Mashable.com did a great post about 4 myths of social media and business.
Mashable: 4 Myths About Social Media and Business
After reading it, I started thinking about how these principles might apply in a ministry context.
MYTH #1: My Ministry Needs to Have a Presence On EVERY Social Media Outlet
Sure, you want to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant, but you also want to make sure you’re going where your audience is, and maximizing your visibility and engagement with them in those spaces. In some cases, that does mean having a presence on every social media outlet. But in other cases, especially where you have limited time and resources, it may mean that you focus your efforts on a few key social spaces.
For example, lets say your focus is college students on a particular campus. Students on your campus might be very active on Facebook, but what if they’re not using Twitter at all yet? In this particular case, it may not make that much sense to devote time into maximizing your Twitter presence, especially if it’s going to take away from your Facebook strategies. From a branding perspective, I think it would make a lot of sense, however, to go ahead and snag a Twitter account before someone else gets the one you want. This way, just in case your students start using Twitter, or whatever the next big social media thing is, tomorrow, you’ll be ready to act.
MYTH #2: Set It and Forget It
When it comes to your ministry’s web presence, you shouldn’t have an attitude of “build it, and they will come.” People expect social media to be very dynamic, and if you don’t give people a new reason to come back to your site everyday, it won’t be long before they forget about you. Content really is king, and making sure you always have new content is key. It also helps to integrate your different online spaces, like a blog and a Facebook page for example, to help maximize the visibility of your content. Simply having a few key Facebook friends share or “like” your blog post or note can do wonders to drive traffic to your blog and fan page. Check out this post we did about one easy way to integrate a blog and Facebook fan page: Facebook Share Button
And a tool like Google Analytics makes it really easy for you to set goals for your blog, and measure them.
MYTH #3: If They’re Not Talking About Me, I Don’t Need To Be There
People may not be talking directly about your ministry online, but I’m sure people are talking about subjects that relate to your ministry. Listening to what people are saying online is a great opportunity to engage people in conversations, meet other people’s immediate felt needs, and possibly gain an even bigger audience. A lot of companies have started doing this by extending their customer service to Twitter. It seems like every week, I hear a story about someone who tweets their frustrations about a product or company, only to be contacted by that company to see what they can do. If people are willing to talk about it, why can’t Christians do the same thing? Doing a Twitter search for the phrase “I hate God” can be an easy way to find someone who’s willing to have a pretty deep conversation.
MYTH #4 Social Media is ONLY for Broadcasting MY Message
Social media spaces, like your blog and Facebook fanpage, shouldn’t be treated like your personal soap box where you try to blast everyone with a loud message, in the hopes of drowning out everybody else. A social media strategy that’s focused on one way communication is certain to fail. And in a ministry context, it will probably make you more enemies than friends. So treat your online friends like your offline friends. Play nice. Ask questions. Respond to people’s comments, and strive to engage in conversations and develop dialog.
