Social Media Marketing, Sites, and Evangelism

[James Nored]

I am researching the use of social media for outreach and evangelism. I'll later post a list of the books and sites I am looking at. One book I'd recommend is Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day by Dave Evans. There are a lot of tips from social media marketing that can be applied to social media outreach and evangelism.

I'll post a different tip to this discussion periodically.

Tip #1: Content is king. "In a social setting . . . partivcipants are there to relax, learn, engage, or be entertained. They are looking for content." p. 183

It is easy to get enamoured with the technology of a social media site and think, this site is so cool. People will want to come and just hang out. The truth is, a site that does not constantly add content will soon be a dead site. This means that content must be added daily, and usually throughout the day. All it takes is people coming to a site a few times without seeing any changes, and they will check less frequently and then not at all.

So I tell people that want to start a social media site, are you ready for the commitment? Because there is a huge commitment required to maintain this type of site. Site developers need to recruit a team of content providers - writers, photo people, music people, video people who regularly provide content. Sure, some of this will happen naturally once a site takes off. But this is crucial in the beginning stages of a site, and still very much necessary after the site takes off.

What kind of content do you find interesting and helpful that keeps you coming back to a site?

[Linda Kay (McPhail) Priddy]

I "read" Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dale Evans today. Most of the content is well known. Approximately 4 years ago, I read PURPLE COW by Seth Godin. (I thought of writing an article called: Christianity: The Ultimate Purple Cow).. Godin predicts the use of the internet to replace most forms of advertising....and why this will take place. Today, baby steps are being taken in this direction. My favorite line in SMM:AHaD indicated..".I wasn't selling cards...I was selling joy!" This would sort of correspond to ..."I wasn't selling Christianity...I was selling love and understanding. Using the bridge approach in creating an outreach (to the unchurched) social media site enables us to connect with individuals by communicating with them in areas in which they are seeking help or information...which will eventually lead to the foundation of our "understanding" of their situation and our desire to help...our desire to live Christian lives...just like everyday living except that you can reach thousands instead of a few.

[James Nored]

Thanks Linda, for the insight. What "bridges" would you suggest to reach the unchurched? There is so much potential out there--how do we harness this? I would welcome your insights.

I'm really enjoying another book, Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will ... It has some pretty original content that deals with the sociological issues behind social networking. You might puruse this one.

[Linda Kay (McPhail) Priddy]

What topics???
1) This would be a great project for congregational participation..."Ask your friends what topics they look up on the internet"...Then they could be directed to your site to read about those topics. 2) What books are best sellers today...what are the topics...address these topics if appropriate (and what would not be)...3) What are people researching..what are they typing into the search field...address these topics so your site would pop up in the list...you can literally take any subject and treat it in some way to reach people and gain their interest...if they are looking up tractors...you could include a joke about God and farming...anything to connect with the individual's interest. The key is to include articles, pictures, lists, jokes, anything about the popular topics so people will click on your site.

[James Nored]

Linda, I like this idea of asking the congregation what topics they look up, and then providing links for them. We could also have our members ask their non-Christian friends. We often forget to ask, don't we?

Google could tell us the top searches as well.

Thanks for your great insights. I'm really enjoying the idea exchange.

[Linda Kay (McPhail) Priddy]

The survey would be for the congregation to use with their friends. It will be interesting to see how many duplications of topics result among friends. I would also suggest age categories so that you know if the individual being surveyed is 6-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-25, 26-29, 30-45, 46-55, 55-64, 65-75, 76 and older. It will be beneficial in the future to know the breakdown. Not only could individuals survey their friends, but this would be a good project for teens, and 20+ to use on those they do not know at all...perhaps an on the sidewalk survey...mall survey (with permission), etc. School agers could try to get permission to survey the kids in their schools...perhaps the school would let the entire school complete the survey and hand it in just to see the results...no names on surveys of course...but ages are important