Presentation given at the Texas Health Resources Fifth Annual Faith Community Leadership Summit on February 15, 2011. Topics: Adaptable ideas and suggestions to implement social media tools with initiatives and best practices from other churches.

1. Social Media 101 for
Congregations
Fifth Annual Faith Community Leadership Summit
February 15, 2011
Richie Escovedo | @vedo

2. Lets talk about
What and why social media
Reasons and research
Tools with purpose
Examples and thoughts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippydream/385979449/

3. What is social media?

4. "Social Media is a social trend
in which people use
technologies to get the things
they need from each other,
rather than from traditional
institutions."
from Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

5. and it looks like this
http://www.theconversationprism.com/

6. hmmm...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87765855@N00/3105128025/

7. Put simply, social media
is people having online
conversations.

8. Why social media for
congregations?
Effective and efficient storytelling
Connecting with people outside your church
Explain your church's mission and purpose
Community awareness of church ministry
People want to be a part of something good
Build and maintain relationships

9. Churches increasingly fans of
Facebook, other social media
Interesting stats from 2010 study...

10. 47% of churches actively use Facebook.
20% use social media tools included in
church management software.
40% don’t use any social media tools.
Bigger churches more likely to use
Facebook:
81% with 500+ use Facebook
27% with fewer than 50 people

11. 78% of churches have a website.
Less than half of those churches use their
site for interactive purposes (prayer
requests, event registration, streamlining
church processes).
15% of churches update their site more
than once a week.
40% update it once a week.
42% update it once a month or less.
7% update it once a year.

12. What keeps churches from providing more
online content and services?
46% limited staff time
41% limited financial resources
39% limited volunteer time
35% lack of interest or demand

13. What about age?

14. Remember:
People want to
be part of
something good

15. To start, answer some questions
Who will post?
Who is your audience?
What kinds of content will be created/shared?
When will content be shared (schedule)?
How will you evaluate your social media use?
How will you promote the tools plus maintain safety
and ethics?
What are you already doing that could be re-
purposed for social media?

16. Where to start?
Choosing the right
tools is not an easy
task. Follow the
footsteps of success
of others to help be
your guide.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommypants/319568014/

17. http://www.flickr.com/photos/alamodestuff/4351730264/

18. Blog to explore topics

19. Blog to explain ministry

20. Blog to share mission teams

21. Blog to encourage community

25. Tips for churches on Facebook
Make sure Facebook link is
easy to find on website
Post links plus photos/videos
and "tag" volunteers
Use Facebook events and
encourage church community
to "Share" it
Ask/answer questions
Reply to feedback as
appropriate

26. Tips for churches on Facebook
Teach your Fans to tag your church's Page.
Using the “tag” (the @ symbol), they can tag the church’
s Facebook Page in their own status that goes out to
their friends.
Shows active community on the church's Page Wall

27. Greet Facebook Fans with a welcome

28. Greet Facebook Fans with a welcome

30. Twitter is...
a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-
time (Twitter.com)
a social networking and micro-blogging tool
Yes, but what is it?
connections, conversations, community, and content

31. For congregations, Twitter can be...
a cost-effective (free) option to accentuate existing
messages;
a broadcasting tool to announce relevant information to
specific audiences; and
a (brief) conversational tool to appropriately respond to
relevant inquiries and follow-up questions or comments.

32. Two Types
Broadcaster Conversationalist
useful if audience knows provides a "voice"
what they are getting seen as an authority and
another way to push source
information ROE - return on
works best if you have engagement
good information to give a way to interact with
could fill a need from those interested in the
specific area or topic church
all about building
relationships

33. Consider voice of
individual or voice of a
church

37. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/18753251/

38. Use video to tell your story
Video content should be a key component of your social
strategy.
Some pastors find communicating through video easier
than writing long blog posts.
Most people would rather watch a video than read
something.
Many options, but stick with YouTube or Vimeo.
Both free with easily embeddable videos for blogs/sites.
Try to keep videos short (3-5 minutes) and relevant to your
church.
If you create video for worship services, they could be
useful online as well.

39. Blend personality, mission,
and ministry to reach a
wider audience.

40. Think about
branding,
consistency,
dynamic videos
and channels

41. Self-hosted media content
You control look, access, and share-ability

42. Live streaming services
From the Baptist Press:
"Using the social media site Ustream, [the pastor] was able to
broadcast from his home while church members logged in online
for the 10:30 a.m. service. [He] created a link to Ustream from
Ebenezer's website to simplify the process."
If the congregation
can't come to you,
go to them.

43. Other tools
Podcasting/iTunes
Allows people to
consume your content
on-the-go
Provides audio-only
content, e.g., sermons
Build a consistent
audience for audio (or
video) and
automatically supply
new content
Reach iTunes user
base
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilybean/1216468104/

44. Other tools
Location-based social
networking (Foursquare)
see who checks-in at your
church
Review sites (Yelp) see
what people say about your
church
Mobile applications
QR Codes (Quick
Response) get creative with
this technology

45. Listen to the conversation
Monitor what is being said about your
church.
Don't know what social media tools
your stakeholders are using?
Start by searching for your church's
name, topic on interest, etc. on Google,
Google BlogSearch, Technorati,
Search.Twitter, Facebook and many
others.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/herculie/2370039001/

46. Listen to your
congregation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrvogt81/114975513/
Those who use social media to only push out their church's
messages miss the opportunity to have an engaging
conversation with their online community.
Have an authentic voice that connects with your community.
Tell stories
Be encouraging
Appreciate and champion the followers in your online, and
offline, community.

47. Once you start using social media
Follow through and use the tools.
You don’t have to use every tool.
Avoid the shiny-object syndrome.
Tailor your social strategy to fit your objectives.
You need to have a thick skin.
Not always going to be nice and friendly.
Expect challenges to the Message.
Above all, foster a positive community experience.

48. Sources & Additional Resources
http://www.marketingtwins.com/2010/ministry-nonprofit/7-easy-things-for-churches-to-do-on-your-facebook-
page-before-christmas/
http://stevefogg.typepad.com/blog/2010/11/21-ways-your-church-can-leverage-social-media.html
http://www.sharefaithblog.com/2011/01/church-social-media-bad-practices/
http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/2009/02/why-should-your-church-invest-in-social.html
http://pewinternet.org/Infographics/2011/Generations-and-gadgets.aspx Generations
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/The-Social-Side-of-the-Internet.aspx
http://www.slideshare.net/UUANewMedia/social-media-and-congregational-mission
http://www.lancemorgan.me/3-ways-to-strengthen-your-church-social-media-voice/
http://rocketplantstudio.com/free-download-church-planters-guide/
http://rocketplantstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ChurchPlantersGuideToSocialMedia_12012010.pdf
http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/2011/01/never-having-to-cancel-church.html
http://www.edstetzer.com/2011/01/this-morning-we-released-two.html
http://www.lifeway.com/article/170637/
http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/2011/01/church-web-social-media-research/

49. Contact
Richie Escovedo
E-mail: richie.escovedo@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/vedo
Blog: http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rescovedo