7 Social Media Strategies for Churches in 2024

Great churches have strong communities. One of the best ways to foster connections between church members is during service and events, but not everyone can attend church consistently. You need a way to connect with members when they’re not at the church.

This is why social media is an essential tool for modern church managers. It can help you keep members informed, build connections between them, and attract new visitors. Best of all, you can stay connected with your people even outside of service hours or events.

A great church social media account needs a sound strategy to succeed. We’ve got you covered – read on to learn the best strategies for church social media management.

Why Social Media Is Important for Churches

Social media is like a digital town square. It’s where you go to advertise things, connect with people, and share your thoughts. 

How can churches benefit from social media? Here are several ways social media can be important for churches:

Connecting With Church Members

Without social media, your community-building efforts are usually restricted to when members are physically at church. In contrast, social media allows you to maintain that feeling of belonging even when members aren’t at church. You can share updates and other information to make members still feel connected while they’re at home.

Social media also helps members keep track of events and updates easier. Members can check your page for event schedules, service timing, and other essential church information.

Reaching New People

One of the best benefits of using social media for your church is reaching more people. Newcomers to your area or even outside your region can see your posts, meaning you can potentially expand your network. Who knows? Some of those people might be interested in joining your church!

Spreading God’s Word Beyond Your Area

A social media account’s reach goes beyond your city or community. Even if some of your followers live too far away to become members, they can still see your posts. With social media, you have the tools to spread God’s Word and messages of hope to people everywhere, not just those in your area.

The Best Social Media Strategies for Churches in 2024

Every church is different and has varying approaches to social media management. But some social media best practices are widely implemented because they work well. Here are several effective church social media strategies you can implement:

Post Regularly

Most social media algorithms favor accounts that post consistently. Accounts with regular posts tend to show up more on people’s feeds. When accounts show up on feeds more often, they’re more likely to get followers. Therefore, consistent posting is essential to growing your church account.

You need to make plans if you want to post regularly. Decide how many weekly posts you want to make, but don’t post to fill a quota. Make sure each post has value. Three to four posts weekly is a good starting point.

A good way to stay consistent is to make your posts ahead of time. Make them in batches for the coming week, so you won’t get overwhelmed by design work every day. You can use resources like Tithe.ly Media to get stock images, schedule posts, and more.

Categorize Your Content

Consistent posting is easier when you know what to post about – this is where content categorization comes in. Example content categories include:

• Church announcements
• Bible verse of the day
• Devotionals
• National holiday posts
• Instructional posts
• Church activity explainers

Mix and match these content categories to create your weekly posting schedule. You can rotate content types every so often, but it’s best to keep it consistent so followers know what to expect. 

Serve Your Audience

Many social media platforms are built on making connections, not promotions and advertising. Promoting church events every so often is fine, but the bulk of your social media feed should give additional value to the audience.

How do you spot posts that give value to your audience? Check your account’s engagement. Find the ones with the most positive comments and likes. These topics are the ones your audience finds the most value in and should be constantly improved on.

Tell Stories

People love stories because they’re memorable and make connections easier. Consider posting a testimony from somebody in your church or re-telling a Biblical story. This draws people in and makes them curious about what you have to say before you say it.

This also helps members develop a connection with your church. Instead of engaging with the “church management,” reading stories about people in the church makes them feel more personally connected.

Engage With Followers Proactively

Social media users like proactive pages that communicate well. This means you’re not just a passive observer – your page should actively react to follower messages and comments. 

One of the best ways to do this is by acknowledging every comment and DM. Aim to make conversation and not just answer questions when possible.

The important thing here is to build connections and relationships with your followers. Think of it as having a welcome table at your church where visitors can ask questions and chat with the person sitting there. Actively seeking to make connections makes followers feel welcomed and makes them likelier to visit your page often.

Improve Your Bio

First impressions are important, and it’s even more pronounced in social media. Many people look at your bio to determine whether your account is worth a follow. Make a clear, concise bio that reinforces your legitimacy and builds credibility.

You can also use each social media platform’s unique features to further improve your bio. For instance, you can use Instagram’s Highlight feature to showcase past church events and place important announcements. This way, new visitors can get even more out of your church’s page.

Make a Social Media Team

If you’re serious about using social media for your church, you need a social media team. This ensures you can create content and post consistently. 

Build a team of people to handle graphic design, photography, and copy. You don’t necessarily need one person for each aspect of social media – one person can cover multiple fields if needed. Just be mindful, and don’t let one person shoulder too much responsibility.

This team can be volunteers, paid staff, or a combination of both. Whatever your team looks like, ensure you have clear job descriptions for each member to define their responsibilities.

Essential Policies for Church Social Media 

Your church social media should also have standard policies to ensure your posts always connect with the audience. You don’t need to write a long standard operating procedure if you don’t want to. Just give your team a list of expectations as well as a list of dos and don’ts for the church page.

Here are some points that should be included in your church social media policies:

Church Branding

Church branding regulates how you want your church name and logo represented on social media content. Here, you should outline the logo and church name placement rules to ensure consistency across all your posts. You can also define your church social media page’s color palette and font usage here.

External Linking

You might need to post links to other places, like registration forms or web pages on your social media. Here, you can define how these links are written. Many social pages use link shorteners so visitors can easily follow the links.

Comment Handling

This section of the policy outlines how your social media team handles user comments. It covers content moderation rules, how the admin responds to visitor comments, and other things regarding follower interaction.

Social Media Training

Your social media team needs training to deliver high-quality content consistently. Here, you can identify what skills your social media team needs and determine whether they need more training to attain them. Even if you think your team is already competent, it never hurts to enroll them in extra training for further improvement.

Closing Thoughts

Your church's social media is indispensable for building stronger connections with existing members and gaining new ones. To learn more about effective social media for churches, check out the following articles:

• Church Social Media Content Calendar
• How to Create Awesome Church Graphics for Your Social Media & Sermon Series
• What to Post on Your Church's Social Media
• How Churches Can Use Social Media to Attract Millennials

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This post is adapted from Top 7 Social Media Strategies For Churches In 2024 by Danielle Davis.