Effective use of Social Media

for Church engagement

Lee Goodger

4th September 2010

Heads up…

A very short bit about me

Using Social Media – managing expectations

Being social for Church and sharing Christianity using digital Social Media tools – practical advice & tips

Q&A

So it’s hello from Me ;-)

• Christian

• Vineyard Church Sutton

• Married with 3 children

• Youth group helper (Fusion 11-13 year olds)

• Passionate about technology and things that go ‘bing’

• Sharing my experience for ‘good’

‘Pragmatic, resourceful, challenging with a considered approach’

…and Professionally

Over 15 years experience; Branding, Digital & Social Media

Account Director at Edelman (Spook Digital)

Client experience :

Before we start

Sorry!

No Flash Gordon, Saviour of the Universe quick fix

Apologies once again…

No silver bullet...

Once more…sorry…

No instant ‘ready to bake’ mix

Finally No Kevin Costner moment

If you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come

Social Media requires

Investment

– time & commitment

– possibly £

Understanding and a desire to learn

Clear purpose & objectives

Investment

– time & commitment

Good you’re here. Common barriers

I don’t have the time

I don’t know what to do

Twitter = mundane

Not relevant

“No one cares what I have to say, I’m not cool enough to get people interested in my thoughts and opinions!”

Done properly…

• is rewarding

• share ministry remotely

• Global online audience

• make acquaintances on/off line

• learn

• create a personal (online) library

• ability to share faith

So the good news…

Practical advice to consider using Social Media in your Church, or for personal use to share your experiences, opinions & content to a known and wider audience for the glory of God.

Simple.

So let’s take baby steps

Part One

Using Social Media for Church & sharing Christianity – practical

advice & tips

Lets go back in time

Social Media is important for Ministry today

Quick recap - what is Social Media?

Online technologies and practices people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences,

perspectives – for broadcast or two way dialogue.

Social media takes many forms including text, image, audio and video.

Social Networks, Blogs, Forums, Podcasts, Vodcasts.

PC/Mac & Mobile

Socialnomics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhPgUcjGQAw&feature=fvst

Don’t forget mobile internet

Smart Phones allow users to get and upload content

These devices should be considered for future communication

There are over 100m users accessing Facebook via mobile devices

Take your pick – a sample of tools

The Challenge & Opportunity

Increasingly difficult to get people to come to Church

So go where they are and be relevant

Social Media allows us to do this

Start from the beginning…reason for being

Setting your objectives

What do you want to achieve?

How much time do you have?

How tech savvy are you?

How are you measuring success?

Benefits of Social Media for Ministry

Increase your visibility, passion, experience, knowledge and influence

Enhances relationship

Non evasive way to connect to new people

Discipline tool for the new generation – be relevant

Help distribute resource and opinion

In Short

Greater access to scripture

Encouragement for other Christians

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Phase #1 Listen

Phase #1 : Listening

What conversations are taking place online?

Where are they taking place?

Who’s talking?

Phase #1 : Listening Example

Google Blog Search ‘How relevant is Church?’

Phase #1 : Benefits of Listening

• Understand what’s going on

• Identifies emerging Christian topics & trends

• Help shape your own thoughts & opinions

• Be relevant

• Helps identify influencers and communities you can engage with

Phase #1 : How to Listen

• Decide what you’re looking for by identifying topics and keywords for your search

• Work out where / in what platforms conversations are happening

• Manage your search on an ongoing basis by setting up an RSS Reader to create a feed of content you can read and monitor daily / Google alerts / manual checks

• Store / save / share what you find.  Use Social book marking to save, share and build a community around interesting content or coverage you find online

• Look for themes, trends in conversation and opportunities to engage

Phase #1 : Listening Tools

Phase #1 : Setting Up RSS Feeds

To set up an RSS feed into your reader simply copy and paste the URL of the blog you want to subscribe to into your Google Reader or Netvibes subscription function. In Netvibes this is ‘Add Feed’; in Google Reader this is ‘Add a subscription’

You will now receive all content updates from the blog you subscribe to in one place

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Listen P

Phase #2 Setting Up

Phase #2 : Setting Up

Decide what works for you

• Blogging – Blog

• Micro blogging – Twitter

• Community – Forum / Social Network

• Audio Visual – Podcast / Video / Images

All of the above or as much as you want to do

It’s up to you!

