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My TOP 10 tips of advice to Pastors on Social Media marketing

July 3, 2014 by John Roland

My name is John Roland and this is my first blog article on SBC Voices.   I am a bi-vocational pastor and I am 40 years old.  I have my MDiv with Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2001).  Married with 3 kids and live in Newnan, GA (25 miles south of ATL Airport).  I am a fundraising executive, have served as a senior pastor to three different churches, served as a director at Luther Rice Seminary, served as a Director of Development at Kennesaw State University, served as an executive director of Prayer Igniters (www.prayerideas.org) , and have been a consultant to a number of ministries.   My blog jaroland74.wordpress.com, LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnaroland, and on Twitter @jaroland74.  

I am passionate about Social Media in ministry and what an incredible tool it is for the spread of the Gospel.  We miss things big time if we do not take full advantage of it in ministry.

 Social Media Authentic–not focus on “flash” but on accessibility of the ministry team, tribe engagement in God’s Word and how it applies to our lives, and over communication of the events and activities of the church. Conversations about the church, how God is working in the lives of the people, and authenticity of spirit shared openly on social media channels. My three favorite Social Media channels—Twitter, Facebook & Google+.

  1. Exponentially increase the exposure and accessibility of your ministry by being available on Social Media. Have a running conversation with your church members and prospects. Using Twitter, you can quickly respond to questions and post your 140 character opinions widely to your members. One of the BEST things about Social Media is it allows people to pierce the veil of the hierarchy of an organization. It meets the needs of Millennials who are looking for authenticity and personal connection.
  2. Recognize social media allows you to build TRUST and AUTHENTICITY with your church members. Key characteristics for gaining followers is to build a tribe of people who believe in your message, trust you, and value your knowledge. .
  3. Have a message of the week. Focus like a laser on what you want to drive home to your followers for that week. What do you want them to do? Where are you taking them? How can you help them? Have a weekly hash tag # driving home that message.
  4. Seek to engage your followers. Ask open ended questions, dialogue & provide usable & quotable information.
  5. Use FREE Google+ Hangouts to begin to introduce your sermon or weekly MESSAGE and begin the dialogue. Use Google+ Hangouts to engage your followers. FREE tool which allows you to have conversations online with others and have them recorded in YouTube. Find someone you can engage and provide you a venue to drive home your message. Also, allows you to interview people in your sphere of influence and further provide resources to those who follow you. Pastor Mark Driskoll has made great use of this FREE resource. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCapc-Bevzv6v0eABjJqn-mhpSYMLkem-. Great use of Google Hangouts in ministry for churches by Greg Surratt at  www.ministryhangouts.com/
  6. Take advantage of using pictures alongside your advice. Interesting pictures draws people to your post. Take as many pictures and videos of members actively living out and testifying about their faith as possible to capture the spirit and message of the church.
  7. Empower & deploy your church members to become Story Tellers / Brand Ambassadors for your church.Does your organization deploy alumni, members, employees, visitors to be social media storytellers to convey your organization’s successes, & heart? Who is telling the story of your organization? Have you deployed storytellers to convey your org’s vision, successes & heart?
  8. Brand yourself as a “generous expert” in your field. Share freely your knowledge where you become a person they can TRUST. When they trust you, they will want more from you. They become “addicted” to your advice and insights and will be willing to invest in your organization.
  9. Take advantage of the FREE resource Hootsuit.com and have the same message across all of your social media channels. It is a great way to sit down and type up your planned, quick messages for the week. You will want to set aside time to respond to those who ask questions and dialogue.
  10. Volunteer Management is all about making heroes out of people. Allow the volunteers to get the praise & applause. Keeps them motivated, especially coming from their leader! Use Social Media to highlight them.

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