There are 3 concepts that I’ve seen confused in the communications world. Sometimes they’re used interchangeably and sometimes they’re not used at all, but I’ve found that the most effective communication strategies, whether in church or in business, come from teams who have figured out how to distinguish them.
Here’s how I would define and describe these 3 categories: Branding, Marketing and Advertising. (Side note: I’m not suggesting these are universally true definitions – like straight of our Websters Dictionary – but for me, this is how I describe these concepts in a distinguishable way)
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About twice a month, an email is sent out where we video our Lead Pastor talking for 3-4 minutes about what’s happening or coming up at church (we call it “Coffee With Pastor Ryan”)
We also are able to send a message to only those in the “new’ category – not our regular attendees – so we will send out a link to the first new members class that is on the calendar since they visited.
Since the beginning of Facebook, there have always been 2 sides to paying for advertising: Advertisers want to pay as little as possible to get as much exposure as possible, and Facebook wants to make as much money as possible… Facebook also has a balance on their hands – they don’t want to give you too much exposure for too little money, or too little exposure for too much money and at the same time, they don’t want news feeds to be covered in boosted posts from pages you didn’t like.
Specify your budget, and how long you’d like your ad to run. This works on a “behind the scenes” auction based on attention. Facebook doesn’t want to overload timelines with advertising, so your ad is competing for space with other ads.
After your ad, you’ll get to see some insights on your post – some will be organic (the amount of exposure your post got just from being posted through likes, comments and shares) and paid (the amount of exposure your post earned because of your boost.)
Your weekend service is a marketer’s dream come true. Never take for granted that it is just part of how church has to be done. Outside the church world, marketers would be in heaven if every week for multiple hours, everyone on their team came together to create a live event.
The average American who considers themselves a church goer is at service once every 3 weeks. You may be thinking “We don’t use social media during service because everyone who follows us is at church.” but imagine how often people are travelling for work, taking their kids to a sports league game or out sick. On top of that, if you have multiple weekend services, there’s the opportunity for someone who came to first service to engage online with you for second service.
Live Stream one of the most popular songs on the list that morning (periscope, Facebook live, record and then post to youtube or twitter.)
If you have video announcements, break them into pieces or 30-60 seconds (like each announcement is its own video) and post them as a group on twitter as they happen live in service. People who aren’t able to be at church will still know what’s going on and feel included, even if they’re not on site.
Does your church have a specific method for offering and can you utilize that? We use our offering time as an opportunity to share a testimony. We ask people to send them through the week by email and we pick one to read. We’re starting to have those testimonies show up as text / image (pre-made) on social during service.
Take a picture of your Pastor and add in a quote using canva, 
Setup a photo booth where people can take selfies or photos of each other. It could be for an event like Mothers Day, Easter or Christmas, or it could be based on your current series – something worth talking about. Maybe you’re on a starters theme, so you have a cockpit of the millennium falcon for pictures, racing theme so you can sit in a race car, Fruit of the spirit theme and you have a fruit stand, Tipping sacred cows theme so you have a cow statue people can take pictures with… these are great ways for people to create their own content (with your Photo Booth) and post on their own pages. Try to include your logo, or suggest a hashtag to use so people who see those will trace it back to your church.
Stories are often the foundation of marketing. They transmit a message in a more colorful way that can be appreciated by all audiences – old or young, male or female. Use digital signage to tell your stories.
Are we aiming to provide information to our current members, or is the goal of our Social Media to reach and invite new people? This will help identify the content and the network you’d like to focus on. Start by considering the target audience of your church. If you’re not yet sure about that, here is a way to 
There is no shortage of Social Media networks and opportunities to spend time online. Refer back to your target audience. It’s easier to get out in the community on twitter (you can follow local organizations and comment on their tweets) or snapchat and it’s easier to provide information on Instagram of Facebook.
What kind of community do you want to build, and how do you want to build it? Does your leadership want you to create an opportunity for people to take a strong stance or keep the waters calm? Will I post about the church’s stance on current issues, or do I stick to promoting upcoming events and ministries?
If another department in the church wants to have their own page (like kids or youth) who is ultimately responsible for their content? Who approves their posting, and do you have a minimum standard you want to maintain for content, image or video quality, etc?
My personal opinion is as much as possible to address a negative comment in a positive way… “We’re sorry your experience didn’t match our values. We would be happy to discuss a resolution if you’d call the office and ask to speak with…” but some times when a comment is vulgar or contains profanity, it’s clear that a phone conversation isn’t going to address the concern. In that case, I would just delete the comment. If the person persists, block them from your account. It’s not going to change their mind, and if they truly wish to make restitution, they’ll reach out in person – blocking them form Social Media probably won’t affect their change of heart.
Quantifiable like ‘How many likes?’ or ‘How many followers?’ or ‘How Many interactions: comments or shares?’ not things like ‘To spread the Gospel’ or ‘To keep people informed’. Quantifiable goals allow you to discover what’s working, and what could change. The success of unquantifiable goals are a matter of opinion.
There may be a great video on youtube that matches up with your current series topic or a funny quote from a famous preacher. What is the balance between finding other content and generating our own?
Specifically. Is there someone who is popular on Social Media but doesn’t line up with our beliefs? Is there something that could become a distraction from our goals? Do we address prayer requests in the church with permission, or is this not the forum?
We also have 4 LCDs in the foyer. 2 that duplicate the countdown happening in the auditorium, 1 that’s designated for kids check in, and 1 that’s designated for our Horseshoe information center (we call it the horseshoe because… well, it’s shaped like a horseshoe. Also, during service, when we say “Sign Up At The Horseshoe in the foyer,” just about every new visitor can figure out where that is any why it’s called that.)