3 Simple Strategies to Slay the Social Media Monster

by Reba Collins

Post it. Tweet it. Blog it. Link it. Oh, and don’t forget to capture it on Instagram. Whatever “it” is that feeds the social media monster, many church leaders’ eyes glaze over at even the thought of being “social” through online media. Yet, when you want to connect with people, you can’t deny that social media are where millions of people turn every day.

So how do you meaningfully enter these engaging conversation arenas without wearing out yourself or your welcome? This blog gives you three tips to help you develop a social media strategy. Within each tip, you’ll find several tools to make your strategy easier to implement.

1.     Brush Up on Your Conversation Skills.

Online conversations have their own language. Learn to engage concisely and quickly or be left out. Prolific blogger and pastor, Carey Nieuwhof, often gives great tips and tools for church leaders regarding online connections. In this blog, he addresses writing for engagement first, and information, second.

·         How to Write Things the People You Lead Actually Want to Read
Subscribe to Carey’s blog and get additional resources, such as “How to Write Killer First Paragraph” as a blog insider. 

Another quick tool comes from buffer.com, a social media management group that writes “a blog about productivity, life hacks, writing, user experience, customer happiness and business.” Well-researched, this is a go-to site for the most current trends, research, and good techniques for social media use.

·         8 Simple Copywriting Tips, Backed by Science

Many of buffer.com’s blogs also are posted on Fast Company’s blog page. Here’s a great one for developing better online communication skills. 

·         A Scientific Guide to Writing Popular – and Shareable – Headlines for Twitter, Facebook, and Your Blog

2.     Find the Right Time to Connect.

Fast Company’s blog page searches and posts noteworthy blogs that help you not only brush up on your online conversation skills, but also help with the second strategy – socializing strategically. Here are two great blogs to consider before you make another obscure post.  

·         10 Surprising Social Media Statistics That Will Make You Rethink Your Social Strategy
·         A Scientific Guide to Maximize Your Impact on Twitter, Facebook, and Other Digital Media

3.     Create an Online Team.

For online connections to be meaningful and engaging, you must be helpful. Fortunately, you have many resources that can help you do that, but you don’t have to do all the work to find them. A great strategy for managing social media is to create an online feed and filter team. These are fellow ministry professionals, bloggers, and social media gurus who mine and contribute to the vast field of information and opinions. They are your Go-To team when you want to get a feel for the lay of the land, pass on some relevant and timely information, or need a source of inspiration. In addition to the sites listed above, I routinely check-in with my other team members including:

·         Brian Dodd is a church leader who writes about all things leadership. He also compiles a Top 10 blog posts every week. This is a great way to find new information and inspiration. Brian’s site also offers video blogs with effective ministry leaders around the country.
·         Churchleaders.com is another great site that mines the resources field for you. You also can select from many specific tracks like church planting and small group leadership. Outreach Magazine’s online presence is housed within churchleaders.com. Check out their video catalogue as well.
·         Orange blogs are for family, marriage, and youth ministry leaders. They also offer special blogs for parents and small group leaders for children/youth. For churches who use Orange curriculum, you have access to a full array of social media plans including Facebook and Twitter cues.

I also follow the blog posts for many of the major equipping conferences like the Global Leadership Summit, Catalyst, Drive, and Exponential.

Feeling overwhelmed? Then start here. In this blog, Carey Nieuwhof drills down to the basics for engaging in social media.
·         9 Great Ways for Leaders to Use Social Media (+ 3 Mistakes)

When you are ready to take the next serious step, I suggest you get a copy of @stickyJesus: how to live out your faith online by Toni Birdsong and Tami Heim. It’s a great guide for getting started and reaching more people in ministry through social media.   

Folks, social media are here to stay. And as the saying goes, “use it or lose it.” With these connection medium, church leaders, you DO need to use them – often and regularly – or you will lose your influence, your relevance, and your voice being heard in the cacophony of common, everyday communication. As with any relationship, online ones take time to develop. Developing your online team takes time too. So be patient. To get a good jump into the deep end, though, thoughtfully strategize the best ways to tap into your current communication pools – congregants, parents, small groups, ministry partners, and social media friends – and, then, find some good information to share from other people’s resource pools.

In the spirit of sharing, let the rest of us know in the comment section below who you’d recommend for online team members as well.