Phase #2 : What a blog can do for you

Identity: A blog allows you to have an online voice

Personality: Tone of posts convey who you are

Relevancy: By sharing opinions on Church and real life news & events, you avoid bland ‘messages’ and remain relevant and engaging

Consistency: You readers will come back if you post regularly

Dynamism: Sharing what your doing / planning to do builds anticipation and a sense of progress making your readers want to come back for more

Phase #2 : Blog Set Up

As easy as creating a Word document

(Arguably even easier)

Note common word processing icons such as Font, justification, bold text

And icons to add pictures, movies, or check spelling

All automated, all ready to publish

Can be about anything you want it to be

Phase #2 : What a blog can do for you

Identity: A blog allows you to have an online voice

Personality: Tone of posts convey who you are

Relevancy: By sharing opinions on Church and real life news & events, you avoid bland ‘messages’ and remain relevant and engaging

Consistency: You readers will come back if you post regularly

Dynamism: Sharing what your doing / planning to do builds anticipation and a sense of progress making your readers want to come back for more

Library: Online reference tool for collaboration and sharing

Phase #2 : What Twitter can do for you

Micro blogging can be run is isolation or support your blog. Additional benefits:

VisibilityTwitter provides a quick way to share your content with a huge community

ImmediacyYou can quickly and easily post real time information, keeping your readers up to date and generating a sense of dynamism and progress

However...It is better to reach relevant people interested in you than try to get a large number of followers

Phase #2 Using YouTube or Flickr

Alternatively record your thoughts and share via video or image

Bring your content to life

Use Web 2.0 rich media to it’s full advantage

For consideration : Ensure you have copyrightKeep videos ‘snack size’ - 3mins

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billread/3274855904/

Phase #2 Social Networks

Depending on scale and objectives Social Networks can provide a destination

• Facebook group• Forum

This creates an online community

For consideration• Requires daily posts / content • Can take time to establish• Lots of committment

Phase #2 : Creating Content

• No right or wrong answers – you are the Publisher

• For consideration

• What is topical

• What interests you? What ministerial teaching is in your heart?

• Keep it relevant

• Learning from others & listening

• To start with keep short and sweet

• Then keep short and sweet!

Phase #2 Creating a Social Media eco-systemw

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Phase #2 : Digital Eco system example

http://blog.relevantchurch.com/Multi platform presence :

Facebook, YouTube and website

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Listen P

Set Up : Choose what suits you and experiment P

Create a Social Media eco-system P

Phase #3 Engage & Share

Phase #3 Engage : Conversation & Collaboration

Technology is changing our relationships with Church, friends, family, institutions, the media and brands

Phase #3 Engaging

Determine what role you want to have in Social Media

- Broadcast only

- Collaboration

Considerations for collaboration

- Follow other Twitter users

- Add blogs in your blog roll

- Retweet blog posts, tweets and videos

- Link to other & credit them

- Reply to comments / tweets

Phase #3 : Engaging > Contributing Feedback

Bloggers & Forum members welcome feedback

So leave a comment

Or send an email

Make yourself known in a community

Make Virtual Friends

Participate & follow

Phase #3 : Engage > Social Bookmarking

• Use social bookmarking sites including Delicious / Digg / Reddit / StumbleUpon to save and share interesting blog posts or online news articles:

• Track all interesting articles (mentions, Church news, ministry tool, mentions etc.)

