't that owned by the Chinese government? And we hear all this kind of stuff about it that precludes us from wanting to use it. And so I'm not here to debate necessarily whether TikTok is something that is necessarily healthy for people to use and consume personally or what they're doing with the information. I mean, that's outside of my pay grade. Sure. But what I am here to talk about is that if we are not using it, we are missing a huge opportunity to make an impact on people and reach people. So weigh those other parts. But I think it is worthwhile to use each one of these platforms and to do that, you need to be making vertical videos and actually making 'em natively for that. So, uh, thoughts on that, Ian?
Speaker 1 00:05:46 No, you're absolutely right. And I mean, I, one of the key things for someone to remember with this too is that they're short. That makes it a little easier to pull off too. You know, again, and I think one of the reasons for this is, uh, that these have become very popular is people's attention span is they're getting a lot shorter because of the amount of media and stuff we're seeing on, uh, on a daily basis online. And so, um, the advantage I think for a church is that we, you don't have to have some big long produced, you know, video here that, that takes a ton of work. They will take some work, but, um, short creative to the point, and I don't think it's too tough for the average church to pull off.
Speaker 0 00:06:26 Yeah. I mean, so you're getting what you put into it, so Right. It, it is something that you can be done. We've actually, you don't wanna do it videos
Speaker 1 00:06:33 Cheaply <laugh>, right?
Speaker 0 00:06:34 So we, we have a whole team here that helps churches do this right at reach, right? So we have a team of people that takes sermons and turns them into short form vertical video with our product called Sermon Sling. And that's something that we can do for churches. Yeah. We've also created a lot of content, our team that makes those videos for churches. We've made content that teaches pastors and church leaders how to do it themselves. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, and so it's actually, if you have the, the kind of the skillset and the desire to do it, it is something that you can do and you can learn to do. And there's apps on your phone and there's all kinds of software that makes it easier to do. Uh, but it is a pretty big commitment to pull this off. But yeah, I will say that there is an enormous opportunity here.
Speaker 0 00:07:15 So just for a, a typical church that works with us and they just start doing, uh, vertical videos that they're seeing hundreds of views on all of their videos to start. And occasionally when you first start, a lot of these platforms like to juice it and you'll see thousands of views on your first handful of videos, and then it kind of turns into a constant trickle. And sometimes the great thing about this platform is that it's not really made for people that are in your church. It's made, and for people that don't follow you, it's made for algorithms that introduce your content to other people, but it also has a local bent to it. So TikTok knows if people are in your community, and it's gonna be more likely to show people videos from your community than people that live in, uh, another part of the country or the world there.
Speaker 0 00:08:06 So for instance, I get all kinds of videos on my YouTube shorts feed or a TikTok feed, but I get a lot of videos from people that are right here in my community, even though I don't follow them, I haven't chosen to follow them. It's all, it's what's called a discovery algorithm. So it's discovering what you like based on what you watch, and then it shows you more of that content, but there is a local component to it. So, um, I would say that this has consumed all other forms and content styles in social media. Yeah. And so, so much to the point that here at Reach Wright, we don't really even bother posting much else besides short form video because it is so, um, so commonplace and what is easiest to get results with. So you're, it's not too late. You're still in the middle of the heyday of short form video. And I would encourage every church listening to this, that if you're not doing that now and you're not putting out at least a video or two in this format per week, you're missing the biggest opportunity You have to get the gospel in front of people. Uh, so I'll just say it that plainly there. So yeah, that's kind of my thoughts on that.
Speaker 1 00:09:09 That's good. No, good. Good. To expound on that, and I didn't mean to imply that it would be easy because they're short. There is work, but that's one benefit is that they are short. Uh, but that's,
Speaker 0 00:09:20 I think that's the challenge though, I think is that like we, we be, this is why things get stale is because we got so used to, if I just put up a scripture graphic every Tuesday, uh, and, uh, you know, I I actually just put a full version, a link to the message on our website Right. Every, every Sunday afternoon, then people will go to it. And that might have worked seven years ago, but it's just a different time that we're living in here now, and Yep. It takes to get results, it's more competitive and it takes more work to do some of that kind of stuff. So, yep. Yeah, that's where we'd start. That's good point. Next thing we'd say is that this is something that I think is, is really important is, yeah, be authentic and personable. Uh, that's what is I think, so important to this here.
Speaker 0 00:10:00 So you want to get more content on your church's social media feeds that doesn't feel perfectly put together and curated like your series graphics and, uh, scripture graphics. Yeah. And even like, uh, ultra produced, you can do these short form videos that are really nicely produced and things, but don't be afraid just to have a, a car cell phone shot of you talking about something that God is showing you or doing behind the scenes, uh, videos or photos of what's happening when the worship team messes up when they're getting ready for Sunday morning or, uh, those kinds of things. Yeah. That kind of authenticity, it really goes a long way and it'll help things, it, it may not move you forward or move the needle too far, but it'll help you feel more real to people, and that really is half the battle.
Speaker 1 00:10:50 Yep. And I would say, I would add that this is something that has actually stood the test of time on social media. Yeah. Like, meaning this was actually something that did work seven years ago and that still works. And I think that's just because people will not stop valuing authenticity. So, uh, but this is something that I think will now whether or not how it's carried out and what different creative methods come out there, I think this is something you should always do ongoing. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker 0 00:11:17 That's good. Third thing is, I'd say you need to embrace diverse content formats. Uh, so by that I mean just like kind of taking a step back and not putting out the same kind of content week in and week out. And this is this case, even if you're doing a lot of this vertical video, like for us here at Retry, we have lots of different kinds of vertical videos that we put out. So every week we'll put out a two or three different meme videos, uh, that, you know, just to kind of capture people's attention and hope that they like it so that the, the algorithm is more likely to show some other stuff to this same audience. Uh, I think that's a great idea for churches. Churches should be putting memes out there, uh, and, and use them to help kind of engage with people.
