gut reaction is, “Of course!” but that may not
very active on Facebook.
be true. Maybe you’re in a small town with a
congregation of sixty people that’s not really I’d really like to give a shout out to Brady Shearer
growing and is aging up a little bit. Like it says at Pro Church Tools. He’s got the most amazing
in Proverbs, “He who works his land will have mini-agency. They’re so affordable and they
his fill.” We’ve got to know what our land is. actually handle your social media for you as far
as your posting, and they’re boosting churches’
The next question is, “Are we in the relevant engagement rates four hundred percent, eight
places?” Number one, you need a website hundred percent, four thousand percent. What
that’s going to be a home base. Number two, most people do on their Facebook page is post
that website has got to be clear. Clarity is king a link to their website with their service times
and if you confuse you lose. Can people get on like once a week, constantly doing things that
your website and easily click on you address so are violating the understanding of the algorithm,
that it opens up in Google Maps? Think about all but that’s way too much to get into now.
the friction it’s causing me when I’m just trying
to figure out how to get to your church because On Instagram, there are so many people there
I can’t click on the address! It’s also confusing of all ages, and the numbers are showing it.
if you go on the web site and there’s a hundred You get past fifty-five and up, not so much,
different ministries, a bunch of different images, but I bet people want to grow their church with
the site hasn’t been updated in forever, and it’s people who are fifty-five and under! So, you’ve
got some broken html code or weird JavaScript got an Instagram account but there’s no street
from a long time ago that’s sketching out on the address? You’ve got to have your address, so
bottom of the page because the church admin I can find your church! Also, I just saw this the
lady did it. When I say you want to be in the other day. I went to a church’s website and
relevant places in an excellent way, I mean that the address was there, but when I went to the
it needs to actually work. That means it’s mobile website from mobile it was micro-text because
first, because most people are on mobile. The it wasn’t optimized, so again, friction.
church website that you had built ten years
ago, as beautiful as it is, is probably horrible Whenever my wife and I travel, we like to
on mobile. So, think through your vision, get a look for local churches to potentially visit on a
clear tagline or statement, and make sure the Sunday. A lot of times I am shocked when I look
imaging is not stock photography. Put some up their Yelp listing and there are no pictures on
level of effort into showcasing the church that it, no updated data, no hours. There are some
people can see before they check you out. 101 basic things! Michael Jordan put it this
way, “Master the fundamentals and everything
Also think about very simple, yet detailed else you do will rise.” If you still need to get the
information. Think through your weekend basics in place, forget leveraging YouTube,
experience, that’s down the road.
communicating
what
people
can expect to disarm visitors’ fears and
apprehensions. This is more of a leadership If I’m a Director of Communications the next big
point, but some churches underemphasize the piece I am obsessed with is getting a Google
children’s ministry way too much, it’s so critical. listing, the thing where they verify your address
and mail you a code and you actually get access
I would really work on my Google listing and to your special Google listing and Google page.
make sure that those t’s are crossed, and those After making sure that I’ve uploaded images
i’s are dotted, as well as on Yelp. These are there, I’m going to do a campaign to help
those modern platforms, so those would be the the people in the church share their stories
first big moves, and Facebook would be next, and leave reviews, because a lot of times the
before Instagram because a lot of churches are people who love your church and have been
CUSTOMIZE YOUR OWN
DYNAMIC MICROPHONE