• Use as a search and research tool

• Share links via online presences

Phase #3 : How to engage online

Don’t pitch, participate

Write well, provide quality material

Mind the world’s longest memory

Be authentic

Be thoughtful

Be accurate

Pay attentionRespect the record

Respect privacy

Argument is fine; quarrelling is not

Don’t try to control the message

It’s OK to have a personality now

Get to know the people you want to talk to

Treat it as a conversation

Think about building relationships rather than pitching

Be direct but be polite

Be brief and clear

Refer and link to their posts

Be open, transparent and human

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Listen P

Set Up : Choose what suits you and experiment P

Create a Social Media eco-system P

Engage, Follow, Share & Contribute P

Phase #4 Your Online Reputation

Phase #4 Online Reputation

Self Googleing & check regularly

Be the best online reference for yourself

Remember you’re always on record

Only share and provide information you want to

Phase #4 Online Reputation Tools

• Pipl – people search tool

• Spezify – collage of images and mentions

• Friendfeed – personal aggregator

• Posterous – manages multiple presences

Obviously Google!

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Listen P

Set Up : Choose what suits you and experiment P

Create a Social Media eco-system P

Engage, Follow & Contribute P

Manage your reputation P

Phase #5 Future Development

Phase #5 Future Development

Digital Communication is ever changing

Keeping a eye is vital to make sure you’re making the most of emerging tools

Checklist

Invest P

Set clear objectives P

Listen P

Set Up : Choose what suits you and experiment P

Create a Social Media eco-system P

Engage, Follow & Contribute P

Manage your reputation P

Keep an eye on emerging technology P

Crowd Sourcing

Crowd Sourcing

Crowd Sourcing is an open invitation, via social media, to encourage a community to aid and shape a product or service, this changes the role of followers from ‘mere consumption’ to ‘creation’

Types

controlled: for instance, participants select from a pre-determined set of criteria

open: audience have total creative control

Rules:

be transparent with consumers, especially regarding approach

avoid ambiguity

nurture and facilitate participation – consumers are being invited to shape the future

Crowd Sourcing : Marmite Example

Crowd Sourcing : Relation to Church

• Invite Guest bloggers (publishers) to take ownership

• Video / Podcast interviews of local people at your Church

• Run online polls to generate discussion and collaboration

• Host topical debates on an appointed slot – making an appointment to attend

Part Two

So what and things to consider

Benefits of Social Media for Church

Promotion

1. Increasing visibility of your Church online

2. Allow potential visitors to learn about your Church online

3. About Service times, address and other activities

Support

4. Discipline and spiritual growth

5. Sermon follow up and additional materials/resources

6. Remind and inform about upcoming events

7. Ask for feedback / comment from your Church

Using Social Media for Ministry

Increase your visibility and influence

Enhances relationship

Non evasive way to connect to new people

Discipline tool for the new generation – be relevant

Help distribute resource and opinion

Listening – offline (the real world)

As Church leaders, understand the digital usage at your Church

Be aware of

• Alienating your members / congregation

• Forcing investment in digital tools

• Getting absorbed ‘online’

Existing collateral :Your website – is it effective?

Do you have a content strategy?

Does it actually work and encourage repeat visitors

How I find it?

Would you use it / return?

Are you promoting your Social Media presences?

Finally it’s all about Ministry

It’s about sharing the Gospel

• Experiences, Wisdom, Advice, Support, Friendship & Encouragement

• Wherever you are

It’s not about technology or marketing

What have we learnt?

Social Media is an established media

• Experiment

• Listening

• Principles of engagement

You have the opportunity to use Social Media tools to share God’s love for us, his message of hope and practical advice for Ministry to follow Christ.

So what are you waiting for...experiment.

1. You are the Publisher

Whether you write a blog or create a digital content, you can publish easily and cheaply and make it available worldwide

2. Search & Find

Search is central to digital media. The more you publish, the more likely you are to be found

3. Getting to know people

Digital media are all about making connections.

This makes conversation the centre piece of digital media relations

How does have meaning for Church today?

He said to them,

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation”.

Mark 16:15

NIV

Thank You

Lee Goodger

@rem0te

e. leegoodger@hotmail.com

m. 07747 175 754