Social Media in the Ministry

Today I was able to talk with Julie Williquette, a secretary working at Baptist World Mission. Baptist World Mission is a well-known mission agency serving over 300 missionaries worldwide. Julie's main job is to assist two field directors serving missionaries in Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and much of Europe. She uses Social Media everyday and enjoys getting to connect with people all over the world. I got to ask Julie a few questions about her uses of Social Media in the ministry.

Q: How do YOU use Social Media and technology for religious purposes?
A: "I use Facebook every day as a means of sharing prayer requests with missionaries around the world. The missionary friends share their requests with me and I write them down in my prayer journal and pray over the requests every week. I then Facebook message the missionaries for request updates from time to time. I also use Social Media for my administrator at work (who does not have his own Facebook, but desires to know missionaries’ “happenings). I am in the process of setting up a  Facebook account for my church’s young married Sunday school class, so that we can a means of communicating and keeping up with each other, activities, prayer requests, etc."

Q: How is Social Media a good thing when used for religious organizations?

A. "Religious organizations can definitely use Social Media for sharing prayer requests, organizational activities/projects, and other general information with one another. It’s fast and easy, rather than trying to look up phone numbers and taking the time to call each other."

Q: How could Social Media be a bad thing for an organization promoting the Gospel?

A: "Wrong things could be written and shared socially…things like unkind opinions, rudeness and lack of respect for other’s thoughts/posts, and plain gossip. These things can harm the testimony of Christ and His church."

Q: How Can Social Media potentially help a religious organization generate higher traffic on a website or blog?
A: "By allowing others in to see the website or blog, word can spread and others may want to share it as well. This may cause higher traffic (more popularity)."

Tips for Beginners

    Every social network site has a different way of getting people to your main database. For example, Twitter has people who physically follow your company by opting in to receive all your updates and news feeds about you and your company by selecting the "follow" option. Facebook allows people to “like” your business’ fan page, which opts them in to your updates and news feeds. Many of the other social networks work the same way when adding people generally interested in your brand.
      Going into to social media marketing without knowing how to find the key people you are looking for can be a massive waste of your time. It’s not about the quality or quantity of your page, but the quality of the people who follow you. You need to start by identifying the key influencers in the social media space who have a good reputation online and that people actually listen to when they recommend a product or service therefore generating a positive light on your company. These people can promote for you! Then you need to  start creating a "buzz" around your brand to attract visitors to your website. There is no other way around it social media marketing takes time and effort. From defining your core audience online to each and every comment, post, and conversation you have on social media, your social media activities play an active role in how your brand message comes across to other people. When you look at all your efforts in building brand awareness, it's apparent that the time you invest in social media takes up a great bit of your workweek and keeping you away from your normal, everyday role in your company. Look at the results to see how your business is growing online so you can track your development based on our social media marketing services. If needed, you may consider finding a quality web designer for any of your website needs outside of the Social Media Marketing.

When Facebook becomes a Book

Very cool way to show things in a different format such as this video on Facebook and Social Media.



When Facebook becomes a book from Siavosh Zabeti on Vimeo.

Maximize your Facebook Posts - Mari Smith

Facebook has changed the way users interact with content on fan pages: any user, including non-fans, can now post on fan page walls and like/comment/share fan page content. In other words, a Facebook user does not have to first like your fan page before they can interact with your content. This is a good thing!
Since this change, the emphasis has shifted slightly from gaining more likes (fans) to increasing the number of shares on each piece of content. When you craft your fan page updates in a manner that naturally inspires fans and their friends and visitors to your page to share with their networks, you set in motion ripples of viral visibility. Basically, free exposure.

1. Use an eye-catching image.

Your photo should make people laugh, cry, or go “awww!”
Photos on Facebook have always gotten a slightly higher EdgeRank score, which means better visibility in the News Feed. But, don’t necessarily use an image on every single post; keep it interesting by mixing in links, videos, questions (app), and text only updates.

2. Keep the narrative short.

A study by Buddy Media showed that posts 80 characters or less in length receive 27% higher engagement rates. Considering how much content flies by fast in the new moving Ticker at the top right of your Facebook home page, and also in the News Feed, it makes sense that a shorter post will catch Facebook users’ attention quicker.

3. Keep first person to a minimum.

Even though I’m a big fan of writing in first person whenever possible, as it creates more warmth and connection with your audience, in order to increase your shares on Facebook, you might want to experiment with keeping the wording more generic. Write in a way that could sound like it was coming from others. As with Melonie’s example above “How adorable is this?!” could be said by anyone.
You can always use first person in your comments when responding to bring in the more personal touch.

4. Include a call to action.

Invite your friends, subscribers, fans and their friends along with visitors to your page to share your posts with their friends, subscribers and fans. Simple calls to action such as “Click like if you agree” often work well, so long as the preceding statement/question is relevant. Asking people to add their comments is good too. But, it’s the Share that will likely create the greatest exposure for your page/profile.
-Mari Smith via Jonathan Williquette

Social Blessings

   

     Social Media has been a part of every one's life for several years. Once you as an individual or business succeed in creating a brand of products and services in your  specific market, it has become normal in the Social Media environment to remain in connection with those markets and industries through your social networking sites. This is such a media which if used correctly, could be very beneficial in the short term and long for personal advertising as well as product branding. It's my personal belief that  everyone in today's digital world should be linked to a network via social networking websites and social media. 

     Social Media is an opportunity for not just individuals, but also businesses as well. I cannot say it has zero  drawbacks, but when compared to other forms of business communications and such, its benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Instead of spending another year and hundreds of hours longer re-building your personal or company website, it results better if you re-brand your website via social media. This can allow you to keep your website updated with new and additional content to provide value to your target audiences, also to keep them hooked to your website.

     What we need is proper strategic planning with goals of wonderful and definite outcomes in our social media marketing campaigns. Keep in mind how specific markets will participate in different social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn. Do not avoid your participation by feeling insecure about the mistakes that might happen. The blessing of this digitally-oriented world is the reassurance that anything and everything can be corrected.

-Jonathan Williquette