5 Easy Ministry Uses For Facebook

Sometimes I have to sit back and take it all in. Technology, Social media, Marketing everything evolving at the speed of sound, and it's my job to understand how to use them and how they fit into life! I can't imagine how the lay person tries to figure it out.

Then you get into Social Media. Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In.... They could all have it's own book by this point! Each outlet has it's own pro's and con's and potentials. Personal I think one thing that ties them all together is the fact that people especially ministries do not recognize their potential.

Let's talk about Facebook.

Facebook has.....

• More than 500 million active users
• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• Average user has 130 friends
• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• Facebook has more than 150 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
• People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users. For more statistics about Facebook go to LINK

Unfortunately, I think many organisations are missing the point of Facebook. Facebook's power isn't in its's ability to be a broadcast channel. The real power comes from the way it can engage an audience, connect people with other people who like the same things and use people to bring the audience to you by letting them share your content or articles.

A recent study was done by ourchurch.com on the effectiveness of their churches Facebook presence. The study concluded they don’t think their church is doing a particularly good job with Facebook. While those results could be perceived as negative, a closer look reveals some big opportunities for those churches willing to embrace the world’s largest social network. I have expanded on some of their findings.

1. Communicate More – Communication is key to anything in life . Do I mean that a ministry worker should send a personal message to everyone? No! But a tickler about this weeks upcoming sermon would be a great treat. Letting people know about an opportunity to serve the community is a great way to involve people and spread the word.
   Because many pastors I know have a very busy schedule (they seem to work more then just on Sunday) :) A key team member can be appointed as a page administrator to help spread the word. Lastly, with all communication, consistency is key.
   
   
2. Ministry / Small Group Pages – A second opportunity for churches is for individual ministries to engage with people through Facebook. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Every ministry is can have its own fan-page free of charge! So make one :) By having a fan-page you can engage and communicate with the people in your group of the people you would like to see in your group. Your fan-page can be a great way to make newcomers feel comfortable. Many people are comfortable with Sunday service. It's big and they can hide. Put someone in a small ministry group and they can get nervous. This is ideal for getting people acquainted with the group or ministry. Also many ministries and small groups have their own agenda or announcements that the people who take part want to be included or updated on. Use this fan-page as a way to reach them and allow them to reach their friends, and then their friends.....
   
   
3. Facilitate Connections – A third opportunity for churches is to help their people connect with one another. It's no fun being a body if you never know what the other hand is doing :)
   
   
4. Evangelism – A fourth opportunity for churches is to encourage and train their people to develop relationships with those who are not Christians and show God’s grace and love to them. Every person that "likes" your group page can suggest the page to their friends. I have found in my own life that I will forward something to someone in my group of friends or repost someones event for my friends to see. We have a natural intention to want our friends to share in our passion for something.
   
   
5. Facebook Ads – A fifth opportunity for churches is to use Facebook ads to reach out to people in their community. Facebook provides a way to target people in exact areas who like certain things. Facebook will even tell you th exposure you should have in the groups you selected.
   
   Recently I placed an add on Facebook. My advertisement targeted people who "like" the following:

• lived in Maryland
• liked Ministry
• liked Pastors.
  
  What was left was only a few hundred potential people. My advertisement would only run on their accounts no one else. I budgeted $50.00 this was the max I would spend. I was pleased by the straight forwardness of the billing options and the ease of creating a advertisement.

At the end of the day

At the end of the day Facebook can be a great tool for churches. If you use it for more then telling us what you ate for dinner, where your going on Friday night or Farmville......

P.S. your crops are ready both in Farmville and life so go get them!

For more information on how to establish your online presence visit us on at Elev8 Web Design or call us @ 443-986-8461.