006: Josh Blankenship on Social Media Strategy

Strategic Ministry Solutions Podcast

Josh Blankenship, creative pastor of LifeQuest Church in Kansas City, MO and host of the Creative church Show Why is it important to be strategic in the context of the local church? You can't get where you want to go without strategy. In the context of having a strategy in social media, why not just post whatever you want to whenever you want to? What’s the danger in that? Social media is not a billboard for posting announcements or to ask people to come to your church. The purpose of social media is to connect with people and build community. Answer the why before the how when thinking about social media. What is the social media strategy for LifeQuestChurch? 1. Reach out and let people know we're here 2. Share stories 3. Create an environment for church attenders to be digital missionaries It's important to share things that spark conversations. Ways to strategically use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: Ideas for using Twitter - fast moving; live tweet sermons; share what's happening now in the life of your church; use Twitter advanced search to query your community zip code; If you're not consistent you're not existent. (Michael Hyatt) Frequency and type of content for Twitter posts: the more the better; be a community hub where people can come for information; share other people's stuff Ideas for using Facebook: it can be hard to get noticed on Facebook, so you have to be proactive; use video and pictures to communicate; Facebook groups can be a vehicle to engage people; able to accomplish multiple goals with Facebook; use hashtags to mobilize people and be able to query for things like prayer requests Ideas for using Instagram: posts pictures/videos of what a visitor can expect when they come; LifeQuest uses #LQCrazyLove to encourage random acts of kindness; people enjoy seeing other people do what they are also doing Ideas for using Pinterest: can help give your church personality; enables you to share inspiring quotes or people serving or resources; you can scrapbook your church's life Be a curator of content that aligns with your mission, vision, and values. On your podcast, you talked about how your church broke your attendance record on Easter. How did social media factor into that? -Took emails of past attenders and targeted them through Facebook and Twitter ads For the church that does not have a social media strategy, where do you start? -start small and get good before moving to another platform -pick a social media network that works for your church and who you are targeting to reach -identify why before how Connect with Josh: Twitter: @jdb_creative Website: http://joshblankenship.me/ Podcast: Creative Church Show https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-creative-church-show/id982937706?mt=2