Speaker 0 00:12:01 And it kind of goes back to that authentic and personable Yep. Side of things there. So, you know, we do memes, we do, uh, you know, clips, we actually break down clips from this very podcast. We put it out on short, a short form video. We do clips from other kinds of videos that we do. Uh, so varying up the kinds of posts that you do. I guess what I'm saying is don't just make your posts always your sermon, right. If you only post three videos that are the exact same style of your sermon week in and week out, it'll be good for a while, but then it'll just become so, uh, the same every time. Yeah. That people will start to ignore it and it'll lose a lot of the juice that it had there. So you'll want to vary that up a little bit.
Speaker 1 00:12:42 Yep. Variety, variety, variety. So that's a good
Speaker 0 00:12:45 Thing. That's it. All right. Last one. And this is probably, this is really important. I dunno if it's the most important. The first one about vertical video is probably the most important, but this one really is important too. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> is you need to be responsive and interactive on your social channels. Yeah. Uh, this is a mistake that I see a lot of churches making. Uh, and, and I totally get why in fact, we just had a, a call today talking to somebody speaking about that. Who, who was saying that. And I, I totally, I I'm in the same boat as this guy, right? So I'm not Yeah. Criticizing this at all. He's a really good guy. I love this project we're working on, but he was saying that he wants a social, uh, platform and he wants a social media experience to be something where he just like has people post for him.
Speaker 0 00:13:26 And then he doesn't have any other interaction after that. He just wants to post. And, and, and really that's not what social media is. Right? And frankly, that has never worked very well unless you already have an enormous brand. Like, so, um, you know, Stephen Feick or Joe Ostein or Rick Warren, they can post and not respond and people will still chime in and it'll get lots of attention. Right. But it, for people that don't already have that, it, it is called social media for a reason. Right. And the way that you engage with people is by being social, by feeling like they're having interaction with a real person at their church there. So, um, I would make it a rule of thumb is that if you ever get a comment of any kind on any one of your posts that you respond, even if the comment is amen, just, uh, give that a thumbs up and say Yes, amen.
Speaker 0 00:14:19 Or something like this to kind of start those things going that way. So just as a j this is the same for any videos that you post any posts to Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or anything, anything you put out there. If you get some kind of comment, respond back and then try to find other people that are like-minded. Um, I don't know if it's people within your church, I wouldn't be commenting on everybody in your church's posts, but it's okay to say happy birthday to people on their pages or something like that on their birthdays. Uh, or I would probably focus more on maybe other ministries. So if there's another church in town or there's a, a homeless mission that you support, or, uh, Dave Ramsey puts a post out there, right? You want to comment on it. And so do those kinds of things. Comment on other people's content, and you'll see some interaction form and it'll be more likely to show your content to other people in the future there. So those are just a few ideas on how to do that. Um, what do you have to add, Ian?
Speaker 1 00:15:16 No, I think you hit the nail on the head as far as social media is social, it was created and still should. Uh, we know it's misused as well, and it, and there's a lot of marketing and advertising there, but it's created for people to socialize and connect with one another. And I think it just goes down to if someone called into your church desperate for, uh, prayer or they were, you know, they, they were in need of something, you wouldn't ignore that phone call or follow up. Right? And the same thing, same thing here. And if you're putting something out there and someone responds to it, I think it just shows that you care as a church about people, right? Yeah. So, but again, we, again, we get the, we get the thought, you know, again, okay, it takes a little, it does take some more work, does take follow up and attention, but you know, that's, it's like anything you do. Um, and nothing, there's nothing much in this world that's said it and forget it. Right. So maybe a few things. So, well,
Speaker 0 00:16:07 Nothing worth, uh, nothing worth anything I would say is set it and forget it. It's something that, it, it's just social media as a landscape is too competitive now. Yep. Yeah. For you to just put stuff out there and then, uh, and then hope that people will find it. You have to do the interactivity part. And, uh, that's something that, you know, we here at Reach write, we make it our aim to every comment on our blog, every YouTube comment, every comment on our ads, everything that people put out there, and it becomes a task. Yeah. Like we, we could spend probably our teammates spend an hour a day responding to comments and building interaction, but that's what gets that snowball rolling there. So mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. I think it's something that it may feel stale if you don't have that level of interactivity and being responsive to people in those ways.
Speaker 0 00:16:50 So that's good. Um, we'll leave it at that for this week. But speaking of being responsive and answering comments, <laugh>, we would love for you to comment on this. And then here's our promise. Uh, you know, at least as of today, uh, here in, uh, April, may of 2023, um, that we will respond to your comment. Now, if you're watching this, uh, years down the road, who knows what happens there, <laugh>, but we do want to respond to your comments. Um, couple things you can comment, let us know if there's anything that you've tried that is really getting you some mo some momentum on social media, if there's something really working for you. Yeah. Let us know about that and the comments. Yeah. And then also we would love to know if you have any other questions like this person asked here, you have any questions you want us to tackle here on the Reach right podcast. Let us know about that down in the comments. We'd love to take these and we'd love to feature it, maybe if it's a good question in one of our future episodes of the podcast here. So thanks guys for being part of the Reach, right Family here. Uh, comment, subscribe, do all those things and we'll catch you next time.
