You want to grow your church community, but where should you start? Facebook is the king of social media and the perfect place to start growing your church.
The good thing is Facebook offers numerous ways to reach out to your members and the entire Facebook community. The key is to be as active on the platform as you are in your church.
With the help of social media savvy volunteers, Facebook could become one of the most powerful tools you have for engaging and growing your church.
Use Facebook Ads
Facebook ads reach the millions of daily users on the platform. With highly targeted ad options, you’re able to reach out both locally and globally based on your church’s goals. This is one of the quickest ways to grow your church community and make people aware of your church.
The trick is figuring out how much to spend on Facebook advertising. We’ve provided a guide on determining what’s right for your church. The good news is even the smallest budget goes a long way.
Live Stream Events/Sermons
Facebook provides free live streaming, so why not take advantage of it to help grow your church community? Since many people aren’t able to attend weekly services, give them the chance to participate virtually. Live stream your weekly sermons, which people can then watch later if they aren’t able to attend live. Do the same with special events, such as singing and plays. You can even show volunteer events in action to get more people to participate or donate.
Encourage Tagging
Your members have more power than they might think in helping make Facebook more effective for your church. Whenever they attend your church or talk about it, encourage them to tag your church in the post. They can easily tag their location when attending services or special events. It’s also easy for them to tag specific people and even pages to increase awareness about your church.
Share Visual Content
Visual content stands out more than any other type of content on Facebook. Just think about it. When you’re scrolling through your news feed, you notice images and videos first. Use worship images as the background for scripture or special announcements. Even with just text, adding a visual background makes it stand out and can lead to more sharing.
Have Daily Prayer Requests
Online prayer is becoming increasingly popular, which means it’s also a way to help grow your church community. Each day or week create a post just for prayer requests. People are able to submit requests and others can confirm they’re praying by liking or loving the comment. This allows everyone to participate, even if they’re not members of your church.
Ask For Inspiring Stories
Sometimes the best way to help grow your church’s community both online and off is to share inspiring stories. Encourage your members to share stories about their own lives or special moments in the church. Ask for people who follow your Facebook page to submit their own inspiring stories. By showcasing how faith has changed their lives, others are inspired to further explore their faith.
Recognize Accomplishments And Volunteers
Part of using Facebook should be engaging your current members. After all, your job as a church isn’t just about growth, but maintaining the members you have. Make the people in your church feel special by publicly recognizing accomplishments and volunteers. Perhaps your entire church helped with raising money for a local family displaced by fire. Post a picture of your members putting together supplies for the family and publicly thanking them for their help.
When volunteers go the extra mile, thank them for their service. This makes them feel appreciated. Plus, they share those announcements with their friends and family, further spreading the word about your church.
Engage With Your Audience
Facebook won’t help grow your church community if you don’t stay active. Posting a link or scripture once or twice a day isn’t enough. You have to engage with your audience. Answer questions and respond to comments. Stay consistent in when you’re online and how frequently you post. This is where having trusted volunteers help. Since everyone has different schedules, spread out your social media activity among multiple volunteers so each takes different days and hours.
Share Helpful Content
Of course, the cornerstone of any great Facebook strategy is to consistently share helpful content. Communicate Jesus lists 23 different content ideas to fully engage your audience. Not only will your current followers love it, but helpful content is share-worthy content, leading to more followers on your Facebook page. With more followers, you’re able to grow your church community faster.
The best companion to your Facebook page is a church website. Let us help you create a highly engaging church site today.
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