A lot of churches are begining to use Facebook pages to connect and communicate with people both inside and outside of the church. Unfortunately, though, a lot of church Facebook pages look like the Sunday bulletin – lots of announcements and no interaction.
While using Facebook to communicate news to church members who are on Facebook is one strategy, as I stressed in last week’s Social Media for Pastors and Church Planters Webinar, if that’s all your church does with its Facebook page, you’re missing out on the social and relational potential of the social network. So, here are…
7 ways to engage with people on your church Facebook page
1. Ask open ended spiritual questions. What’s your favorite Bible verse? Where have you seen God at work in your life this week?
2. Share an interesting article or video & ask for comments. Scott Ayres guest blogged about how posting the Social Network Christmas video to his church’s Facebook page resulted in 8,000 new Facebook fans and 320 comments. Now that’s engagement!
3. Encourage people to share prayer requests or stories of answered prayers.
4. Post written or video testimonies from people in the church.
5. Ask people to share something about themselves. What was your favorite vacation? What are you doing for Thanskgiving? What made you laugh the hardest this week?
6. Ask people to share a photo. Recently my church did a series on marriage and we asked people to send wedding pictures to the church for use in the service. We could have also asked people to post them to the church’s Facebook page.
7. Post content from the Sunday service. If you used video or did a drama in the service, post it. Notes, audio, or video of the message are great too. Try to add a comment or question that will provoke discussion.
Remember, don’t just start the conversation and run. Engaging with people means respond to comments.
What have you seen posted to a church’s Facebook page that really engaged people and generated conversation?
Just a quick reminder that if you want to improve your use of social media, I’m available to personally review and discuss your social media strategy.
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.
9 Comments
Pingback: How to Be More Engaging With Your Church's Facebook Page
Great post, Paul! Thank you! We are publishing your post in Spanish! Greetings from Guadalajara, Mexico!
Thanks. For the Spanish speakers here, the link to the Spanish translation of this post is: http://bit.ly/gMFbI3
Glad to hear it was helpful & you're trying to increase engagement at KACC. It can take a while to create a "culture of engagement" but if you continue to work at it consistently, you'll get there. Keep up the good work!
Jesus frequently asked people questions—a great way to engage people!
it is very tru many does not do what is suposed to be done
I found it helpful to also post upcoming events–as event pages, and reminders in the comments too. This creates easy pass-along invitations if you enable that feature.
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