This is a 2 hour presentation on how local churches can use social media to impact their communities, encourage their congregations, and get involved online. Helpful tips & tools included.

1. Presented by Abbi
Siler
www.local2social.com
abbi.siler@gmail.com

2. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

3. Let’s take a look at how Social Media has
and continues to effect the world today!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5
Fm-Ng

4. o Launched in 2004 , has grown to 500 million
users as of July 2010.
o Originally used to connect with friends, share
photos, and real-time updates.
o Has become one of the largest marketing
phenomenons for business today.
o If your customers are looking for your business
on Facebook, will you be there?

5. Statistics:
• Over 500,000,000 users – worldwide!
• People spend over 700 million minutes per
month on Facebook.
• Average user is connected to 80 Community
Pages, Groups, and events.
• 150 million active mobile users. Mobile
Facebook users are twice as active than non-
mobile users.*
*source: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

6. Profiles vs. Pages
Profiles are for people.
Pages are for entities.
Friends vs. Fans
Friends are for profiles.
Fans are for pages.
Wall, Info, News Feed,
Insights, Places, & Tags.

7. o Your Personal Facebook Account is set-up under personal
email account. You connect directly with other people by
becoming friends. You can actively participate on other Pages
and develop your own pages from this profile/account.
o Profiles are NOT to be used to promote businesses or
organizations. This violates Facebook’s Terms of Use. You can
potentially be terminated from Facebook all together.
o Allows Privacy Controls for all interactions on Facebook.

8.  A recognizable photo – you want people to know who
you are, and recognize you when they are searching
for you on Facebook.
 Work/Education – this will allow people to recognize
you by your place of work. Makes you more
identifiable to those searching for you.
 Current City, Interests, Contact Info

9.  Perhaps you feel like you won’t use your
personal profile very much, but you do realize
the need for your church to have a Page –
• Profiles will allow you to put a FACE with your
church. When interacting with other churches or
members on Facebook, your profile will be how
you represent your church.
• You may not want to be there, but your community
may need you to be.

10.  Don’t ever share anything
you would not put your
picture next two on highway
billboard!
 Use The Preview My Profile
Button when changing your
settings.
 Protect your family & friends,
don’t share things about
them that they would not
want to share!

12.  Select The Right Category
• Select Brand, Product, or Organization
• Choose Religious Organization
 Consider Your Page Name
• Use Your Church or Organization’s Name
• Keep It Simple & Memorable
Pages Are Public
Don’t Forge Another Company’s Name
Educate Yourself- Terms of Use & Promotion
Guidelines

13. Facebook

14.  Photos: Location Photo,
Deacon & Staff Photos, Photos
of Events, Fundraisers, Mission
Work
 Videos: Consider doing a
weekly or monthly video with a
member or pastor.
 Links: News articles both local
& national, Church news,
Church blog, & website!
 Events
 Tag other churches, pastors
or organizations when
working on projects together.
 Use keywords in every status
update!
 UPDATE REGULARLY!

15.  Sharing information in
140 characters or
less.
 Great for building
relationships across
the world.
 Great for spreading
the good news!
 Hashtags – keywords that
tie people together in one
topic or idea.
 ReTweet (RT) – when
someone shares what you
have to say with their
followers.
 Mention – when another
tweeter talks about you by
name or initiates a
conversation.

16. Social Media Examiner says:
• 11:00am (CST)
• This is the prime time to have
your content seen on Twitter.
This is the time that West Coast
is arriving to work, East Coast
heading to lunch, & UK is
getting off work.
• Best time to be Re-Tweeted is
Friday at 3:00pm (CST)
• Least likely time to be seen is 7-
9am any day. Sunday is the
least active day on Twitter.

17. • History of Church.
• Tweet about news, events or
mission work, prayer requests,
daily devotions.
• Don't talk about yourself all the
time. Re-Tweet other active
tweeters info that share the
faith, too.
• Keep Everyone In The Loop:
share details about your
activities in the community &
involvement with other
churches or groups!
Simple. Relative.
Engaging. Credible.
Solutions. Tips. News.
• Use action words like: 'New' 'How To...'
'Best' 'Why You Should...' & 'Most'
• Keep it simple! You want your content
shared on Twitter, keep tweets short, but
spunky!

18. • Watch for Trends!
o Google Trends: Find current
events that associate with
your organization or cause!
• Tweet as much as you can,
research shows those who tweet
20-25 times/day gain more
followers at a faster rate.
(This only applies to Twitter)
• Twitter Trends & Hashtags: #God
#faith #church #pastors #church
#prayer #faith #Tworship & more!

19.  Keep it Updated.
 If you haven’t updated your
website since 2000, its time.
 Include a Church Blog
• Allow deacons, pastors, and
members to share testimonies,
prayer requests & devotions!
 Social Media is a key tool
in reaching out to your
community online, but
your website should
house all of your core
content!

20.  Hootsuite – Great for
scheduling tweets, monitoring
conversations & reaching out to
new people!
 Christian Websites –
• Relevant Magazine
• Everyday Christian
• Christianity Today
• World Magazine
 Twellow – find your
community on Twitter.

22. You can find this slideshow at slideshare.net/abbisiler
Have a question? Need One on One Assistance?
501-786-3412 – abbi.siler@gmail.com
www.local2social.com
facebook.com/local2social
twitter.com/local2social
Linkedin.com/in/abbisiler