Why Your Church Must Engage People with Social Media

January 11, 2012 in Communications, General, Leadership, Marketing, Social, Technology with 17 Comments

Social media is here and here to stay.  If one social media fad disappears another fad will slide in and take the place.  The idea of people connecting virtually at the press of a key is here forever.

Social media is a phenomenal way for churches and leaders to connect with people.  On any given Sunday, church leaders have the opportunity to connect with a handful of people.  On any given second, church leaders have the opportunity to connect with people.

Churches and church leaders are presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with people every second of the day.  It is a matter of awareness and intentionality.  Churches must connect with people beyond the worship services, events and group gatherings.

Here are a list of compelling stats that prove my point -

 

  1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
  2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
  3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
  4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
  5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users
  6. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
  7. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females

I could spend the entire night digging up compelling stats on how and why people are engaging in social media, but you get the point.  What is your strategy in connecting with people through social media?  Do not miss this opportunity.

How is your church using social media to engage people on daily basis?

About Tim: Tim is a ten year Church Communications veteran. He is the Creator of Sayge. Sayge is a monthly church communications training resource. Over the past ten years Tim successfully helped organizations grow with leadership, marketing and technology consulting.

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  • http://apps.facebook.com/ByHisGrace Mark Prasek

    I couldn’t agree more! I would like to speak with you privately. You can visit the url provided and we can discuss this in person.

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  • http://www.ethanhackett.com Ethan Hackett

    Great post. You should follow this up with effective ways to use social media. There is this misconception that it should be used as a tool to force feed advertisements.

    I love this “B. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web” where did that statistic come from?

  • Tim Peters

    Ethan. Thank you for comment. Stat (B) was found at http://www.socialnomics.net/2009/08/11/statistics-show-social-media-is-bigger-than-you-think/

    I am working on posts and a eBook that helps people use social media effectively. Stay tuned.

  • http://lawsonhembree.wordpress.com/ Lawson Hembree

    Great post and stats Tim! I’m a big proponent of social media for the church. The most prominent way our church uses social media is encouraging members to tweet notes, quotes, and questions related to the sermon using a designated hashtag (#HABC). Of course, we also have Facebook and Twitter presences.

    I recently wrote a post about ways churches can use social media. If you have time, take a look and let me know what you think.
    http://lawsonhembree.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/social-media-and-the-church/

    • Tim

      Thanks Lawson. I will check it out. Good to hear your church is engaging people online.

  • http://danblackonleadership.info Dan Black

    Social media is a powerful tool churches should use. Great post.

  • https://jamesbrabson33.wordpress.com James B.

    Great thoughts, thanks so much for posting this! Thanks for providing the reference for the stat . . . will be using this for sure!

    • Tim

      James. Glad the content was helpful.

  • http://thesocialmediapeople.org The Social Media People

    Interesting facts. It is important in this day and age to totally influence your market using this right medium. In this age this can be done through social medium to promote religious intuitions message.

    • Tim

      Completely agree.

  • http://www.ethanhackett.com Ethan Hackett

    I’m reading (Audiobook) Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “The Thank You Economy” and it’s incredible. He talks about a true social media which is based on authentic relationships between companies and business which use social media but they aren’t just a tool for one way advertising. I’d highly recommend anyone read it if they deal with social media in any way.

  • Tim Peters

    Great. I like Gary’s content. Thanks for idea.

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